How to Copy C Drive to New Drive Without Losing Data

The C drive is the main hard disk partition containing the Windows operating system and related system files. When the C drive runs out of storage space, your computer will become slower and slower, significantly reducing your working efficiency and user experience. In this case, replacing your C drive with a new and larger disk can help. EaseUS will tell how to copy C drive to new drive, be it an HDD or an SSD. Let's begin!

What to Do Before Transferring C Drive to New Drive

Before copying your C drive to another disk, you must prepare something to make it smooth and successful:

• Prepare a new disk. Obviously, you need to buy a new hard drive with enough capacity, such as 500GB. As for hard drive type, if you want better computer performance, SSD is better. SSD brands, like Samsung, Intel, Micron, WD, Seagate, and Crucial, are popular among computers.
• Backup data on the old drive. Copying your C drive to another drive is generally safe if you perform correctly, but to avoid potential data loss risks, you'd better back up data using reliable backup tools, like EaseUS Todo Backup or Windows Backup and Restore.
• Prepare a connection cable. To connect the new drive to your computer, you will need a USB-to-SATA cable or a hard drive enclosure.
• Prepare a screwdriver. You must use the screwdriver to open your computer's back case or host cover.
• Download hard disk cloning software. Cloning is the best way to copy a C drive to another disk without losing data or reinstalling Windows. Unfortunately, Windows does not have preinstalled cloning features, so you will need to use professional cloning software like EaseUS Disk Copy and Clonezilla.

How to Migrate C Drive to New Drive Without Data Loss

As mentioned above, cloning is the best and easiest way to move a C drive to another drive. To this end, you can use some third-party cloning programs like Clonezilla or Samsung Data Migration Software, but a better cloning tool will be presented here. It is called EaseUS Disk Copy.

EaseUS Disk Copy is reliable and efficient disk cloning software that lets you clone hard drives from various manufacturers. It lets you transfer data from HDD to SSD easily and quickly and clone a hard drive sector by sector. In addition, it enables you to move Windows OS to another disk without reinstalling and transfer data from an old disk to a new PC if you swap a computer.

If you want to transfer your C drive to a new disk, EaseUS cloning software can suit you well. Moreover, its simple UI design makes it rather easy to use. Just download it on your PC to copy your C drive to an HDD or SSD.

Prior Notice:

• The "Sector by sector copy" asks the size of your destination disk to be at least equal to or larger than that of the source disk. Leave this feature unchecked if you wish to clone a larger hard disk to a smaller hard disk.
• All data on the destination disk will be completely erased, so take care.

Step 1. To start copying/cloning an entire disk to another, choose this disk as the source disk under "Disk Mode" and click "Next".

Step 2. Choose the other disk as the destination disk.

Step 3. Check the disk layout of the two disks. You can manage the disk layout of the destination disk by selecting "Autofit the disk", "Copy as the source" or "Edit disk layout". 

• "Autofit the disk" makes some changes by default on the destination disk layout so that it can work at its best status.
• "Copy as the source"does not change anything on destination disk and the layout is the same as source disk.
• "Edit disk layout" allows you to manually resize/move partition layout on this destination disk.

Tick the "Check the option if the target is SSD" option to put your SSD in its best performance.

A message now appears, warning you that data will be lost. Please confirm this message by clicking "OK" and then click "Next".

Step 4. Click "Proceed" to officially execute the task.

Video Tutorial:

 

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How to Boot from Newly Cloned Hard Drive

After cloning the C drive to a new disk, you need to replace the old hard drive with the new drive and enter the BIOS to set the new drive as your first boot device. After that, you can boot from the new disk. Let's see how to go for it:

Part 1. Replace the Old Hard Drive with the Cloned One

To replace your old disk with a new one on your desktop PC or laptop, you can refer to the following article:

How to Replace Old SSD with New SSD on Windows Laptop/PC

In this article, you can learn how to replace old SSD with a new one without data loss. Read more >>

Part 2. Enter BIOS to Set the New Drive as Boot Drive

Follow the steps below to set the new hard drive as the boot drive:

• Step 1. Restart your laptop or desktop PC and press one specific key to enter the BIOS screen. The BIOS key depends on the PC's manufacturer (generally F12, F2, Delete, or Esc).
• Step 2. Use the arrow key on your keyboard to go to the Boot section. Look for the Boot Priority or Boot Order section and choose it.
• Step 3. Top your cloned hard disk using the arrow key.
• Step 4. Save all the changes before quitting the BIOS setup window. Then, reboot your desktop PC or laptop, and it will boot from the new cloned drive.

To Wrap Things Up

This article elaborates on how to copy C drive to new drive with detailed information. Generally speaking, performing disk cloning is the best and most effective way to transfer a Windows C drive to another drive, as cloning can help you copy everything from one hard drive to another.

To clone the C drive to another drive, you have to utilize professional disk cloning software like EaseUS Disk Copy. It can help you transfer your C drive to another disk in just several simple clicks. In addition, it lets you clone HDD to SSD with different sizes and clone a hard drive with multiple partitions. Just download and try it!

FAQs on Copying C Drive to New Hard Drive

1. Is cloning C drive safe?

Yes, cloning a hard drive is perfectly safe, whether you want to clone an entire disk or a partition. You must utilize professional cloning software like EaseUS Disk Copy and Clonezilla.

2. How to replace a C drive without losing data?

To replace your C drive without losing data, disk cloning is the best way out. This is because cloning can help you upgrade to a larger disk and transfer everything to another disk.

3. Does anyone know of a good way to clone a hard drive for free?

To clone a hard drive for free, you can use free disk cloning software like Clonezilla. However, Clonezilla is a command-line based disk cloning tool, making it hard for beginners to operate. To this end, you can try an easy-to-use cloning program - EaseUS Disk Copy.

4. Does the C drive contain everything?

Your Windows computer's primary partition is located on the C disk. This usually indicates that the C drive is also the primary hard drive or SSD; however, if your drive has several partitions, it will only reflect the specific section of the hard drive or SSD partitioned for that purpose.