Cloning Hard Drive To A Smaller Drive

Bywsadmin

To clone a large hard drive to a smaller one using Clonezilla and ensure that the cloned drive is bootable, follow these detailed steps. Note that you must shrink the partition on the larger drive to fit it onto the smaller drive before starting the cloning process. Clonezilla works with disk cloning and partition cloning, so it’s important to ensure the partition sizes are adjusted correctly.

Prerequisites:

  1. Clonezilla ISO – Download Clonezilla from Clonezilla’s official website.
  2. A bootable USB drive or CD/DVD – You’ll need this to boot Clonezilla.
  3. A smaller drive that can fit all the data from the larger drive – Ensure that the total size of the data on the larger drive is smaller than or equal to the capacity of the smaller drive.

Step 1: Prepare the Drives

  1. Backup your data: Before proceeding, back up any important data from both the source (large) and destination (smaller) drives, as the cloning process will overwrite the destination drive.
  2. Shrink the partition on the source drive (if needed):
    • Use a partition manager tool (e.g., Disk Management in Windows or GParted on Linux) to shrink the partition on the larger drive so the total used space is smaller than or equal to the capacity of the smaller drive.
    • If you use Windows, you can shrink a partition by right-clicking the partition in Disk Management and selecting “Shrink Volume.”

Step 2: Create a Clonezilla Bootable Drive

  1. Download Clonezilla ISO from Clonezilla’s website.
  2. Use a tool like Rufus (Windows) or dd (Linux) to create a bootable USB drive with the Clonezilla ISO.

Step 3: Boot from Clonezilla

  1. Insert the Clonezilla USB drive (or CD/DVD if you’re using one) into your computer.
  2. Restart your computer and enter the BIOS/UEFI settings (usually by pressing a key like F2, F12, DEL, or ESC during startup).
  3. Set the USB drive or CD/DVD as the primary boot device.
  4. Save and exit the BIOS/UEFI settings, and the system will boot into Clonezilla.

Step 4: Start Cloning Process with Clonezilla

  1. Select language: After booting into Clonezilla, choose your preferred language (e.g., English).
  2. Choose Device-Device Clone:
    • On the next menu, select device-device (direct disk-to-disk cloning).
    • Select Beginner Mode for easier options.
  3. Select Disk to Clone:
    • Choose “disk to local disk” for cloning the entire disk, including the operating system and data.
    • Select your source disk (the large drive) when prompted. This is the drive you want to clone.
  4. Select Target Disk:
    • Select your target disk (the smaller drive). This is where the data will be cloned.
    • Be very careful not to select the wrong disk, as this will overwrite the data on the target disk.
  5. Clone Disk:
    • Choose “Expert” mode if you want to customize the cloning options. This is optional, and you can stick to “Beginner” mode for simplicity.
    • Follow the prompts to proceed with cloning. Clonezilla will ask for confirmation to overwrite data on the target disk, so make sure you’ve selected the right disk.

Step 5: Clonezilla Settings (Important for Bootable Drive)

  1. Check for bootloader: Clonezilla will automatically clone the bootloader (Master Boot Record or MBR for BIOS systems or UEFI bootloader for UEFI systems) onto the target disk. However, if you have a UEFI system, you might need to ensure that the target disk is set to the correct boot mode (UEFI or Legacy BIOS) after cloning.
    • For UEFI systems, ensure that the target disk is GPT (GUID Partition Table) format.
    • For Legacy BIOS systems, ensure the target disk is MBR (Master Boot Record) format.
    • If your source disk is UEFI, Clonezilla will automatically copy the UEFI bootloader to the target disk.
  2. Resize the Partition (if necessary): Clonezilla does not automatically resize partitions to fit a smaller drive. If the partition on the target disk is too small, Clonezilla may warn you. You can either:
    • Resize the partition manually using a partitioning tool after the cloning is finished (e.g., GParted or Windows Disk Management).
    • Alternatively, during the Clonezilla process, you may be prompted about resizing partitions. Select the option to adjust partition sizes automatically.

Step 6: Complete the Cloning Process

  1. Clonezilla will now begin the cloning process. This may take some time depending on the amount of data being transferred.
  2. Once the process is finished, Clonezilla will prompt you to either reboot or shut down the system.

Step 7: Verify and Boot from the Cloned Drive

  1. Shutdown the system and remove the Clonezilla boot USB drive or CD/DVD.
  2. Swap the drives if needed (if you’re replacing the original drive with the smaller cloned one).
  3. Boot the system from the smaller drive. The system should boot from the cloned smaller disk without any issues.
  4. Test the system: Verify that the operating system boots correctly, that all your files are intact, and that everything is functioning as expected.

Step 8: Expand the Partition

If you have unused space on the smaller drive after cloning, you can expand the partition to utilize the full capacity of the drive.

  • You can do this using Disk Management in Windows or a tool like GParted on Linux.

Troubleshooting Boot Issues:

  • If the system doesn’t boot from the cloned drive, make sure that:
    • The bootloader was correctly copied (for BIOS or UEFI).
    • The drive is set as the primary boot drive in the BIOS/UEFI settings.
    • If you’re using UEFI, check the EFI partition is intact.

That’s it! You’ve successfully cloned a larger drive to a smaller one using Clonezilla and ensured that the cloned drive is bootable.