How to Clone Dynamic Disk in Windows 11 (2 Ways)

You’ll learn how to clone dynamic disk for Windows 11 easily with 2 methods, including the easiest way you don’t need to convert disk. Continue reading for more details.

By @Clytze Last Updated December 4, 2024

Dynamic disks support advanced features like volume spanning, striping, and mirroring, making them crucial for users with complex storage configurations. Cloning a dynamic disk in Windows 11 is a good way to protect data, migrate systems, and recover from disasters.

Cloning ensures that all data, including system partitions and dynamic volumes, is replicated accurately, allowing for quick restoration in case of hardware failure or data corruption. If you need to clone a dynamic disk in Windows 11, keep reading.

How to Clone a Dynamic Disk in Windows 11

Below, we will introduce you to 2 methods of cloning dynamic disks.

Way 1. Clone Dynamic Disk after Converting Dynamic Disk to Basic Disk

To clone a dynamic disk in Windows 11, you need to convert the dynamic disk into a basic disk first. Then you can use the cloning software that is supplied with your computer to clone it.

Follow the steps to convert the dynamic disk to a basic disk using Disk Management:

Step 1. Press Win+R together to open the Run window and type diskmgmt.msc, then hit Enter.

Step 2. In the Disk Management page, right-click on the dynamic disk volume and select Delete Volume. Repeat this for every volume available on the disk drive.

Notes:✎...: When you delete all volumes of a dynamic disk, the data on the volume won’t be recovered. Therefore, if you have very important files on the disk, you need to backup them in advance.

Step 3. When all volumes have been deleted, select the disk and click Convert to Basic Disk. When prompted, type a new volume label.

After converting a dynamic disk to a basic disk, you can use the cloning software that comes with your disk to finish the clone task. For example, if you are a Samsung user, you can use the Samsung Data Migration Tool to clone the disk.

However, this kind of cloning software usually only supports their brand of disks. So if your disk doesn't have its cloning software or you want to find an easier way, you can use the second method to help you clone dynamic disk in Windows 11.

Way 2. Clone Dynamic Disk in Windows 11 without Converting Dynamic Disk

The second way is to use professional cloning software to clone dynamic disks, for example, AOMEI Backupper Professional, which supports all brands of computers and disks. And you don’t need to convert dynamic disk to basic disk. More importantly, you won’t lose any data on the dynamic disk.

AOMEI Backupper Professional offers three cloning options: Disk Clone, System Clone, and Partition Clone:

System Clone: Clones only the dynamic disk system.
Partition Clone: Clones a specific dynamic disk volume.
Disk Clone: Clones the entire dynamic disk, including both system and data volumes.

If you need to clone the entire dynamic disk, use System Clone for the system and Partition Clone for the data volume. AOMEI Backupper also offers several other useful features for seamless cloning.

This software also has the advantages below:

Secure boot: After cloning, you can boot your computer directly with the cloned disk.
Intelligent clone: By default, it only clones the used sectors so you can clone a larger HDD to a smaller SSD easily if you need to.
SSD alignment: If you want to clone a dynamic disk to an SSD, this feature can accelerate the reading and writing speed of the SSD.
Sector by sector clone: It will clone all sectors whether they are used or not.
Multiple disk types: It supports cloning hard disk to an external USB drive, SSD, HDD, etc.

Before you clone the dynamic disk in Windows 11, you need to do some preparation work:

Backup files: Since all the data on the target disk will be removed during the cloning process, you can backup your important files in advance.
Connect disk properly: Connect your target disk to your computer properly and make sure it can be detected.
Download software: Download the safe and professional disk cloning software - AOMEI Backupper Professional and install it.

Easiest Windows 11 dynamic disk clone software for personal use.

Download Free Trial Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7

Clone the Dynamic System with System Clone

Step 1. Open AOMEI Backupper Professional. Select Clone > System Clone.

Step 2. The source drive is your dynamic disk and it’s selected by default, you just need to choose a disk as the destination disk.

Step 3. If your destination disk is an SSD, please tick SSD Alignment to make the reading and writing speed faster. Confirm your operations and click Start Clone.

Notes:✎...: Sector by sector clone: If your destination disk is the same as or larger than your dynamic disk, you can tick this option. It will clone all sectors whether used or not.

Finishing touches

When the cloning process is complete, you can boot your computer from the cloned disk:

Restart your computer, press a specific key like F2/Del to enter the BIOS setting, and modify the boot order.
Set the target disk as the first boot order and press F10 to save the changes and exit.
Finally, your computer will boot from the cloned disk.

Clone Data Volume with Partition Clone

Now clone dynamic volume to your target disk. Open the software again and choose Partition Clone and select data partition. Then just follow the instructions on the screen.

When you have finished cloning the partition, congratulations, you have successfully cloned the entire dynamic disk without converting the disk. You can directly use the system and installed software and access all data at any time.

Bonus: Dynamic Disk vs Basic Disk

There are two types of computer hard disks in Windows 11 - basic disk and dynamic disk.

Basic Disk: The most common storage type in Windows, using primary and logical partitions that can be formatted with a file system. It is ideal for personal and home computer users.
Dynamic Disk: Managed by Logical Disk Manager (LDM) or Virtual Disk Services (VDS), dynamic disks offer advanced partitioning features. They are preferred by IT professionals for their enhanced functionality, stability, and speed.

Advantages of dynamic disk over basic disk:

Spanning Volumes: Dynamic disks allow you to create volumes that span multiple disks, maximizing the use of available disk space by combining unallocated space across disks.
Fault-Tolerant Volumes: You can create RAID-5 or mirrored volumes for added data protection and fault tolerance using dynamic disks.
Improved Performance: By creating striped volumes, you can save data across multiple hard disks, improving disk performance with faster read and write operations.

Why Clone Dynamic Disk in Windows 11?

As for why you need to clone a dynamic disk, this article summarizes the following common reasons.

Insufficient Space: If your dynamic disk doesn’t have enough space, cloning it to a larger disk is a solution.
Poor Performance: If the dynamic disk is causing slow computer performance and long boot times, cloning it to an SSD can improve speed and responsiveness.
Data Protection: Cloning ensures your system, software, and data are preserved, allowing you to continue as before after the clone.
Bootable Disk: The cloned disk can serve as a bootable drive, enabling you to boot your computer directly from it.

Summary

This article shows you 2 ways to clone a dynamic disk. If your computer has its cloning software, you can convert the dynamic disk to the basic disk first and then clone it directly. But converting the disk will lose all your data.

We recommend you choose the safer method which is using the professional third-party disk cloning software AOMEI Backupper Professional to clone dynamic disk in Windows 11. It allows you to clone only the dynamic disk system or dynamic disk volume or clone the entire dynamic disk based on your own needs.

After cloning, you can boot your computer directly from the cloned disk and then you can use your computer and software as before and access your data whenever you want. By the way, it supports all Windows PC operating systems.

If you are a Windows Server user, you can try the AOMEI Backupper Server. you can download this software to explore more features.