How to Clone a Hard Drive Without Admin Right?

Larissa updated on Jan 31, 2024 to Data Backup Questions Answered | How-to Articles

I occasionally volunteer at a daycare and had planned to perform some straightforward SSD upgrades, however, the computers (running Windows 8 and Win 7) are locked down, and I lack access to just clone one disk to the other. The school's IT staff (1) is completely incompetent, and it is a small school. I am a little out of my element here, so I was wondering if there is any way I can accomplish this.

Without admin rights, cloning a hard drive is typically not possible. Since accessing and copying system files are involved in the process of cloning a hard disk, administrative rights are typically required. 

Even without administrator privileges, you can still clone a hard drive by using EaseUS Todo Backup to create an emergency WinPE bootable disk. Even though your computer is now unable to boot, you can still clone your hard drive with the use of a WinPE emergency disk.

Using the professional disk cloning software, EaseUS Todo Backup, you may quickly create a bootable USB. 

Here's how you can clone a hard drive without admin right.:

  • Download and install EaseUS Todo Backup on a computer where you have admin rights.
  • Prepare a USB that can be written and read, and connect it on the working computer.
  • Launch EaseUS Todo Backup, click Tools > Create Emergency Disk.
  • Choose USB as the boot disk location.
  • Click Create to start.

Now that you have created a bootable USB with the cloned hard drive, you can use it on another computer without admin rights to clone the hard drive. Follow these steps:

  • Insert the bootable USB into the computer where you want to clone the hard drive.
  • Restart the computer and enter the BIOS setup by pressing the appropriate key (usually F8 or F2) during startup.
  • In the BIOS setup, change the boot order to prioritize the USB drive as the first boot device.
  • Save the changes and exit the BIOS setup.
  • The computer will now boot from the USB drive and load EaseUS Todo Backup.
  • Launch EaseUS Todo Backup from the bootable USB, and click Tools > Clone/System Clone.
  • Choose the source disk, and click Next.
  • Choose the clone destination and click Next.
  • Confirm the warning information, click Proceed, and wait for the cloning process to finish.

With EaseUS Todo Backup, you can clone a hard disk on another computer without the need for administrative rights. Before carrying out any disk cloning procedure, do not forget to take the essential safety precautions and back up any important data.

Related Article: How to Copy and Backup Files without Admin Rights