AOMEI Backupper
Create a Bootable Clone of Windows 10 (Max 5 Steps )
You will learn how to create a bootable clone of Windows 10 and boot from it successfully. You don't need to reinstall Windows.
By Ivy Updated on July 3, 2024
🌟 Video Guide: How to Create Bootable Clone in Windows 10
Can I create a bootable clone of Windows 10?
“My Lenovo computer with Windows 10 is preinstalled on HDD. My computer run slower and slower recently, so I bought a new SSD. I want to clone Windows 10 boot drive to SSD and make it bootable. I don’t want to reinstall Windows 10 from scratch because the cloned Windows 10 won’t boot. Is there any software that can do this? Any suggestion will be appreciated.”
In fact, you can find many hard drive cloning software on the market, such as AOMEI Backupper Professional, which helps you make a bootable clone of Windows 10 successfully. It will include the operating system, system files, drivers, installed programs, personal data, etc. on your Windows 10 boot drive by cloning them. So you don't need to worry about errors, such as inaccessible boot device.
The biggest advantage is to get peak performance while preserving OS, programs, personal data, etc., on the old disk. Cloning boot drive in Windows 10 to SSD will dramatically boost your computer's performance. Typical 7200 RPM drives have read/write speeds of 80-160 MB/s. Standard SATA SSDs, on the other hand, have read/write speeds of 200 MB/s to 550 MB/s. Meanwhile, NVMe M. 2 SSDs can reach speeds in excess of 5000 MB/s.
FREE download Windows 10 bootable clone software
It's disappointing that all versions of Windows do not have cloning software. Thus, you can opt for third-party disk cloning software. Here I strongly recommend you use AOMEI Backupper Professional to perform bootable clone in Windows 10. You can also bootable clone Windows 10 from USB.
AOMEI Backupper- Has a user-friendly interface and easy to operate.
- Clone bootable hard drive or system in Windows 10 to new HDD or SSD, even smaller one.
- Intelligent clone: clone only used sectors of a drive by default, making it easy to clone large HDD to smaller SSD without boot issues. It also helps to clone hard drive with bad sectors by ignoring them.
- Edit Partitions: Adjust partition size on the destination disk manually or automatically or convert disk type (MBR or GPT), making it possible to clone MBR disk to GPT and vice versa, and the cloned drive shows full capacity.
- SSD Alignment: It supports 4K alignment technology to improve the reading and writing speed of an SSD disk.
- Bootable clone Windows 10 from USB: Embedded with the Make Bootable Media feature, it allows you to create a bootable USB and clone Windows 10 from it.
100% SecureAOMEI Backupper Professional is fully compatible with Windows 7, 8, 10, 11, etc, you can download it to bootable clone Windows 10. For server users, try AOMEI Backupper Server or TechPlus edition.
How to make cloned drive bootable in Windows 10
You will learn to clone boot drive in Windows 10 and make the cloned drive bootable with the help of AOMEI Backupper Professional. You need to choose a cloning method, depending if you want to clone the entire disk.
Here we will create a bootable clone of Windows 10 step by step using the Disk Clone feature.
Step 1. Start this Windows 10 bootable clone software - AOMEI Backupper Professional. Then, click Disk Clone under the Clone tab.
Step 3. Select Windows 10 boot drive as the source disk and click Next.
Step 4. Select a new hard drive or SSD as the destination disk and click Next.
Please note all data on the destination hard drive or SSD will be overwritten. If there are any critical files, please backup files in advance.
Step 5. Check SSD Alignment if your new disk is an SSD. It will accelerate the reading and writing speed of an SSD disk. Then, confidently click Start Clone to clone boot drive in Windows 10, even if the new disk is smaller. Because this software enables intelligent cloning, by default, only the used sectors of this boot disk will be cloned.
If your target disk is a large drive, you may encounter the cloned drive not showing full capacity issue unless you resize it with the Edit Partitions feature. You have 3 options in the following:
👉Copy without resizing partitions: It will not resize the partition size.
👉Add unused space to all partitions: It will reallocate the unallocated space to each partition of the target disk, appropriate for the disk size.
👉Manually adjust partition size: It allows you to extend unallocated space to any partition on the destination disk you want.
You can also use it to convert the destination disk from MBR to GPT or vice versa while cloning MBR to GPT or GPT to MBR. It resolves the cloned drive wont boot due to disk partition style
-
Don't check Sector by sector clone while cloning large HDD to smaller SSD. The cloned SSD may fail to boot due to missing any boot files.
