Windows 7 - Drive cloning question

Is there a software package available that will allow me to make an image of my working system that can then be imaged back onto a smaller drive? I know it's easy to always go larger. I have a 300Gb drive in my laptop that only has about 80Gb of data on it, and a spare 160Gb drive that is empty. I want to make a clone of the larger drive to the smaller one. I would like it to be bootable and ready as an immediate drop-in if I have a drive error. I also understand that if I ever get more data than the smaller drive can hold, it will not work. But for now I would like to make an exact duplicate.

Anyone have any recommendations?

All commercial programs such as Norton Ghost, Paragon, Acronis and Macrium Pro can do that.

Hi,

We use Acronis at work to clone an OS onto several drives in production.
It allows the backup image to be placed onto smaller drives, provided the image fits.

Macrium Reflect

zzz2496

Thanks whs, I do have Paragon drive copy 10 and while it can make the image, it wants the new drive to be at least as large as the old one as it makes a full image of the current ( larger ) drive. Maybe I just need to explore it a little more.

Any comments on using Microsoft ImageX to do this?

Unfortunately I do not have a running Paragon right now. I have uninstalled it long time ago. But you must see how to make a clone - not an image. Maybe the documentation can help you.

Thanks again for your help. I did look at the help documentation for cloning ( migrating to a new drive ) and it only mentions going to a larger drive. Of course, I can also look at shrinking the current volume to see if I can get it small enough to fit on the new drive and then grow it again later.

Acronis will do what you want. It will clone a larger drive to a smaller drive. I have been doing that for years. I tried Macrium free, but Acronis is easier for me to understand how to do. I went back to it.

download this and it works with ANY HDD. when it asks to buy full program, just hold ALT then T then O



DiscWizard End User License Agreement | Seagate

Thanks pacinitaly, I'll take a look at the Seagate software as both are Seagate drives.


I did manage to get Paragon to make the clone. I had to use the console CD to boot and then re-size partitions. The drawback to that was that it also reduced the size of the 100mb recovery partition. But afterward, the system needed a couple of passes with the Windows repair tool and boots just fine now from the smaller drive.

I may still take a look at Acronis too.

Thanks everyone for their inputs on this.