/PowerMyMac /Guide on How to Clone Mac Hard Drive to SSD
Generally, it is recommended to clone the hard drive of your Mac in case you decide to upgrade the hard drive with a solid state drive (SSD), replace an old or corrupted drive with a new one or if you are going to create a bootable hard drive. In most cases, all these demands can be achieved with the help of cloning.
When it comes to the cloning topic, what do you expect from the process? If you are planning to clone Mac hard drive to SSD, let us take a close look at what is the cloning process all about. Generally, it is recommended to clone the hard drive of your Mac in case you decide to upgrade the hard drive with a solid state drive (SSD), replace an old or corrupted drive with a new one or if you are going to create a bootable hard drive.
In most cases, all these demands can be achieved with the help of cloning. Essentially, when you clone the hard drive, you will no longer worry about reinstalling the operating system as well as transfer folders, files, applications and some configurations on the new hard disk. Another advantage with the cloning process is that if you have a duplicate hard drive with setup volume, it can aid in booting your Mac easily in case of unexpected disasters.
Article GuideWhat are solid state drives (SSDs)?How to clone Mac hard drive to SSDShould I backup or clone?Let's wrap it up
Before you decide to clone Mac hard drive to SSD, let us take a close look at SSDs. Solid state drives or SSDs utilize flash memory to keep data. If built into a computer, they are usually seen as chips on the circuit board. You can also find them in 2.5” format that you can install in a laptop or an external enclosure.
Generally, SSDs are quiet, compact and fast, especially if you are starting up a computer or waking up the device. Remember that hard disks might go into sleep mode when not used for a certain span of time and takes a few seconds to spin up. SSDs also utilize less power, run cooler, lighter and do not have any movable parts which make them suitable for laptops.
When you accidentally drop your laptop when the hard drive is spinning, there is a likelihood for the drive to be damaged and lose data. SSDs are generally more dependable, and in case they fail, you can still read data whereas you cannot do this with a hard disk.
Nevertheless, SSDs are considered as a costly option if you are considering the cost to storage ratio. At present, you can purchase an 8TB external drive for less than $150 while that same amount of money will only provide you with a 500GB SSD.
People Also Read:How to Partition A Hard Drive on Mac?How to upgrade your MacBook Pro with an SSD?
There are several reasons why it is best to boot from an external hard drive. In case you prefer to keep your files synchronized from a desktop and laptop, enlarge your storage or have an on-hand bootable backup duplicate of your system, there is an unseen feature in Disk Utility that makes the process an easy task.
Essentially, booting from an external hard drive is usually slower, even if you are using the latest Thunderbolt or the USB-C drives. They are relatively sluggish than the solid state drives (SSDs) that are found in most of the latest Macs. Although this is not suggested for daily use, it is a possible option.
If you are going to clone Mac hard drive to SSD, it is recommended to use Disk Utility.Simply open Disk Utility from the Spotlight (Command+Space) or on the Utility folder in your applications. You will be presented with a list of all the volumes including the internal hard drive and the external hard drive. Video making apps for mac.
It is important to note that the “Restore” option in Disk Utility will work by copying the files from the backup to your core drive. It is ideally intended to the utilized for Recovery mode to reinstate the hard drive in case a failure occurs.
Once you decide to set your external drive as the restore target, you can switch that action around and copy files from the main drive to the backup. Choose your external drive in the sidebar, tap on the “Restore” button in the menu and select your main drive as the “Restore From” option. You have the option to choose an ISO image, but it does not have much use.
Tap on the “Restore” button and Disk Utility will initiate the copying process. In most cases, the process is relatively a long one which is based on the speediness of your external drive as well as its link to your Mac. Due to this, it is recommended to have a rapid hard drive with USB-C, Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 connections.
Once Disk Utility completes the task, you can turn off your Mac and press on the Option when it starts to restart again. You will be presented with the boot switcher and you are allowed to boot from the external hard drive. You can utilize your Mac as usual but remember that it is separate from the installation on the main internal hard drive. Take note that any settings that you alter or files that are saved there will not be reflected on the primary installation.
You can perform the same process in a reverse manner if there is a need to copy the files back over or to restore the backup in case your computer malfunctions.
Generally, hard disks can be backed up or cloned. Remember that there are differences between the two with their own advantages and drawbacks.
