Clone SSD/HDD Sector by Sector

Overview of Sector-by-Sector Clone

Most of the disk cloning software would have one feature called "sector-by-sector clone". This feature works when users want to clone their HDD or SSD, it would clone all the sectors on a hard drive, even if the sector is blank or it is a logically bad sector. In case some users are not familiar with the term sector, it is a subdivision of a track on a disk, and each sector stores a fixed amount of user-accessible data.

Generally, a sector-by-sector clone makes no difference to a normal backup. But if your data is of vital importance, and you want to make sure that even if the hard drive has a bad sector, you can still recover data from the bad sector, then you can choose this clone mode.

The sector-by-sector clone also has another apparent advantage. By cloning the disk, you can migrate Windows OS from HDD to SSD without reinstallation, while sector-by-sector clone ensures the target hard disk or partitions keep identical properties (drive status, drive size, drive letter, the number of volumes, etc.) with the source disk or partitions. This feature is significantly helpful when you prefer an exact look of the old disk on a new disk.

EaseUS Disk Copy is a reliable and professional disk/partition cloning program with "sector-by-sector cloning". 

Sector-by-Sector Clone SSD/HDD Tutorial

No matter whether you want to make a sector-by-sector clone or a normal backup, there's a great tool we want to recommend - EaseUS Disk Copy. It provides all-in-one computer backup and disk cloning solutions for home and office users. With this tool, you can backup and restore everything instantly, and clone, upgrade and transfer your system easily.

The disk clone feature allows users to transfer all data, including system, personal documents, and media files, etc to an upgraded disk, like a brand new HDD, larger HDD, efficient SSD with higher performance. Once the sector-by-sector clone is checked, even if the sector on the source disk is blank or logically bad, it'll be copied to the destination disk without neglect.

Learn how to perform the sector-by-sector clone HDD/SSD with EaseUS todo clone software.

Prior Notice:

• The "Sector by sector copy" asks the size of your destination disk to be at least equal to or larger than that of the source disk. Leave this feature unchecked if you wish to clone a larger hard disk to a smaller hard disk.
• All data on the destination disk will be completely erased, so take care.

Step 1. To start copying/cloning an entire disk to another, choose this disk as the source disk under "Disk Mode" and click "Next".

Step 2. Choose the other disk as the destination disk.

Step 3. Check the disk layout of the two disks. You can manage the disk layout of the destination disk by selecting "Autofit the disk", "Copy as the source" or "Edit disk layout". 

• "Autofit the disk" makes some changes by default on the destination disk layout so that it can work at its best status.
• "Copy as the source"does not change anything on destination disk and the layout is the same as source disk.
• "Edit disk layout" allows you to manually resize/move partition layout on this destination disk.

Tick the "Check the option if the target is SSD" option to put your SSD in its best performance.

A message now appears, warning you that data will be lost. Please confirm this message by clicking "OK" and then click "Next".

Step 4. Click "Proceed" to officially execute the task.

After the operation is done, close EaseUS todo clone software. Go to Windows Disk Management to check if the cloned disk is exactly the same as the source disk.

For Windows 7 computers, navigate to My Computer -> Manage -> Storage -> Disk Management.

For Windows 10 computers, navigate to This PC -> Manage -> Storage -> Disk Management.

Bonus Tip: How Long Does Sector-by-Sector Clone Take?

Unlike the normal backup, a sector-by-sector clone definitely would take a longer time. According to users' feedback, cloning a 1TB disk sector-by-sector will take 20 to 30 hours. So if you want to make such a time-consuming clone, please be patient.