How to Perform a Sector-by-Sector Clone Using Hasleo Disk Clone?

Sector-by-sector cloning creates an exact copy of a disk, migrating all data completely—including blank sectors, hidden partitions. To use this method effectively, it's important to understand its pros, cons, and use cases. Follow the step-by-step guide below to perform a sector-by-sector clone with Hasleo Disk Clone.

• What is sector-by-sector cloning?
• What are the pros and cons of sector-by-sector cloning?
• Why choose Hasleo Disk Clone?
• How to Perform a Sector-by-Sector Clone Using Hasleo Disk Clone?
• Summary

What is sector-by-sector cloning?

Storage devices such as HDDs and SSDs are divided into numerous small logical units called sectors. Sector-by-sector cloning is a method that exactly copies every sector of the source drive—including blank, deleted, and even inaccessible sectors—to the target drive without alteration. This technique is commonly used in data recovery and forensics, hard drive upgrades, system migration, or backing up drives containing encrypted or hidden data.

What are the pros and cons of sector-by-sector cloning?

Sector-by-sector cloning is an advanced feature in disk cloning software. Understanding its pros, cons, and differences from standard cloning is essential for its effective utilization.

Pros:

1. Create a perfect copy where the target disk is identical to the source disk, preserving the operating system, applications, settings, and files unchanged.
2. Capture every bit of data on the hard drive, including deleted files that have not yet been overwritten, disk fragments, swap files, providing comprehensive material for data recovery and forensic analysis.
3. Back up fully, including all hidden files, system files, and boot programs, enables seamless restoration in the event of a system crash.

Cons:

1. The destination disk cannot be compressed because it is an exact copy; even if the source disk is mostly empty, the cloned image file or target disk will occupy the same total capacity as the source disk.
2. The total capacity of the target hard drive must be greater than or equal to the total capacity of the source hard drive, not just greater than the used space on the source drive.
3. The cloning process is relatively slow
4. If the source disk has damaged sectors, the cloning process may fail.

The table below compares sector-by-sector cloning and standard cloning.

	Sector-by-Sector Cloning	Standard Cloning
Operation Object	All sectors including blank sectors	Sectors containing data only
Deleted Files	Cloned	Not cloned
Cloning Speed	Slower	Faster
Destination Disk	Capacity ≥ Total capacity of source disk	Capacity ≥ Used space on source disk
Output Result	Exact copy	Copy with identical functionality but different layouts
Primary Use	Digital Forensics, Data Recovery	System Migration, Upgrade, and Rapid Backup

 

Why choose Hasleo Disk Clone?

Hasleo Disk Clone is a professional and free-to-use disk cloning software with powerful functions. It features a clear and user-friendly interface, making it accessible to both average users and IT professionals. Not only does it offer free, sector-by-sector cloning that is compatible with all versions of Windows, but it also provides multiple alignment modes (1MB alignment, 4KB alignment, etc.). The following are its key features:

1. Provide free core cloning functions including partition, disk, and system cloning with extremely fast speeds
2. Provide multiple disk alignment modes
3. Support delta cloning and sector-by-sector cloning for disks and partitions
4. Support flexible adjustment of partition size and location on the target disk
5. Convert MBR to GPT or convert GPT to MBR by cloning
6. Create a bootable WinPE emergency disk for disk or partition migration

 

How to Perform a Sector-by-Sector Clone Using Hasleo Disk Clone?

Below is a step-by-step guide to performing a sector-by-sector clone using Hasleo Disk Clone.

Step 1. Connect your new hard drive to your computer, then download, install, and run Hasleo Disk Clone. Click "Disk Clone".

 

Step 2. Select a source disk to clone, then click "Next".

Step 3. Select the new hard drive as the target disk. Then, check the "Sector by sector clone entire disk" option at the bottom and click "Next".

 

* Tips:

1. The target disk capacity must be greater than or equal to the total capacity of the source disk.
2. The cloning process may take a long time to complete.

Step 4. The "Sector-by-sector clone entire disk" option does not allow changes to the partition layout. To proceed, click "Next".

Step 5. The system will pop up a warning message, prompting you that all data on the selected drive will be deleted. Please back up your important data in advance. If you have already backed up your data or do not wish to, click "Yes" to continue.

Step 6. Hasleo Disk Clone will begin the sector-by-sector cloning process. It will take some time; please wait patiently and do not interrupt the process.

 

* Tips: For other cloning options, please refer to the Hasleo Disk Clone user guide.

Summary

Sector-by-sector cloning is essential for digital forensics and data recovery. Hasleo Disk Clone simplifies this process, providing secure, efficient performance with zero data loss and earning strong user trust. Its user-friendly interface makes it easy to use. As a powerful yet free tool, it offers core cloning features including partition, system, and disk cloning, making it the best free solution for any cloning tasks.