How to Clone Boot Drive in Windows 11/10/8/7

EaseUS Disk COpy software provides the easiest and most efficient way to clone bootable hard drive in Windows 10. Try it to migrate OS from HDD to SSD, clone a smaller bootable HDD to a bigger one without reinstalling Windows, or back up OS in case of unexpected system/hard failure.

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Tracy King

Updated on Feb 06, 2024

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Key Takeaways:

  • ✅The bootable clone is a 1-to-1 copy of the bootable system drive on the computer, including the operating system, settings, configurations, installed programs, and other data.
  • ✅EaseUS Disk Copy offers you the "System Clone" feature to clone boot drive. With simple clicks, you can use this tool to migrate Windows 10 OS to another hard drive or computer.
  • ✅To clone boot drive, you just need to connect the new HDD/SSD and launch EaseUS Disk Copy. It will pop up a window asking you if you want to move the OS to the new disk; click Yes, and it will automatically execute the task immediately.

Overview of Cloning Boot Drive

The bootable clone is an exact copy of the bootable hard drive on the computer, including the operating system and other files. To clone a hard drive for Windows 10, you can choose to clone the entire disk or clone the partition(s) that contain the operating system and related boot files.

Bootable clone benefits users a lot, here are some distinct advantages:

  • Upgrade the low-space hard drive and transfer OS to a new hard drive without reinstalling the operating system and applications.
  • Clone OS from HDD to smaller SSD for faster reading & writing speed, and better stability & performance.
  • Back up OS in case of unexpected system failure, so you can revert to the cloned version with a bootable hard drive and keep the precious data intact.

The Best Software to Clone Bootable Drive 

As mentioned above, a bootable clone shows many conveniences. But the premise of these benefits is to choose the right tool. Then, what is the best and software to clone a bootable hard drive most simply and safely? We highly recommend you try EaseUS Disk Copy that offers you the "System Clone" feature to clone boot drive. As long as the system partition and boot partition is on the same drive, you can use this tool to migrate Windows 10 to another hard drive or computer with simple clicks.

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How to Clone Bootable Hard Drive for Windows 10/8/7

In this part, we will tell you in detail about how to clone a bootable hard drive and what you need for preparation.

📖Preparations before cloning start:

  • A screwdriver, a Power Splitter Adapter Cable, a SATA cable, or a USB to SATA adapter. 
  • Make sure the target HDD/SSD has an equal or bigger capacity than the used space of the old system capacity.
  • Check whether the style of the new disk is the same as that of the old disk. If not, Initialize a new HDD/SSD to MBR or GPT.
  • Download a Disk Cloning Tool – EaseUS Disk Copy

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Disk Copy, and connect the new second HDD/SSD to the PC. A new window will ask, "A new drive on this computer was found, do you want to migrate OS to the new drive?". Click the Yes button, and it will automatically select all system-related partitions and files.

install a new ssd

Step 2. Adjust the target disk layout to fit into the new disk. Tick the "Check the option if the target is SSD" option to put your SSD in its best performance.

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

clone os to new ssd

Step 3. Click the Proceed button, and a message will appear to warn you that data will be lost. Please confirm this message by clicking Continue.

a warning message

Step 4. Wait for the process to complete, and you can check the integrity of the cloned hard drive and view if the OS has been migrated to it.

wait for cloning

We also give you the video tutorial to clone a bootable drive with EaseUS Disk Copy.

Don't Hesitate! Start Cloning Boot Drive Now

On this page, we introduce a handy tool - EaseUS Disk Copy for those users who want to clone boot drive. It is a difficult task before we know there is third-party software that can help us finish it. Now with the tool we recommend, you can upgrade to the new hard drive in a few clicks. 

Apart from the system clone, EaseUS Disk Copy is also renowned for its great abilities of disk cloning and partition cloning. You can create a bootale clone, upgrade to a larger hard drive, swap to a new computer, or replace Cdrive easily with this robust tool. Don't hesitate to download EaseUS Disk Copy now, and ease your data management.

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FAQ on Clone a Bootable Hard Drive

1. What is a bootable clone?

The bootable clone is an exact copy of the bootable hard drive on the computer, including the operating system and other files.

2. How do I clone a bootable hard drive Windows 10?

First, prepare a new hard drive that is the same size as or larger than your resource hard drive. and back up your files and data. Then, download EaseUS Disk Copy, launch it and click the 'Disk Mode' option, and choose the system drive. then choose the target disk and click Next. Finally, click 'Proceed' to start cloning

EaseUS Disk Copy

EaseUS Disk Copy is a well designed and very easy-to-use HDD/SSD cloning and migration tool, a tool which should be ideal for anyone wanting to quickly and easily migrate an existing system disk to a new disk (or newly installed SSD drive) with the minimal of configuration required.

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  • Updated by

    Larissa

    Larissa has rich experience in writing technical articles and is now a professional editor at EaseUS. She is good at writing articles about data recovery, disk cloning, disk partitioning, data backup, and other related knowledge. Her detailed and ultimate guides help users find effective solutions to their problems. She is fond of traveling, reading, and riding in her spare time.…
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  • Written by

    Tracy King

    Tracy became a member of the EaseUS content team in 2013. Being a technical writer for over 10 years, she is enthusiastic about sharing tips to assist readers in resolving complex issues in disk management, file transfer, PC & Mac performance optimization, etc., like an expert.…
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