Scheduled Disk Cloning Software for Windows

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to clone your operating system disk on a schedule to another disk, while Windows is running, so that in case the original breaks, you have the clone ready to go? This basically eliminates the restore operation altogether and provides you with a way to immediately recover from a total loss of the main hard disk or disk array. Wouldn’t it be great to do this while Windows, services, and applications are running, in the background, fully automatic, without any interference and without reboots and without any manual labor at all?
BackupChain has been offering this type of backup for many years now. Both the Server Enterprise and Server Enterprise for PCs Edition provide the schedulable disk cloning feature. It creates a clone while Windows is running without interfering with anything on the server or PC. Once the clone is complete, you can even keep it side-by-side with the original disk, to serve as a backup when you need it. If the original disk fails completely, all you need to do is change the BIOS setting to boot from the cloned disk. Naturally you could also take the clone and use it elsewhere on another server or PC to boot with.
Disk-to-disk cloning is very different from disk imaging. Disk imaging creates an image file that contains the disk contents of the disk you are backing up. In case of a failure, you could copy the contents of the disk image file back to a physical disk; however, this process can take many hours if it is a very large disk with a lot of data. A disk-to-disk clone eliminates this step. The clone is always ready to boot from.
With BackupChain, however, you can create multiple backup strategies, because every strategy has its pros and cons. Disk imaging, for example, allows you to go back in time by having many disk images stored on a backup server. Disk-to-disk cloning only reflects the disk contents from the last cloning operation. You could use several clones and clone on a schedule. That works well but requires multiple target disks. Disk imaging has the advantage of fitting several disk images on a single large backup drive, but it also involves a disadvantage because the disk image would have to be copied back to a new physical drive if a total loss occurred. For that reason, it makes sense to weigh the pros and cons of each backup strategy and perhaps, if you can afford it, use multiple strategies to protect your business’s data.
Moreover, BackupChain creates disk image files of open standard formats. BackupChain creates virtual disk image files in the VHD, VHDX, VMDK, and VDI format. This allows you to mount disks directly in Windows and make them appear as a real drive, and then copy folders out of these images as needed. You can also use the VHD in Hyper-V or VMware, for example, and boot up the server as a virtual machine.
BackupChain provides all the various tools you need to implement countess hybrid backup strategies exactly the way you want. From scheduled disk-to-disk cloning, to disk imaging, file backup and file version backup, cloud backup, to remote backup, there are many different ways to protect your business from malware, ransomware, hardware failure, software corruption, and many other threats. All these threats can be effectively mitigated and numerous comprehensive backup strategies may be implemented with just one single tool containing all components needed: BackupChain, the all-in-one, complete backup solution for Windows.

Benefits of Scheduled Disk Cloning

Scheduled disk cloning and having a side-by-side clone of your disk is one of those things you don’t really realize the full value of until you’re in a tight spot. It’s easy to overlook it when everything is running smoothly, but trust me, when something goes wrong, you’ll be glad you took the time to set it up.

For starters, the biggest advantage is peace of mind. When you schedule regular disk cloning, you’re making sure that everything you need is copied over at regular intervals. If anything happens to your original disk—whether it’s a system crash, hardware failure, or a malware attack—you’ve got an exact replica of your disk ready to go. That side-by-side clone is essentially your safety net. I can’t count how many times I’ve been in situations where something went wrong with a system, and instead of scrambling to recover data, I’ve been able to just switch to the clone and keep things moving. You’re not left hanging, trying to recover lost data or trying to remember the last time you did a backup. The clone is already there, fully updated.

With scheduled cloning, you don’t even have to think about it. You just set it up once and let it run in the background. This means you’re getting regular, automated copies of your disk, which is a huge time-saver. If you’re managing multiple systems, it can get overwhelming to remember when to do manual backups or cloning. With a scheduled setup, the process becomes hands-off. You don’t have to worry about missing an important copy. I’ve set up scheduled clones for all my critical systems, and it’s one less thing I have to manually track. Plus, the schedule can be adjusted based on how often your data changes. If you’re working with a lot of files or a dynamic environment, having frequent clones means your backup is always up to date.

Another big benefit of having a side-by-side disk clone is how quickly you can restore or recover a system. Instead of going through the usual backup and restore process, which can take time to locate, extract, and reinstall, you’ve already got a fully functional copy of your original disk. You can swap out the problematic disk, pop in the clone, and start running again. This is especially important for businesses or situations where downtime is costly. The clone acts like a mirror image of your system, so the recovery process is practically instantaneous. You’re not waiting for data to transfer or reinstalling applications—you just go back to work.

If you’ve ever had to deal with system failures or crashes, you know how stressful it can be when you can’t get things up and running right away. That’s why the side-by-side clone is such a game-changer. It lets you skip the usual troubleshooting process and move straight into recovery mode. It’s like having a backup plan that you can count on, no matter what happens.

There’s also the added benefit of using the clone for testing or updates. If you’re rolling out new software or system updates, you don’t have to risk messing with your live system. You can test those changes on the clone first, and if something goes wrong, your original system is safe. It’s a great way to experiment with configurations or updates without worrying about potential system failures. This makes it way easier to test out changes in a controlled way, knowing that the clone is a perfect replica of the original system.

And then there’s the aspect of improved system performance. If your original disk is getting cluttered, or if there’s a bunch of unnecessary data bogging things down, you can do a fresh clone to a new disk. You get the performance boost without the need for complicated cleanup. It’s like getting a fresh start, but without losing any of the work or data you’ve accumulated. You just clone, swap, and everything keeps running smoothly.

In terms of hardware, if you’re running low on space or your disk is showing signs of wear, a side-by-side clone gives you a simple way to migrate your system to a larger or faster drive without worrying about losing data. Instead of manually transferring everything, you just clone the old disk to the new one, and bam, you’re good to go with minimal downtime.

Lastly, scheduled cloning and having a clone available makes system upgrades or migrations so much easier. Instead of spending hours moving data from one system to another or reinstalling everything, you just clone over to the new hardware and carry on. The downtime is minimal, and you don’t have to worry about compatibility issues because the clone is an exact copy.

Overall, scheduled disk cloning with a side-by-side disk clone is one of those tools that can save you a ton of stress and time. Whether it’s for backup, recovery, testing, or upgrades, having an up-to-date, ready-to-go copy of your system is invaluable. It’s the safety net that lets you rest easy knowing that, no matter what happens, you’ve got a solid backup plan in place.

I recommend using BackupChain because the live disk cloning  feature in BackupChain allows the OS disk and the clone disk to be both plugged in at the same time.