Here you can learn how to clone Windows Server 2012 (R2) to another HDD/SSD with AOMEI Partition Assistant Server, which you can use to switch hard drive to a larger HDD/SSD without reinstalling OS.
By Cherry / Last Updated December 13, 2019
“I have a Windows Server 2012 Machine with 1 physical hard drive. I worked with it well. But recently, I found there is nearly no free space on the hard drive. I’m planing to switch my hard drive to a larger one, how can I switch the hard drive while keeping the old Server 2012 and other data?”
The user in the Scenario have met the most common situation that hard drive is not enough to store data. If you want to switch the hard drive without losing any data, then, clone Windows Server 2012 (R2) disk to another HDD/SSD should be the best way to achieve the goal. Well, clone Windows Server 2012 has many benefits for you.
To solve the problem in the Scenario, here provides you two ways: 1>. You can migrate OS to HDD/SSD only and left the hard drive as the data storage drive. This way, you do not need to spend large money to purchase a big drive. 2>. If you do not care about how much you will spend, you can upgrade hard drive to a larger HDD/SSD, and migrate all data from the old hard drive to the new HDD/SSD.
Actually, there are many other things that you can solve through cloning Windows Server 2012. For example, cloning Windows Server 2012 to another hard drive can protect data loss. Thus, when it fails, you’ll just swap it with the latest clone.
Well, how to clone Windows Server 2012 (R2) disk to another HDD/SSD?
Clone Windows Server 2012 (R2) is a simple thing. However, if you want to boot from the cloned hard drive, things would be a little bit complex. The next content is for how to clone Windows Server 2012 to another HDD/SSD and how to boot from the HDD/SSD after clone.
Speaking of cloning Windows Server 2012, you may need a Server cloning software. The AOMEI Partition Assistant Server should be the greatest one. It allows you to copy Windows Server 2012 (R2) disk to another HDD/SSD with a few simple steps. with this software, you can clone your Windows Server 2012 (R2) in flexible. No matter the Windows Server 2012 entire hard drive, or a special partition, it will operate well. Even if you only want to migrate OS to SSD/HDD, you can use its Migrate OS to SSD function. Well, how to use AOMEI Partition Assistant Server to clone Windows Server 2012 (R2)? Here we take an example of cloning the entire hard drive on your Windows Server 2012 machine.
To copy Windows Server 2012 disk to another, here you need to prepare something first:
A hard drive that is larger than the original hard drive on your Windows Server 2012 (R2) machine. If you only want to clone a part of data to the new hard drive, the drive should be as large enough to store the data. Connect the hard drive to the machine and make sure it can be detected.
Install AOMEI Partition Assistant Server on your Windows Server machine. You can also download AOMEI Partition Assistant Lite, the free edition for Windows Server users to copy hard drive and to do other jobs.
After all the preparations, you can start to copy the old disk on Windows Server 2012 (R).
Step1. Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Server. It will show you the basic environment of your hard drives on your machine. To clone Windows Server 2012 (R2) disk to another HDD/SSD, here you need to right click the original disk, select Clone Disk on the pop-out menu. Or you can click Disk Clone Wizard at the left pane to start.
Step2. Here you can select the way to clone Windows Server 2012 (R2) disk. And the Disk Clone Quickly is highly recommended because it only clone the used space on the source disk, which means it allows you to clone disk to smaller drive, and it allows you to edit partition size as you like.
*The Sector-by-Sector Clone would clone every byte on the source disk no matter it used or not. Thus, you do not be allowed to adjust the partitions’ size during cloning. Plus, it will take more times and need larger target disk.
Step3. Then, you need to choose the hard drive you prepared before as the destination drive. If you are cloning to an SSD, here you should check the option “Optimize the performance of SSD”, which help you clone hard drive to SSD alignment.
Step4. Here you can edit partitions. Or you can resize Windows Server 2012 partition with AOMEI Partition Assistant Server after clone.
Step5. It will show you a Note about how to boot from the cloned drive after cloning. Read it and remember it. Click Finish.
Step 6. You will back to the main interface, click Apply to submit the whole progress.
This progress will execute under PreOS mode. When it finish, you can change the boot order to boot from the new drive. Or you can switch the old drive out with the new drive, and boot from it directly.
Clone Windows Server 2012 (R2) disk with AOMEI Partition Assistant Server seems a
very easy thing. Actually, it does a really good job on this task. Besides Disk
Clone, it also provides you Partition Clone, which you can clone a specific partition
instead of the whole partition; if you only want to move OS to a new hard drive, its Migrate OS to SSD function will
achieve that goal. It should be the greatest server cloning software that meet your
multiple requirements. What’s more, it is also a partition magic for Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2016, 2019. In a word, it is
worth to use.
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