If you need to upgrade your computer hardware, simply popping in a cloned disk in the hardware may not work. Set up one computer the way you want, clone the hard drive, and then install the clone on each subsequent computer.

Duplicate the configurations of multiple computers so that each machine is identically set up.

And, it allows you to recover everything that has happened since the hard disk was first set up. Incremental backups take significantly less time than a new backup (or disk image) of an entire source drive. When data and applications change, the backup software saves these “incremental” changes.

The disk-image backup includes all boot information, applications, settings, and data and stores all of it to a local, external hard drive or the cloud.

Back up an entire computer periodically.

Back up individual files or folders to the cloud for offsite protection and remote access.

Here are some good guidelines about when to use each: Use backup software when you want to: Isn’t that what backup software is for?įull-image backup software and file and folder backup software are not the same as disk cloning software, though the reasons for using them may overlap. Okay, so of course I want to protect my data.

Complete system recovery in the event of software problems or computer failure.

Upgrade hard drives to larger capacities or replace a damaged hard drive.

Set up multiple computers with duplicate configurations.

Reboot and restore a computer to an earlier version.

It eliminates the time-consuming technical process of manually reinstalling and reconfiguring a system so you can perform one or more of the following: What Is Disk Cloning Software?ĭisk cloning software replicates a computer's operating system, drives, software, and patches. The second disk is then created with the contents of the image. Often, the contents of the first disk are written to an image file as an intermediate step. Basically, disk cloning is the process of perfectly copying every bit of information from one computer hard drive to another disk.

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