The process of disk cloning or disc cloning entails copying the contents from a floppy disk, CD, or hard drive to an image file, then moving them to another destination. The difference between a standard copy and a disk clone is that the intermediate “imaging” step brings over both hidden files, and files currently in use. Disk cloning can save time when creating and formatting a partition and installing operating system software. However, it may also present issues of its own, such as unused sector copying.

Disk cloning has many uses ranging from installing a new hard drive, to full system recovery via backup, restoration or reboot. There is also a commercial use for disk cloning. It allows companies to set up new computers without having to install individual programs on identical machines.

Hard drive, Hard drive terms, Network, Partition, Reformatting, Software application

  • How to clone a disk in Windows.
  • How to set up a hard drive and partition in Windows.
  • Hard drive help and support.