If you run Windows 10, you can also use Clonezilla to migrate the current installation with all your settings, apps, and files to a new equal, larger, or faster drive without reinstalling the operating system. Or you can use Clonezilla as a backup tool before making changes to your current installation. In this guide, you will learn the steps to use Clonezilla to clone a hard drive with an installation of Windows 10 to another drive.
How to clone Windows 10 to SSD or HDD using Clonezilla
Although using Clonezilla to make an exact copy of a drive on a new drive is a straightforward process, you must follow some preparation and specific steps. The steps below will guide you with everything you need to know, including connecting a new hard drive, downloading and creating a bootable media to use Clonezilla, the cloning process, and even the steps to ensure that after the process you are using the entire available space.
Connect clone drive
After reducing the volume size, you can connect the new drive to the motherboard. The process to connect a traditional HDD, SSD, and M.2 drives will be different per manufacturer and even computer model. As such, make sure to check your computer manufacturer support website for more specific details. You can connect a drive using a USB adapter but shouldn’t use an external drive as you cannot use it as a boot drive. However, you can use a USB external drive you intend to create a backup, which you will be able to restore to the same or different drive.
Create Clonezilla bootable media
Before you can clone a drive, you need to download the Clonezilla ISO file and create a bootable media to use the tool. The easiest approach to create a Clonezilla bootable media is to use the ISO with Rufus, a third-party tool designed to create bootable USB flash drives. You could download the Clonezilla zip file, but if you make a mistake using the instructions, it can break your current installation. Use these steps to download and create a Clonezilla bootable USB flash drive:
Download Clonezilla ISO file
To download the Clonezilla ISO file, use these steps: After you complete the steps, you can proceed to use Rufus to create a USB bootable media.
Create Clonezilla bootable USB with Rufus
To create a bootable media, connect a USB flash drive with at least 4GB of storage, and then use these steps:
Create Clonezilla bootable USB with Tuxboot
Alternatively, you can create a Clonezilla USB with the Tuxboot open source app with these steps:
Once you complete the steps, before you start your device with the tool, you need to make sure that your device can boot from USB.
Typically, you will need to access your device Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) or Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) by hitting one of the function keys (F1, F2, F3, F10, or F12), the ESC, or the Delete key during boot. Once inside the firmware, look for the Boot section and make sure the boot order is set to the drive that contains the Windows 10 installation files, and do not forget to save the configuration. The BIOS/UEFI can be different depending on the manufacturer and even per computer model. As such, make sure to check your manufacturer support website for more specific instructions.
Clone Windows 10 using Clonezilla
To use Clonezilla to clone a Windows 10 installation to a new SSD or large HDD, use these steps: Once you complete the steps, Clonezilla will proceed to clone the data (bit-by-bit) from the source to the destination drive.
After the process is complete, either replace the old with the new drive on your computer or remove the cloned drive if this is a backup.
Expanding cloned drive
If the clone drive is larger than the original drive you replaced, you will need to use the “Disk Management” app to expand the volume to make the additional space usable. Once you complete the steps, the main volume on the drive should expand using the unallocated space, making the storage size bigger.
Move recovery partition
In the case that you can’t expand the main partition because of the recovery partition being on the right, you will need to use a third-party tool like GParted to move the partition to the end of the drive. After you complete the steps, you can use the previous steps to expand the installation partition with available space on the drive.
We are focusing this guide on moving an existing installation of Windows 10 with apps, settings, and your personal files to a new drive to replace a hard drive or for backup purposes, but you can clone any drive with any data. All content on this site is provided with no warranties, express or implied. Use any information at your own risk. Always backup of your device and files before making any changes. Privacy policy info.
