3 Simple Ways to Copy Contents of One Hard Drive to a New Hard Drive

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Learn how to copy one hard drive to another

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Preparing to Copy

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Copying on Windows

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Copying on Mac

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Tips

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Warnings

This How.com.vn teaches you how to copy everything that's on your computer's hard drive onto a separate external or internal hard drive. You can do this by using either Todo for Windows or the built-in Disk Utility on Mac.

Things You Should Know

You should back up your hard drive in case the transfer is unsuccessful, so you have something to use instead of losing everything.
If you're using Windows, there is free software out there that will help you copy one drive to another.
If you're using a Mac, use the built-in Disk Utility program.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Preparing to Copy

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1
Make sure that you have the new hard drive. Your new hard drive must be larger than the space that's currently occupied on the hard drive that you want to copy. If you're creating a clone of your hard drive, the new hard drive must be at least the same size. There are two types of hard drives to which you can copy your old hard drive's contents:
- Internal - A hard drive that sits inside of your computer's housing.
- External - A hard drive that connects to your computer via a USB cable. Most external hard drives will work on any computer, though in some cases you must format the hard drive before using it.
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Buy an adapter for your hard drive if necessary. If you're copying your hard drive's contents onto another internal drive, you'll need a USB adapter so that you can attach the new hard drive to your computer.
- There are two types of hard drive connections: SATA, which has a narrow cable attaching the connector to the drive, and IDE, which has a several-inch-wide cable attaching the connector to the drive.
- You can buy SATA-to-USB and IDE-to-USB adapters online or in tech department stores such as Best Buy.
- If you're using a Mac, make sure that you get a USB-C to SATA/IDE adapter rather than a USB 3.0 version, as Macs no longer have USB 3.0 ports.
EXPERT TIP
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Many PCs and Macs have SATA hard drives installed. The process involves removing the SATA drive and connecting it to another system using a SATA-to-USB adapter. You can easily copy your data to a new system through a file manager or, with Macs, through Migration Assistant.
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Back up your computer. Creating a backup on a separate drive is optional, but recommended in case something goes wrong during the copying.
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Attach your hard drive to your computer. Plug the hard drive's USB cable into the computer's USB slot. If you're using an internal hard drive with an adapter, make sure that the hard drive is firmly connected to the adapter as well.
- If you're using an external hard drive on a Mac, you may need to format the drive before you can store your hard drive's contents on it.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Copying on Windows

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Go to https://www.easeus.com/backup-software/tb-free.html in your browser.
It's a dark-blue button in the middle of the page.
Do so below the "Free" heading. A pop-up window will appear.
You'll do this in the pop-up window.
It's at the top of the window. The EaseUS Todo setup file will begin downloading to your computer.
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Install Todo. Double-click the Todo setup file, then do the following:
- Click Yes when prompted.
- Select a language and click OK
- Click Next
- Click Accept
- Click Next
- Uncheck the "Join in the Customer Experience Improvement program" box and click Next
- Click Next
- Uncheck the "McAfee" box and click Next
This will complete the installation and launch Todo.
It's in the bottom-right corner of the window.
You'll find this at the top of the window.
It's in the upper-left corner of the window.
This is in the bottom-right corner of the window.
12
Select your new hard drive. Scroll down and check the "Hard disk" box near the bottom of the window. This should be your attached hard drive.
- If your new hard drive is a solid state drive (SSD), click Advanced options in the bottom-left corner and then click Optimize for SSD in the pop-up menu before proceeding.
It's in the bottom-right corner of the window.
Doing so will prompt Todo to begin copying your hard drive's contents onto the attached hard drive.
This can take several hours to complete. Once the process finishes, Todo will notify you.
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Eject your hard drive from your computer. Click the flash drive-shaped icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen and click Eject in the pop-up menu, then physically detach the drive from your computer when Windows tells you that it's safe to do so.
- You may first have to click ^ in the bottom-right corner of the screen to view the flash drive icon.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Copying on Mac

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Click the Apple menu
, click Restart..., and click Restart Now when prompted.
Do so immediately after your Mac begins to restart.
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Wait for the Apple logo to appear. You should keep holding down the keys during this time.
- You may also see a spinning globe appear here.
As soon as you see the spinning globe or Earth icon, release the keys. You should now be at the recovery screen.
It's a grey hard drive icon in the window.
This is in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
Click the attached hard drive's name in the top-left side of the page.
This menu item is at the top of the Mac's screen. A drop-down menu will appear.
It's at the top of the drop-down menu.
You'll find this in the middle of the window.
It's in the drop-down menu.
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Click Restore. This blue button is in the bottom-right corner of the window. Clicking it prompts your hard drive to begin backing up to the external hard drive. This can take several hours to complete.
- If you get a "Restoration Failed" error, turn off FileVault and try again.
It's in the bottom-right corner of the window. Your original hard drive is now backed up to the new hard drive.
Click the red circle in the top-left corner of the window.
It's on the left side of the window.
Doing so will restart your computer.
Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen. A drop-down menu will appear.
It's near the top of the Apple drop-down menu.
This grey hard drive icon is in the middle of the System Preferences window.
Click the lock icon in the bottom-left corner of the window, then enter your account password when prompted.
Click the yellow attached hard drive's icon at the top of the window.
It's on the right side of the window.
Doing so will reboot your Mac from the new hard drive, which will ensure that the hard drive is used as a bootable drive on any other Mac.
This can take several minutes.
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Switch back to the original hard drive. To do so:
- Open the Apple menu
- Click System Preferences...
- Click Startup Disk
- Unlock the menu.
- Click the original (grey) hard drive.
- Click Restart..., then click Restart when prompted.
Open Finder and click the triangle-shaped "Eject" button to the right of your attached hard drive's name on the left side of the window. When prompted, you can physically detach the drive from your Mac.

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Tips

If you don't want to directly clone your hard drive, you can instead create a disk image. A disk image is a massive file that stores all of the information from your computer, but you can't boot from it the same way that you can boot from a cloned hard drive.
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Warnings

Never disconnect the drive while copying information onto it. Similarly, never disconnect a drive without first ejecting it.
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