Top 2 Ways to Transfer System Image to Another Drive

You can transfer system image to another drive in two ways. Learn the two ways to transfer the system image to another drive, know what's better, and a professional cloning tool to make your job much easier.

A system image is a complete backup of everything on your PC's hard drive. Once you create a system image, you may want to transfer system image to another drive to restore it. In this article from EaseUS, you will know how to transfer system image to a new hard drive using 2 simple methods. Hurry up and learn.

Why Do You Transfer System Image to New Hard Drive

If your hard drive is too small, your computer slows down, or you want to upgrade from an old drive to a faster one, you may replace the old one with the new one. It improves the performance and space in your computer. Some users prefer reinstalling the entire operating system in the new drive, but it is complex and may need a CD or USB. At this time, transferring your OS to a new drive is a good idea.

However, restoring the system image on the new drive is the easiest way. First, you have to create the system image backup with the necessary files, apps, settings, and programs with the help of Windows OS. Later, transfer the image backup to the new drive and restore it on the new drive to run your PC as usual.

Windows 11/10/8 users can create a recovery drive with a bootable USB flash drive and restore the system image to another drive. But, for Windows 7, you can use the conventional CD/DVD to create a system repair disc for booting the computer normally.

2 Ways to Transfer Windows System Image to Another Drive

To copy the Windows system image to another drive, you have to create an image of the old drive and store it on an external hard drive. We can do this in two ways: using universal restore software or a Windows built-in tool.

Way 1. Using Universal Restore Software

The versatile way to transfer the system image from an old drive to a new one is to perform a universal restore. In this way, you can create a system image on external drives and restore it to a new drive or computer without incompatibility issues, which is unlike cloning. And what's better than an efficient and secure universal restore tool like EaseUS Todo Backup to help you do so?

EaseUS Todo Backup Home is an easy-to-use, practical backup and restore tool with powerful universal restore functions designed for Windows 11/10/8/7. It can help you back up and restore files, systems, disks, etc., and perform full, incremental and differential backups. In addition, you can have 250G Cloud storage for free to back up your data to the Cloud.

Key Features of EaseUS Todo Backup:

No matter what you want on a backup tool, such as cloning, imaging, backup, restoring, etc, you can find your answer on EaseUS Todo Backup. It can help you perform many tasks without trouble. Just download and try it.

Here is how to transfer your Windows system image to another drive.

Part 1. Create a System Image

Step 1. On the main page, click "Select backup contents".

Step 2. Among the four available categories, click OS.

Step 3. EaseUS Todo Backup will automatically select your system partition, you only need to select the backup destination.

Step 4. Both Local Drive and NAS are available for you to save the backup file.

Step 5. After finishing the backup process, you can check the backup status, recover, open, or delete the backup by right-clicking the backup task on the left.

Part 2. Restore the System Image to Another Drive

* To perform system recovery on a none-bootable machine, try to boot the computer through the EaseUS Todo Backup emergency disk.

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Todo Backup, click "Browse to Recover".

Step 2. Guide to your backup destination, choose the system backup file you need. (The backup file created by EaseUS Todo Backup is a pbd file.)

Step 3. Choose the recovery disk. Make sure that the partition style of the source disk and the recovery disk are the same.

Step 4. You can customize the disk layout according to your needs. Then click "Proceed" to start system backup recovery.

Way 2. Using Windows Built-in Tool

Windows OS provides a built-in utility called Backup and Restore (Windows 7) to create the system image. We can use it to make an image and later restore it on the new drive.

Step 1. Search and select Backup and Restore app from the control panel on your computer. Find and click Create a system image on the left panel.

Step 2. Select a destination to save the system image backup. You can save the image on the DVD if you have one or select the external hard drive.

Step 3. Select the backup settings and click Start Backup to start the process. If you want a repair disc to help you boot the computer, you can create one. It can be done using a CD/DVD or a bootable flash drive.

Step 4. Shut down your PC, replace the old drive, and boot the computer from the repair disc. You can transfer the system image to another drive on Windows 11/10/8/7 in a similar fashion.

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To Wrap Things Up

You can transfer system image to another drive in 2 ways. Use the built-in tool to create a system image and restore it, or simply just perform a universal restore. If you want to follow the universal restore way, you need an efficient tool to help you.

EaseUS Todo Backup, a proven and efficient backup and restore utility, is our choice. With advanced features, cloning, and backup options, it can help you transfer your system to another drive easily and quickly without hassle. And more so, it can also help you to get a Windows 11 recovery USB download. Just try it!

FAQs on How to Transfer System Image to Another Drive

Here are some of the most frequent FAQs asked on transferring the system image to another drive. I hope you find these queries helpful. 

1. How do I transfer my system image to a new SSD?

To transfer the system image to a new SSD, connect the SSD to your PC. While creating the system image, make sure you are saving it on the new drive. Once done, remove the old drive and replace it with the new one. Boot your computer and restore the image on it.

2. Can you put a system image on USB drive?

Yes, you can put the system image on USB. This option saves space on the system hard drive and is a much safer way to back up the Windows system. Additionally, having a system image on a USB drive is like carrying an entire computer in your pocket. 

3. Do I need a recovery drive if I have a system image?

No, if you have a system image, it provides a Windows environment to repair the issues on your computer and allows us to restore the system image. The recovery drive can be used to reinstall the Windows firmware to boot the new PC.

4. Can you move Windows system files to another drive?

Yes, you can some Windows system files to another drive by simply copying and pasting them. But for some OS boot files, it is impossible to do it. So, it's better to clone the drive to a new one to fix this issue.