How to Easily Copy Partition with Partition Assistant?

How to back up data or system partition? Partition copy could help you quick back up your important partition or migrate system partition from one hard disk to another hard disk.

AOMEI Post By AOMEI Updated November 30, 2023

Overview of copy partition

To make it easy, a partition is a sector on a hard disk. A hard disk can be divided into several sectors, so a hard disk can include several partitions. In general, the local disk C:, D: and F: you see in "My Computer" are actually partitions on hard disks.
"Copy Partition" is also called "Clone Partition", which could help you quickly back up your important partition or migrate partition from one hard disk to another hard disk so as to prevent data loss from program error or some other accidental affairs. This function can be useful, either as a means of making a backup, or for distribution of an identical environment to multiple computers.
Once, one of my friends had suffered a lot from data loss. He used to save all his private matter on partition D, including photos, videos, music and things like that. One day, when he started his PC, a message noticed him that his D partition was running incorrectly. He worried about that something wrong had happened to his privacy on D partition. Then, he went to partition D to check, unfortunately, he could not open it. He tried all he could do, but all in vain. Finally, he could do nothing but took his computer to a repair shop and costed some money. Finally, partition D could be opened and used again, but the data on it was lost forever. He was very sad about that and regretted not having a copy of his valuable data. Therefore, after the accident, he always had a backup of his data and makes it his habit.
Yes, it is extremely important to secure your data by copying the partition on which your data is by one time. To do this work, you can make use of AOMEI Partition Assistant, a kind of professional software which helps you to manage your partitions very well. Then, how to copy partition with partition assistant? Please follow the following article.

How to copy partition with Partition Assistant

Before you do

  • Download and install AOMEI Partition Assistant on a Windows computer.
  • Only the unallocated space could be selected as the destination place. You could delete unused partitions or shrink other partitions to get an unallocated space if there is no unallocated space.
  • If there are other applications running on the partition which you are going to perform, AOMEI Partition Assistant will notice you to close those applications or to execute this operation under Windows PE or PreOS Mode.

How to copy partition step by step with Partition Assistant

1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant,  right-click the partition you want to clone and select the "Clone Partition" tool to run partition clone. (You can also click the "Clone" main tab and select "Clone Partition".)

Copy Partition

2. In the pop-up window, there are two different ways to copy your partition:
Clone Partition Quickly - only copy the used space of the partition and supports resizing partition during the copy process (Recommended).
Sector by Sector Clone - copy the whole partition no matter it is used or not, which may take a considerably long time.
Select one of the methods you want and then click "Next". You can also confirm your operations in the pop-up window.

Select Copy Method

Tips:

  • If you select the "Clone Partition Quickly" method, the unallocated space could be smaller than the source partition but must be larger than the used space of the source partition.

  • If you select the "Sector-by-Sector Clone" mode, the unallocated space must be equal or larger than source partition. Otherwise, the "Next" button will grey out and you cannot continue.

3. In next window, select the destination location (unallocated space) to hold your source partition, and then click "Next".
Tips: There is a "Optimize the performance of SSD" option. If you want to copy a partition onto a SSD (Solid State Drive), ticking this option will optimize the read and write speed on this partition. It can also extend the life of the SSD.

Select Destination Place

4. As you can see from the following screenshot, you could adjust the size of source partition in order to fit the target partition as per your need, or directly skip the step and click "Finish".

Resize Partition

5. You can preview the partition copy operating by viewing the "Pending Operations". To commit the "Pending Operations", please click "Apply" and "Proceed".

Apply

 

Conclusion

Copy partition is a common method for data backup and recovery, allowing for a complete replication of the content of one hard disk partition to another.
Here are some common use situation for cloning partitions:

1. Data and partition backup and recovery: Cloning partitions serves as an effective method for creating backups of important data. By cloning a partition, you can have an exact replica of the source partition, allowing for easy recovery in case of data loss, system failures, or hardware issues.
2. Software development and testing: Cloning partitions is valuable for software developers and testers who need to create identical test environments. By cloning a partition with a specific software configuration, developers can quickly set up multiple test environments without going through the entire installation process each time.
3. Disaster Recovery: In the event of a system failure or a catastrophic event, such as a hard drive crash or malware infection, having a cloned partition can be crucial for swift recovery. With a cloned backup, you can restore the entire system and get back to normal operation with minimal downtime.

 

Notes:

  • If you clone system partition, the operation might need to be completed under the Windows PE or PreOS Mode.
  • To clone a system-related partition with the feature is not sufficient to make a bootable clone.

 

FAQs:

Q: What is difference between partition clone and disk clone?

A: Partition clone focuses on copying individual partitions on a drive, while disk clone involves replicating the entire disk, including all partitions and data.

Q: How long will it take to copy a partition?

A: The time to clone a partition depends on various factors, such as the size of the partition, the speed of the storage devices involved, and the performance of your computer. Cloning larger partitions may take more time compared to smaller ones.

Q: Can I use the feature "Clone Partition" to clone my current system partition?

A: Yes, you can clone the current system partition with the feature but we do not guarantee it works to boot after partition cloning. To make a bootable clone of your system, it is recommended to use the feature "Migrate OS to SSD" or "Clone Disk".