[SOLVED] Clone Windows 10 for bootup on secondary drive

[OffbeatBryce]

Hello,

Is there a way to clone my existing windows 10 installation on another hard drive and boot up from the secondary drive?

 

[jay32267]

Hello,

Is there a way to clone my existing windows 10 installation on another hard drive and boot up from the secondary drive?

Yes.....just clone it to the secondary drive.
Then the first time I tried to boot to the secondary drive I would remove the first drive so there is no confusion.
I would also go to the BIOS before I tried to boot to the secondary drive and make sure it's on top of the boot order and save it.

 

[USAFRet]

Hello,

Is there a way to clone my existing windows 10 installation on another hard drive and boot up from the secondary drive?

Yes, but why?

What are you looking to do?

 

[OffbeatBryce]

Yes, but why?

What are you looking to do?

I'm looking to run a separate installation of OS as I have some programs and drivers that conflict with other programs. and want them separate

 

[USAFRet]

I'm looking to run a separate installation of OS as I have some programs and drivers that conflict with other programs. and want them separate

Yeah, you can. But you really need to find a way to have "the other drive" physically disconnected.
2x bootable mostly identical OS's can lead to issues.

 

[USAFRet]

And if the software configs are that different, you don't want to do a clone anyway.

Just do a fresh install on the second drive, and configure it as needed.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[OffbeatBryce]

And if the software configs are that different, you don't want to do a clone anyway.

Just do a fresh install on the second drive, and configure it as needed.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

I tried a fresh install on a second drive and it's asking me for the windows 10 license and it wont recognize it on a new drive. That's why I was thinking Clone would work

 

[USAFRet]

I tried a fresh install on a second drive and it's asking me for the windows 10 license and it wont recognize it on a new drive. That's why I was thinking Clone would work

A new install on a different drive in that same system...you can absolutely bypass entering the license key.
This is no different than a reinstall after replacing a dead drive.