One of the most common tasks people have to do regularly is copy files from one location to another.
Whether it’s moving photos from your camera to your computer or copying files from an external hard drive to your computer’s internal storage, copying files between different locations can be a hassle.
In this article, we’ll show you a simple way to clone an external hard drive over Ethernet in minutes!
What Is Cloning an External Hard Drive?
Cloning an external hard drive means copying all the data from one hard drive to a new one. This simple process can be done using a network connection and a computer.
Before cloning your external hard drive, ensure the original and new drive is ready. You will also need some software to clone the hard drive. The software that we will be using is called CloneZilla.
First, connect your original hard drive to your computer using a USB cable to start cloning your external hard drive.
Then, open CloneZilla and click on the “Clone” button. It will ask you to select the source and destination drives.
Select the new hard drive as the destination and the original hard drive as the source.
Click on “clone” to start the cloning process.
Once Clonezilla has finished cloning your external hard drive, disconnect both of the drives from your computer.
You now have a copy of your original external hard drive on your new hard drive, and you can use it whatever you want.
A Few Tools You Need Before Cloning Your External Hard Drive
To clone an external hard drive over Ethernet, you’ll need:
1. An external hard drive to clone. Ideally, the larger the hard drive, the better.
2. A network connection to your computer – you will need to be able to access the drive’s external USB port.
3. The cloning software of your choice (we recommend CloneZilla).
4. A USB ethernet adapter or a USB network cable – if you don’t have one already, this is necessary for transferring files between your computer and the external hard drive while it is cloned.
How to Clone an External Hard Drive Over an Ethernet Connection
Cloning an external hard drive over an ethernet connection can be a simple way to backup your data. Just connect the hard drive to your computer using an ethernet cable and follow these steps:
1. The first step to cloning an external hard drive is to connect it to your computer via an ethernet cable. You can then plug the hard drive into a USB port on your computer.
2. Connect the ethernet cable to your computer. You can connect the ethernet cable to a port on the back of your computer, or you can connect it to a port on a router.
3. You can now clone the external hard drive. You can do this using a software program like Clonezilla or a hardware device like the Western Digital My Book Studio.
4. When you’re finished, disconnect the ethernet cable and remove the hard drive.
How to Clone an External Hard Drive Using Windows 10
Want to clone your external hard drive to another computer over the network?
First, make sure that you have the correct software and equipment. You will need the following:
- A copy of Windows 10 or an older version of Windows
- A USB flash drive or an external hard drive that is at least 2GB in size
- The software that you want to clone the hard drive to (Windows included)
- The password for the hard drive that you want to clone
- An ethernet cable
- A power supply for your computer (optional)
- A computer with an internet connection
- An Administrator account (if necessary)
- A CD or DVD burner (if necessary)
Here’s a simple guide showing you how to do it using Windows.
1. First, you’ll need to download the software you need. This will depend on your operating system. For Windows 10, you’ll need to use the Windows Media Player.
2. Connect the USB cable to your computer and the hard drive to the USB port.
3. Open the program and click on ‘Connect to the network.’
4. If you’re not connected to the internet, you’ll need to set up a new connection.
5. Once you’ve connected, the software should open automatically.
6. Click on the ‘Clone’ tab.
7. Select the hard drive you want to clone.
8. Click on ‘OK.’
9. You’ll then be prompted to select the destination for the clone.
10. Click on ‘OK.’
11. You’ll then be asked to confirm the destination.
12. You can now close the program.
13. Your external hard drive is now cloned.
How to Clone an External Hard Drive Using Mac Os
If you have a hard drive that you no longer need and want to clone over Ethernet, there is a simple way to do this using MacOS.
You only need an ethernet cable, a macOS terminal, and the appropriate software.
1. Connect the external hard drive you want to clone to your Mac.
2. Launch Disk Utility, located in the Utility folder in the Applications folder.
3. Select the external hard drive in the left sidebar.
4. Click the “Clone” button in the main window.
5. Select the destination for the clone. This can be another external hard drive or even a network drive.
6. Click “Clone.”
Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloning External Hard Drive Using Ethernet
Bloggers often get asked how they can clone an external hard drive over Ethernet.
External hard drives can be a huge time saver and help you organize your files more efficiently. However, a few things should be kept in mind before cloning an external hard drive over Ethernet.
Advantages of cloning an external hard drive over Ethernet include:
- -Speed: Copying data from an external hard drive can take a long time using traditional methods, but copying data over Ethernet can be done much faster.
- -Space: Copying large files from an external hard drive can take up a lot of space on your computer, but cloning over Ethernet can save you a lot of space since the data is stored on the network instead of on the hard drive.
- -Portability: You can easily move your duplicate copy of the external hard drive to another computer if needed.
There are also some disadvantages to cloning an external hard drive over Ethernet, including:
- -Potential Issues: If your computer has problems while trying to clone the external hard drive over Ethernet, the data may not be properly copied or may be corrupted.
- -Time commitment: Copying large amounts of data from an
Why You Should Clone Your External Hard Drive
1. It’s an easy way to keep a backup of all your important files.
2. If your hard drive crashes, you can quickly and easily restore your files from the clone.
3. Cloning your hard drive can help protect against data loss from malware or other malicious attacks.
4. You can use your clone as a bootable drive if your main hard drive fails.
5. It’s a good way to create a complete backup of your system, including your operating system, applications, and settings.
FAQs
Cloning is creating a copy of an item. Backing up is creating a copy of your data, including files and folders, so that you can restore it if something happens to your original.
It can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours depending on the size of your hard drive and the speed of your computer.
External hard drives are larger and have more ports than hard drives, which makes them better for storing large files. They also have a longer life expectancy and are less likely to fail.
It depends on the make and model of your computer, the Ethernet port configuration, and the size and speed of the drives. However, a typical configuration might have one or two hard drives connected to an Ethernet port on a computer.
Ethernet can transfer up to 100 megabits per second.
In conclusion, cloning an external hard drive over Ethernet is a straightforward process that can be done in just a few minutes.
If you are having trouble cloning your hard drive, or if you want to make a backup of your data, using this method is a good way to go.
So don’t wait any longer – clone your external hard drive over Ethernet today!
