Disk cloning tools are designed to create backups of your data to restore it when it is necessary. Backups can be stored on a local or external disk, and in case your original hard drive is damaged, you can avoid reinstalling system programs by quickly swapping it with the clone. Check out our list of free and reliable tools that will help you make an exact copy of your hard disk.
Licence
Special features
Incremental backup
OS migration
Backup schedule
Supported OS
Macrium Reflect
Besides disk cloning tools, Macrium Reflect offers disk imaging and free backup features. Recover non-booting systems, schedule backups, and make images of your operating system. In addition, Macrium Reflect can back up data to local, USB, and networked drives. It works with FAT 12/16/32, exFAT, NTFS, HFS+ and ReFS and is available for Windows 10, 8.1/8, 7, Vista, and XP.
Main window
Features
- Makes images of a running OS.
- Supports differential images.
- Restores non-booting systems.
- Hyper-V VM allows booting backups in seconds.
- Schedules backups.
Advantages
- Free license is suitable for business use.
- Malware protection.
- Encrypts backups.
- Increases disk space by rapid delta cloning.
Disadvantages
- No support for incremental cloning in the free version.
- Not very good for making offsite backups.
EASEUS Todo Backup
EaseUS Todo Backup is a free backup tool that offers disk, system, file, and partition cloning. The tool clones a disk or partition sector by sector without affecting your original data. The solution supports incremental and differential backup types and works with hardware RAID, UEFI boot, and various kinds of SSDs and HDDs. EaseUS Todo Backup is available on Windows 10, 8.1/8, 7, Vista, and XP.
Main window
Features
- Backs up systems, files, disks, partitions.
- Schedule backups.
- Incremental and differential backups.
Advantages
- No impact on your original data.
- Works with network-shared data.
- Supports multiple kinds of SSDs and HDDs.
Disadvantages
- No option to clone a larger disk to a smaller one.
- Annoying ads offering to buy the software.
Paragon Backup & Recovery Free Edition
Paragon Backup and Recovery performs most common disk cloning operations. It manages your hard disk partitions and keeps your disk organized. The tool automatically changes the size of transferred partitions and works with a broad array of devices, including USB memory sticks and external hard drives. The free version of Paragon Backup and Recovery is based on the powerful professional edition, which comes at the price of $79,95 per 3 PC. The software is available for Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.
Backup tasks
Features
- Organizes your disks.
- Clones hard drives.
- Supports various file systems.
- Copies operating systems to USB flash drives.
- Migrates OS from HDD to SSD.
- Restores data to a hard disk with different sector sizes.
- Performs partitioning operations.
Advantages
- Comes with disk-management tools.
- Restores individual files.
- Various compression options.
- Multimedia data recovery.
- Supports differential backups.
Disadvantages
- A bit slow.
- No option to check whether the restore is successful.
AOMEI Backupper Free
AOMEI Backupper will help you transfer your operating system to another drive without the need to install it again. The solution offers to create various backup types, including automatic, full, incremental, differential, and sector-by-sector. Secure your operating system and programs by creating system images. The solution runs on Windows 10, 8.1/8, 7, Vista, and XP.
Main window
Features
- Backs up and restores disks, partitions, files and folders.
- Supports various backup types.
- Handles GPT and MBR partition styles.
- Supports various storage devices.
- Hyper-V, Virtual box, VMware virtual disk.
Advantages
- Supports disk, partition, and system cloning.
- Works with shared network drives.
- Copies boot records.
- Clones one disk to another without disturbing an operating system.
Disadvantages
- The free version is slower than paid ones.
- Occasional interface glitches.
MiniTool Partition Wizard
Minitool Partition Wizard is a free program that allows you to clone entire disks, manage and align SSD partitions, monitor file system, transcode MBR to GPT, and migrate your operating system to another HDD or SSD. The solution works with a wide range of storage devices, including HDDs, SSDs, SSHD, external HDD, USB Flash Drive, SD card, Hardware RAID and Dynamic Disk. Minitool Partition Wizard runs on Windows 10, 8.1/8, 7, Vista, and XP.
Main window
Features
- Supports various storage devices.
- Works with different file systems.
- Disk benchmark.
- Space analyzer.
- Converts FAT to NTFS.
- Partition management.
Advantages
- Checks which files consume too much disk space.
- Migrates OS to SSD.
- Recovers data.
- Restores lost partitions.
- Comes with a portable mode.
Disadvantages
- Lacks tools to manage dynamic disks.
- Displays options that are available only in the Pro version.
Conclusion
We've created a round up of popular free disk-cloning programs, provided all the necessary details that will help you get acquainted with the functionality of each of the tools and compared their capabilities. We find out that the most useful tool is EaseUS Todo Backup. It offers automated, full, and incremental backup options, supports network shared data and OS migration.
What cloning tools worked for you? Share your picks with us and we will add them to our comparison list.
According to the above, none of the 5 runs on Windows 11. Maybe this article is very old.
Clonezilla, it's amazing!