If you are going to back up a hard drive, the entire content of the chosen drive or partition is backed up into a file on the targeted location. All data is saved into a single file. When a complete backup of the hard drive is carried out, the whole operating system along with the installed applications and settings are also set aside. The file can be protected or encrypted with a password.
The advantage of this approach is no other than simple management since a single file contains the whole backup. You can also compress the backup file so that it utilizes less space.
As for a drawback, you need a backup software to be able to reinstate the system or data to a previous state or to access documents and files. Big hits slots. Top 10 best online casinos.
If you are going to duplicate or clone Mac hard drive to SSD, a copy of the drive is created directly on the target location. This simply means that you have an instant copy including the hard disk structure. A cloned disk or drive includes all the partitions from the source drive or disk.
An advantage with cloning is that the data is directly copied to the specified location and can be utilized and edited directly. The duplicated system drive which includes the operating system can be mounted as a fresh drive and booted right away.
As for the drawbacks, a clone requires more space since the partitions are created immediately on the targeted disk. Due to this, it is not likely to compress or add encryption to the data.
If there is a need for a backup to be created regularly, it is recommended to opt for the hard drive backup. This usually takes up less space and allows the creation of extra backups.
In case you require a bootable extra drive to be operational after an unforeseen crash and to lessen the downtime period, it is best to clone Mac hard drive to SSD.
Generally, both methods have been proven to be the ideal choice. A consistent drive backup for daily data along with a clone of the system drive is essential for easy accessibility in case of emergencies.
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This page provides a detailed tutorial guide to help you transfer OS to a new hard drive without reinstalling the Windows OS and applications. Some follow-up tips about setting up computer boot from the new disk will also be included.
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System partition out of disk space is a common problem that may cause the computer to run extremely slowly. The most frequent way is to extend system partition with a free partition manager software. But what if your system disk is used up?
Usually, increasing the overall capacity of computers by adding a new disk is a way out. However, using the new disk as a second data hard drive is not the best workout. It will be wiser to transfer the entire OS hard drive to a new hard drive, switching the system disk.
So how to switch the whole system disk, including the OS, applications, and data to the new drive? Continue reading, you will find a reliable disk copy software that will help you out, moving OS with data to a new disk in only a few clicks.
Obviously, you don't want to spend a lot of time and energy reinstalling the OS and all applications again on the new hard disk. Unlike data transferring, installed programs can't be moved to another drive by simply pressing Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V.
An all in one resolution for you to transfer Windows OS, installed applications, and disk data to a new larger hard drive is to clone whole system disk to the new drive.
To do so, you will need a professional disk cloning software for help. EaseUS Disk Copy enables you to transfer OS to new hard drive with a few clicks.
To guarantee a smooth OS disk migration process, please activate this tool to a pro version in advance. Click the button and gain an activation key immediately:
Designed with an intuitive interface, any levels of users can apply it to transfer OS to the new hard drive/SSD on Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP without reinstalling operating system and applications.
Follow through the OS disk migration process and set up your OS bootable on the new drive now:
Step 1: Download, install and run EaseUS Disk Copy on your PC.
Click 'Disk Mode' and select the hard drive that you want to copy or clone. Click 'Next' to continue.
Step 2: Select the destination disk.
Note: The destination disk should be at least the same big or even larger than the source disk if you want to copy or clone the source hard disk.
Step 3: Click 'OK' to confirm if the program asks to erase data on the destination disk.
Step 4: Check and edit the disk layout.
If your destination disk is an SSD drive, do remember to Check the option if the target is SSD.
Step 5: Click 'Proceed' to start the hard drive cloning process.
After cloning, you are not done yet. One more operation that you need to follow - setting up the computer, booting OS from new hard drive:
Step 1. Restart PC and press F2/F12/Del keys to enter BIOS.
Step 2. Go the boot option, change the boot order, setting OS to boot from the new disk.
Step 3. Save the changes, exit BIOS, and restart PC.
Wait patiently to let the computer boot up. You will find that nothing changed on your computer, the OS is bootable, the applications are functional, and the data are safely saved on the disk.
The only thing changed is that you have switched the disk and you can delete everything on the old disk, using it as a second data drive by now.
On this page, we covered a complete process of guiding you to switch system disk, moving OS to a new hard drive or SSD without reinstalling OS and applications using EaseUS Disk Copy.
Also remember to follow the OS drive setting-up guide, making Windows bootable on the new drive. The provided method on this page also works to migrate OS to SSD disk, such as migrating OS to M.2 SSD.
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