-
To get the best performance of a disk after cloning, it's suggested to transfer Windows 10 to NVMe. Because it has the fastest transfer speed.
-
To clone Windows 10 from bootable USB, you just need to create a bootable USB in advance.
How to boot from cloned drive in Windows 10
Now, you already have a bootable clone of Windows 10. To be sure it is bootable, replace it with a Windows 10 system disk, and try to boot from it.
1. Shut down your computer completely. Switch the old hard disk and cloned drive.
2. Restart your computer and press “F2” or “ESC” key to enter BIOS.
3. Go to the Boot tab and set the new hard drive as the default boot option, then save changes and exit this window.
4. After that, your computer will boot from the cloned hard drive automatically. If not, your disk is unbootable or something goes wrong.
What if the cloned hard drive not bootable?
In fact, there are many examples online of cloned disks that won't boot. But don't worry too much, here are some clues to help you out.
1️⃣ Wrong boot disk or mode.
If your computer does not boot from the cloned drive automatically, you need to check if it is the first boot option. If you clone MBR to GPT or vice versa, you need to switch boot mode from Legacy to UEFI or UEFI to Legacy.
2️⃣ Insufficient disk space.
This happens when cloning a large drive to a smaller drive (HDD or SSD). Be sure the smaller drive is larger than or equal to the used space of the large drive. If not, delete unnecessary files, uninstall useless programs, backup large files and delete it, etc.
3️⃣ Missing boot partition or files.
Check if the cloned drive contains the system reserved partition or EFI system partition. If not, you may encounter the cloned drive won't boot issue.
4️⃣ Extra storage devices.
Your computer connects a third storage device and the cloning software mistakenly recognizes it as a target drive.
5️⃣ Damaged MBR.
If your computer is still not bootable, it's likely to be damaged MBR or BCD. Try to boot from the installation disk or recovery disk, and repair MBR using bootrec command. Press “Shift + F10” in the first Windows Setup screen and type the following commands one by one. Remember to press Enter after each one.
- bootrec.exe /fixmbr
- bootrec.exe /fixboot
- bootrec.exe /scanos
- bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd
Wrapping things up
You can easily create a bootable clone ofWindows 10with the help ofdisk cloning software- AOMEI Backupper Professional, whether the target disk is a large HDD or smaller SSD, and make the cloned drive bootable. You can even clone MBR disk to GPT and clone GPT disk to MBR successfully.
And it offers you some useful features to make this process go smoothly. For example, add unused space to all partitions automatically or specific partitions (require human intervention) to be sure the cloned drive show full capacity. Also, you can clone OS only with theSystem Clone feature. In a simple word, it's worth trying!
FAQs on bootable clone Windows 10
Q1: Does Windows 10 have a cloning tool?
In a short answer, NO. All versions of Windows only provide users with backup software, such as File History, Backup, and Restore, etc. and they don't include a clone feature.
Q2: Will a cloned disk be bootable?
In general, the answer is YES. A cloning software will clone the operating system, system reserved partition, or EFI partition, as well as other boot files required to start a computer.
Q3: How to create a copy of Windows 10 bootable USB?
You can use the Create Bootable Media feature in AOMEI Backupper to create a copy of Windows 10 bootable USB. You can also use it on another PC and boot from both Legacy and UEFI modes.
- Open AOMEI Backupper, go to the Tools tab and click Create Bootable Media.
- In the "Bootable Disc Type" window, select Windows PE and click Next.
- In the "Select Bootable Media" window, select USB boot device and click Next.
Q4: Can I clone a bootable USB?
Yes, you can easily clone bootable USB to another with the Disk Clone feature in AOMEI Backupper.
- Open AOMEI Backupper, go to the Clone tab and select Disk Clone.
- Then, select the bootable USB and another USB respectively. Click Next.
- Finally, click Start Clone to clone bootable USB to another one.
Q5: Do I need to format the disk before cloning?
If it is a brand new disk, you need to initialize disk so that Windows detects it. Otherwise, the cloning software will not be able to detect it either. Once found, it will deal with necessary formatting during the disk cloning process.
- Open Disk Management, right-click the new disk and select Initialize Disk.
- Then, select MBR or GPT disk partition style, depending on your old disk,and click OK.
Q6: How to check the disk partition style of a drive
- Press Win + R to open the Run window. Then, type diskmgmt.msc and hit OK to open disk management.
- Then, right-click the disk you want to clone and select Properties in the pop-up window.
- In the Properties window, select the Volume tab and confirm the partition style. It can be MBR (Master Boot Record) or GPT (GUID Partition Table).
