Iperius Disk Cloning

What Iperius Disk Cloning is

Iperius Disk Cloning is a free Windows utility for making an exact copy from one disk to another. The maker describes it as useful when moving an operating system to a larger disk or cloning a hard disk to an SSD. It runs within Iperius Recovery Environment rather than as a standard desktop utility. That environment can be launched from a USB stick or optical media, such as a CD or DVD, and the utility can work with disks connected directly to the machine or with USB disks.

The destination disk must have capacity equal to or greater than the source, and the source disk cannot also be selected as the destination. For devices that need specific drivers, the utility can load an .inf driver while running; the maker gives RAID controllers and SCSI devices as examples. Iperius Recovery Environment is based on WinPE and can be prepared on a USB drive or as an ISO file for CD or DVD. The maker describes its recovery-media procedure for Windows 10 and 11 and says it applies to Windows systems from Windows 7 through Windows Server 2025. The environment can also restore Iperius disk images in .VHD or .VHDX format, including on different hardware. Creating recovery media permanently erases the selected USB drive.

Who it suits

Iperius Disk Cloning suits Windows users who need to copy a disk to a replacement drive or move an operating system to a larger disk or SSD. It is a fit for people comfortable starting a WinPE-based recovery environment from USB or optical media.

Limits

The destination disk must be at least as large as the source, and the source cannot serve as the destination. Creating recovery media permanently erases all data on the selected USB drive.

Getting started

1. Open the Iperius Disk Cloning product page.
2. Prepare Iperius Recovery Environment on a USB drive or as an ISO for CD or DVD.
3. If creating recovery media on a USB drive, account for the permanent erasure of its data.
4. Start the environment from USB or optical media.
5. Select a source disk and a destination with at least the source disk's capacity.
6. Load an .inf driver if a device such as a RAID controller or SCSI device requires one.

Verdict

Choose Iperius Disk Cloning if you need a free Windows disk copy utility and can boot Iperius Recovery Environment from prepared media. Look elsewhere if the destination is smaller than the source or you need to keep data on the USB drive used to create recovery media.