How to clone Windows 11 without spending a penny?

[kittensinurface]

How to clone Windows 11 without spending a penny?

 

[Xploit Machine]

Most disk cloning / Windows backup tools are paid, for example Macrium Reflect is fast, reliable and easy to restore. However I can give you an old tool (Norton Ghost DOS Edition) whereby you can make it as bootable via USB / CD / DVD and which is FREEWARE nowadays, but the backup will take longer time compared with newer advanced tools .. because Norton Ghost compression uses older method ..​

 

[The Shadow 2023]

Using Ghost 11.5 , for instance, you can select FAST Compression, to save time, or HIGH Compression when you have limited space on the TO: drive. (or NO compression at all, if you so desire)

I use it every week, to make a Backup Image of my C: partition. Normal backup time, after I've cleaned all the crap out of my C: drive, is about 15 minutes.

I wrote my own Cleanup.bat program to delete all the temp files out of my C: drive. That takes only seconds to run!
I always use that program before I ever do a Backup. I don't like backing up thousands of junk files.

I've shared that little batch file, with people all over the US and five foreign countries.

Happy Holidays
Shadow

 

[Bighorn]

Check out this sweet free tool called Macrium Reflect. It's been my go-to for cloning Windows without breaking the bank. Easy peasy, and it gets the job done.

Doesn't seem to be fully free anymore.

 

[Grizzly]

Major geeks still has the Version 8.0 which is still free but support for it will end by the end of the year

https://download.macrium.com/reflect/v8/v8.0.7783/reflect_setup_free_x64.exe

The Version 8.1 is a trial Version

 

[The Shadow 2023]

I fist used Ghost , in a little PC shop, where I worked, years ago. Probably around 1997-1998.
With only a few mods it still works as good today as it did then. I got a copy for FREE then, and I can still get it for FREE today.

It was purchased from the authors by Symantec, somewhere around 1998, and they modified it to work with NTFS formats.
That was ver. 11.x.
Some years later, Symantec abandoned it. Broadcom, another company, got a hold of it and wrapped it in a Windows 10 Shell. I've run that version, booting it from a USB Flash Drive, and it runs very well, just as easy and as reliable as ever.

It's also available for download, any where, any time, as an ISO file.

Symantec Ghost Boot CD 2021 Free Download

Symantec Ghost Boot CD 2021 Free Download Latest Version. It is full offline installer standalone setup of Symantec Ghost Boot CD 2021.

getintopc.com

Just download the ISO, burn it to a Flash Drive, with Rufus, and enjoy the same program I've been enjoying for 26 years.
A Clone is known as a "Disk to Disk" copy.
For a weekly backup of C:\, I use the "Partition to Image" option, writing the image file to a second HD.

Good luck, and Merry Christmas,
Shadow

 

[Bighorn]

A Clone is known as a "Disk to Disk" copy.

For that purpose I use an Eaxer Dual-Drive Dock for hardware cloning, cannot be connected to any computer for the process of copying byte for byte. It accepts a Source drive and a Destination drive of same or larger size. But it does require removing the Source drive from the computer.

One thing not always mentioned in cloning or even in backups is first doing the Error Checking and Optimizing/Defragging of the Source drive before doing it to assure problems with a file/s don't cause the process to fail.

 

[monkeylove]

Also, Hasleo Backup Suite.

 

[yodap]

Also, Hasleo Backup Suite.

Looks decent. I’ll be testing, thanks.

 

[The Shadow 2023]

I've used Ghost 11.5 to clone two drives today. It reads a disk file by file and fragmentation has no effect on the process.
But if cleaning up a drive and defragging it before you Clone it, makes you feel good, then by all means do it.
That can't hurt!
I've cloned hundreds of drives with Ghost, so I don't even think about any prep work anymore.
But if I knew that a drive was really nasty, I might clean it up before cloning it.
Shadow

 

[Bastet]

Macrium Reflect Free link: https://updates.macrium.com/reflect/v8/ReflectDLHF.exe

 

[Bill Shannon]

I've used Ghost 11.5 to clone two drives today. It reads a disk file by file and fragmentation has no effect on the process.
But if cleaning up a drive and defragging it before you Clone it, makes you feel good, then by all means do it.
That can't hurt!
I've cloned hundreds of drives with Ghost, so I don't even think about any prep work anymore.
But if I knew that a drive was really nasty, I might clean it up before cloning it.
Shadow

does it work with win 11pro?