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How to Clone an Existing Drive

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  1. How to Clone an Existing Drive, How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 1, image 1 of 2 How to Clone an Existing Drive, How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 1, image 2 of 2
    • You will need to put the new drive into the 2.5" enclosure in order to clone your existing hard drive onto it.

    • Before inserting the new hard drive, note the orientation of the SATA connectors embedded in the enclosure:

    • The wide power SATA port

    • The narrower data SATA port

  2. How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 2, image 1 of 3 How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 2, image 2 of 3 How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 2, image 3 of 3
    • Using the previous step, orient the new drive so that its SATA connectors will align with the enclosure's.

    • Slide the drive into the enclosure's opening.

    • Push the drive into the enclosure until it stops sliding and the SATA connectors are completely seated.

  3. How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 3, image 1 of 3 How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 3, image 2 of 3 How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 3, image 3 of 3
    • Stretch the remaining enclosure corners over the drive so that the silicone cover encapsulates the drive.

  4. How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 4, image 1 of 2 How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 4, image 2 of 2
    • Power on your Mac and wait for it to fully load.

    • Plug the enclosure into your Mac's USB port.

  5. How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 5, image 1 of 2 How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 5, image 2 of 2
    • Under the Go pulldown menu, select Utilities.

    • Open Disk Utility from the Utilities window.

  6. How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 6, image 1 of 3 How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 6, image 2 of 3 How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 6, image 3 of 3
    • Select your new hard drive from the left column in Disk Utility.

    • If the new drive is not showing up, disconnect the enclosure and check if the hard drive is properly connected to the enclosure.

    • Select the Erase option near the top row of buttons.

    • Select a name for your new drive, and select "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" for the format.

    • Warning: Pressing the erase button will erase the entire contents of the drive. Make sure you have selected the new hard drive!

    • Press the erase button.

    • This process may take up to 10 minutes, so be patient.

    • Quit Disk Utility once the erase is complete.

  7. How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 7, image 1 of 2 How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 7, image 2 of 2
    • Download and install SuperDuper!

    • Under the Go pulldown menu, select Applications.

    • Open SuperDuper!

  8. How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 8, image 1 of 1
    • In the copy pulldown menu, select your current drive.

    • In the destination pulldown menu, select the new drive.

    • In the method pulldown menu, select "Backup—all files".

  9. How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 9, image 1 of 3 How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 9, image 2 of 3 How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 9, image 3 of 3
    • Press the "Copy Now" button.

    • If prompted, provide your password.

    • Click "Copy" when warned about erasing the drive.

  10. How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 10, image 1 of 3 How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 10, image 2 of 3 How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 10, image 3 of 3
    • Wait for the drive to copy (this could take several hours if you have a lot on your hard drive).

    • When prompted for registration by SuperDuper!, either choose "Register" to purchase the software or "Later" to register later.

    • After the copy is complete, click "Ok" and quit SuperDuper!

  11. How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 11, image 1 of 1
    • At this point, your new hard drive should be a clone of your existing drive and ready to install.

    • However, we recommend testing the cloned drive before physically swapping the drives. This can be done by attempting to boot from the new cloned drive through the USB enclosure.

    • Keep the enclosure connected to the computer and restart the computer. Hold down the "option" key as it reboots until a boot option menu shows up.

  12. How to Clone an Existing Drive: step 12, image 1 of 1
    • Select your new hard drive from the boot option menu.

    • Wait for the computer to boot up to verify if it works properly.

    • Your new hard drive is now ready to be installed in your computer.

Mike

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