Can I Clone a Damaged Hard Drive [Detailed Guide]

Do you want to clone all the data on the damaged hard drive to a new one? This article can enlighten you, so let's learn more about cloning a damaged hard drive.

Can I Clone a Damaged Hard Drive

Usually, if a hard disk is physically damaged, making it impossible for the computer to recognize and access data, it cannot be cloned. The premise of cloning a damaged hard drive is that the computer can recognize the target hard disk. A damaged hard drive will cause an accumulation of bad sectors, the computer running slow, start failure, strange sounds, and so on.

Still, if you are lucky enough that your hard drive is only externally damaged and your computer can access it, you can try to clone it using a cloning tool to avoid data loss. Hence, it's important to choose and use a reliable cloning tool.

However, Windows doesn't provide built-in tools to clone a damaged hard drive, so you must choose a reliable third-party tool. Continue to read, and you can learn a professional, safe, and efficient cloning tool, EaseUS Partition Master Professional.

Efficient and Safe Third-Party Cloning Software - EaseUS Partition Master

EaseUS Partition Master is a trustworthy cloning tool, and its "cloning disk" feature allows users to clone an externally damaged hard drive with simple clicks efficiently. It supports all Windows versions and is easy to use. Furthermore, it can clone a hard drive sector-by-sector so the process can be finished quickly. Download it and follow the guide to clone your target hard drive.

There is a note for you to make the cloning process smooth:

1. 1. Make sure the target hard drive has enough space for the source hard drive.
2. 2. Back up the target drive in case your data is rewritten.

Here are the steps on how to clone a hard drive:

Step 1. Select the source disk.

• Click the "Clone" from the left menu. Select the "Clone OS Disk" or "Clone Data Disk"  and click "Next".
• Choose the source disk and click "Next".

Step 2. Select the target disk.

• Choose the wanted HDD/SSD as your destination and click "Next" to continue.
• Read Warning message and confirm "Yes" button.

Step 3. View the disk layout and edit the target disk partition size. 

Then click "Continue" when the program warns it will wipe out all data on the target disk. (If you have valuable data on the target disk, back up it in advance.)

You can select "Autofit the disk", "Clone as the source" or "Edit disk layout" to customize your disk layout. (Select the last one if you want to leave more space for C drive.)

Step 4. Click "Start" to start the disk cloning process.

EaseUS Partition Master is multifunctional. Here are its specific features:

• Clone Windows 10 to larger SSD
• Clone Windows 11 to new computer
• Copy a partition to another hard drive
• Clone C drive on Windows 10/11/8/7
• Clone SD card and other external hard drives
• Reformat hard drive after the cloning process

If you are facing disk partition cloning issues, download it to help.

Conclusion

Do you know if you can clone a damaged hard drive now? It depends on the situation. If the disk is severely damaged and the computer cannot recognize it, the disk cannot be cloned. However, if the computer can still access the data on the damaged hard drive, it can still be cloned. Cloning a physically damaged hard drive might be difficult, but if it is just externally damaged, you can clone the damaged hard drive with the help of EaseUS Partition Master. It allows users to clone a hard drive safely, and this tool can effectively avoid data loss. Download it to help with your disk partition issues.

Can I Clone a Damaged Hard Drive FAQs

Do you have other problems cloning a damaged hard drive? This part may help. Here are some questions with answers for you, so continue to read them if you need them.

1. What happens if your hard drive gets damaged?

If your hard drive gets damaged, your computer will be directly affected. Typically, the symptoms are as follows:

• Boot failure
• Strange sounds
• Files fail to open
• The computer can't start
• Accumulation of bad sectors

2. How do I transfer data from a damaged hard drive?

You can transfer data from a damaged hard drive to another by cloning it as long as the damaged hard drive can still be recognized. Follow these steps:

Step 1. Download EaseUS Partition Master and click it open.

Step 2. Under the "Clone partition" section, choose clone data drive.

Step 3. Determine your source partition and target partition.

Step 4. Click "Start" and wait patiently for it to complete.

3. Will bad sectors be cloned?

No, bad sectors are a kind of physical material in the drive. They are not cloned or copied. If E drive has two bad sectors and D drive has two bad sectors, D only has two bad sectors even if you clone E drive to D drive.