Software that copies the contents of an entire storage drive to another drive, typically an external one. Cloning software is used to create a future system restore or as an interim step for replacing the old drive. Unlike regular copying, which is aware of the file format and re-creates the files on the new drive, cloning software copies all the data one bit after the other without regard to its type or content.
From Hard Disks to SSDs
Today, there is a lot of cloning from a hard drive to a solid state drive (SSD) because the hard drive is many years old or it is time to upgrade storage capacity. SSDs are the modern technology.
Populate New Machines
Cloning software is also used to make a master copy of a computer configuration for quick installations on new machines. Instead of installing the OS and applications individually, the cloned drive is copied verbatim to the drive in the new computer (cloned again) in a single step. See
image file,
re-imaging,
ghosting server and
clone.