The 1GB rescue media USB you created via Macrium Reflect (not your 8GB Windows Installation If everything worked, return to your boot menu and prioritise Your PC should restart and appear identical to your oldĭrive, though it might be a little slower the first time around.

Now discard any changes and continue loading the PC. Preferences, you'll likely need to save when you exit the BIOS/UEFI, but for When you eventually get to the stage of changing boot Memorise the name of your current primary boot drive, but don't Selecting drives from drop-down menus or by clicking arrows to move them up orĭown in a list. Should be clearly labelled and boot preferences are normally adjusted by There are two ways of doing this, depending on yourīIOS/UEFI menus change depending on the PC, but the boot section To change boot preferences, you need to access your BIOS Your Windows Installation USB in case of emergency. It's best to learn how to access and use it before you get into the nitty gritty to avoid frustration. Need this menu at least twice during the cloning process, but probably more if things don't go smoothly. Learning how to change Windows boot preferencesįamiliarise yourself with your PC's boot preferences. Right-click on the Start menu icon and select Disk Management. You might need to initialise and create a new volume on your new drive. the ability to connect both drives to your PC at.your new drive, wiped clean and formatted to.When it comes to cloning your drive, free third-party software such as AOMEI Backupper Standard and Macrium Reflect are good replacements for Windows' old tools. What to do if your cloned drive won't load Windows.Learning how to change Windows boot preferences.Unfortunately, Microsoft no longer supports Windows' built-in full-disk backup feature, which could once be used to create replica drives.Īs a result, while you can still easily create a system image via Windows, applying that image to any drive other than the original is now fraught with setbacks and bugs.

You can also make a portable system drive that you can plug into another PC,Įssentially creating a portable, plug-and-play Windows experience.īoth of these are easiest done via cloning to create an exact copy You can boost your PC’s performance and storage space by upgrading your main system drive, which is the drive your operating system runs from.

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