Windows 7 Disk Cloning [2023]

This article will walk you through some of the fantastic Windows 7 drive cloning software available today. Aside from the windows 7 drive clone, we’ll briefly discuss some key aspects of all the cloning software and how to harness their full potential. Above all, we’ll address some key concerns regarding cloning hard drives.

What is Disk Cloning?

Technically speaking, disk cloning means using specialized software to create an exact copy of the computer’s hard drive, which is then copied to a relatively bigger, faster secondary hard drive. 

Creating a replica of the hard drive implies all the original hard drive’s original data, including but not limited to the operating system, installed applications, and system configurations, are copied to a new hard drive.

The need for such disk cloning software arises when the user replaces the old hard drive with a new SSD drive. This is because while adding an incredibly faster and larger hard drive to a PC, you have to copy an existing hard drive content to a new drive to prevent your crucial data from wasting.  Eventually, your upgraded system will start working as it was previously but with a more disk space and speed.

Does Cloning Process Copy Programs as Well?

Disk cloning applications have garnered substantial acclaim due to their ability to copy all the pre-installed software in an existing PC.  Let’s look at the real-life scenario to widen our understanding of this topic.

One of the biggest problems while switching to a new PC is that all the data must be transferred to a new drive from the older one. Consequently, users are required to re-install, re-license, and re-configure some of the frequently-used Windows desktop applications. This process is painstakingly time-consuming and users are required to repay for the software they’ve already purchased. This is where the importance of disk cloning software comes into the picture.

Leveraging the power of disk cloning software, we can flawlessly transfer the PC data, including the licensed operating system and all the installed software.

Best Disk Cloning Software

So far, we’ve discussed some compelling reasons for embracing disk cloning software. Unfortunately, Windows 11 or any recent edition of Windows OS does not come with default disk cloning software; therefore, if you want to clone a Windows Operating System, you need to obtain a license from a third-party vendor. Some of the well-known and commonly-used products are discussed below.

Remember to check all the details of drive cloning software before deciding to purchase it. Try to reap the benefits of free trials to make sure the given solution can fulfill your needs.

• EaseUS Partition Master Free

Master Free is a highly-rated disk cloning and management tool developed by EaseUS. One of the biggest benefits of Master Free is that it allows the cloning of individual partitions and entire disks to any targeted drive. 

Leveraging its state-of-the-art disk cloning technology, it can merge, resize, or move any partition on an active drive. It indicates it can perform a few disk management tasks as well.

Another compelling feature of Partition Master is its ability to optimize SSD drive operations automatically. For instance, performing file system integrity tests, altering partition names and labels within Windows, and executing secure disk cleaning when required. While its free version comes with all the basic disk cloning features, its premium version offers extended support for re-sizing dynamic volume.

• Macrium Reflect 8 

Reflect is an unprecedented disk cloning and cleaning software developer by Macrium. The company boasted the achievement of creating an excellent image-based backup solution. The premium edition of Macrium Reflect 8 is equipped with some great and incredibly-efficient tools for disk imaging, settings, and backup functionality. 

On the flip side, the free edition allows disk cloning of active systems, the creation of image-based backup of drives, and complete support for SSD migrations. Above all, it can automatically resize partitions for larger disks when required. 

Furthermore, Reflect 8 is a winPE-based media recovery builder. This tool can flawlessly perform disk-image backup and recovers un-bootable systems. Besides, Reflect 8 free edition is packed with additional features such as rapid delta cloning, ransom protection features, AES 256-bit encryption and extensive support for automated scheduling of backups.

• MiniTool Partition Wizard

MiniTool Partition is a fantastic disk partition management tool designed specifically for Windows and features disk cloning capabilities. Like all the other disk cloning tools, it allows users to leverage some of its great features for free.

Partition Wizard lets the user clone an individual partition or a complete disk. On top of that, it allows resizing, creating, merging, and splitting partitions on the disk. Unfortunately, the free edition of this tool comes with a few limitations. For instance, active system disks can neither be copied nor migrated to SSD drives.

On the other hand, the premium edition of Partition Wizard offers some additional features, such as dedicated fools for automatic disk cloning and management. Besides, it offers a WinPE recovery tool and conversion of NFTS to FAT because a vast majority of the operating system still supports only FAT.

Conclusion

The demand for Windows 7 disk cloning applications has become more pronounced. With an upgradation of technologies, many users have to switch to new devices, so they desperately need the technology that assists them in this transition. 

Many software vendors have recently developed disk cloning utilities to address the burgeoning demand for such applications. These software manufacturers supplement their offerings by providing more advanced disk cloning functionality, partition management tools, and image-based backup with the upgraded version. That being said, we still recommend our users explore all the tool features using the free version before deciding to spend money.