Clone SD Card or USB Stick: A Complete Guide for Windows Users

Sometimes, the need to create a full clone of a USB flash drive or memory card may arise, especially if the drive contains programs, Android or iOS user data, password storage services, or other useful software on a bootable flash drive.

A reliable solution to this problem can be found in software designed to create an exact copy of a flash drive or memory card.

The best software for cloning includes:

1. ImageUSB
2. USB Image Tool
3. AOMEI Partition Assistant

Cloning a Card vs. Copying Its Files: What’s the Difference?

There is a key distinction between simply copying the contents of a flash drive and creating a complete clone. If you select files using the "Ctrl + C" keyboard shortcut and transfer them to a hard drive or memory card using "Ctrl + V," the checksums of the files will differ. This can significantly impact the performance of programs and the amount of memory used.

This happens because flash drives have their own way of marking up file systems and memory partitions. Only special software designed to completely clone data takes this into account.

Best Cloning Software

ImageUSB

ImageUSB is a portable utility that allows you to create an exact copy of the content on your USB stick. The licensed version of this software is available for free. You can download ImageUSB via this link from the official website. To date, the app has been installed by over 100,000 users.

One of the main distinctive features of this utility is that its developers have provided the capability to write data to several flash drives simultaneously. The number of flash drives you can use is limited only by the number of USB ports available on your computer. This feature can save you a significant amount of time.

How to Create a Clone of Your Flash Drive or Memory Card Using ImageUSB

Follow these simple steps to create a clone of your flash drive or memory card:

1. Download ImageUSB to any folder on your hard drive and unpack the archive.
2. Run the executable file ImageUSB.exe. The utility window will appear.
3. In the first step, select one of the removable USB devices connected to your PC (all connected devices will be displayed in a list).
4. In the second step, review all available settings and operations related to the media storage drive, such as creating a new image of the flash drive or memory card or writing an image onto a storage device. You can also erase all data from the drive or format it (converting to another file system). The action you need to select is Create image from USB drive.
5. Specify the path of the directory where you want to store the clone of the selected media storage drive.
6. Confirm the process by clicking Create.
7. Wait for the program to create an exact copy of your USB stick or memory card. The process may take several minutes, especially if a large amount of data is stored on the drive.

The utility works on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows OS, and even inexperienced users will find it easy to understand and use the program.

USB Image Tool

USB Image Tool is a free utility that allows you to create and manage clone images of USB storage drives. You can download it from the developer's website via this link. To date, more than 400,000 users have downloaded the app.

This utility doesn’t require installation. Simply unpack the downloaded archive and run the executable file USB-image-tool.exe. Follow these steps to clone your USB drive or memory card:

1. After launching the utility, the program window will appear. On the left side, you’ll see a list of all the USB drives connected to your PC. Click on the device you want to clone.

2. Click Backup in the lower-right corner of the window.

3. Specify the directory on your hard disk where you want to save the clone of the flash drive or memory card. After entering the path, click Save in the system dialog.

4. Wait for the image to be created. The progress will be displayed in the lower-left part of the window under Saving image.

5. To transfer the clone onto another flash drive, follow these steps:

   1. In the list of USB devices connected to your PC, select the one you want to transfer the clone onto and click Restore.
   2. Choose the previously created clone and open it. Wait until the process is complete. Done!

USB Image Tool is incredibly easy to use, and its intuitive interface makes the software self-explanatory.

The program works on Windows XP, 7, 10, and other OS versions, which is a significant advantage compared to more demanding utilities like AOMEI Partition Assistant (described below).

AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition

AOMEI Partition Assistant is a very efficient tool for managing the storage of USB drives and computer hard drives. It’s especially useful for creating a clone of your data while preserving its structure and checksum.

To download AOMEI Partition Assistant, follow this link to the official website and click on Download freeware.

Follow these steps to clone a drive:

1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant.

2. In the upper-left corner of the opened window, go to Wizard > All Tools and click Disk Clone Wizard.

3. From the two available options, choose Clone Disk Quickly. The Sector-by-Sector Clone operation is not suitable for cloning a flash drive or memory card.

4. The Select Source Disk window will display a list of all removable media storage drives connected to your computer. Select the one you want to clone, click on it, and then choose Next.

5. In the Select Destination Disk window, specify the directory where you want to create the clone of the selected storage drive. Click on it again to confirm your choice.

6. Confirm your action by clicking Finish, but this isn’t the end of the process—it’s important to apply your changes.

7. In the upper-left corner of the utility window, click on Apply.

8. Once the process is finished, click OK. Cloning may take some time, but the full clone of the selected drive will be saved in the specified directory.

AOMEI Partition Assistant is a paid utility: its full version, which includes all features, costs $48, while the cross-platform version is priced at $179. However, you can install the demo version of the program, which should be more than enough for cloning a flash drive.

The main drawback of the demo version is its unstable operation on Windows OS versions older than Windows 10. The developers have not yet addressed this issue. Your options are to either purchase the paid version or choose alternative cloning software.