HDClone vs Iperius Disk Cloning

HDClone creates physical or logical copies and file images of hard disks and other storage media for backups, system copies, and recovery of defective media. It works independently of partitioning scheme, file system, and operating system, including with some otherwise inaccessible proprietary formats. Depending on edition, it supports drive and partition copies, SmartCopy, PartitionSelect, and copying to multiple targets. File-image options vary by edition, with higher editions adding compression, password protection, differential or encrypted images, and virtual disk formats. Professional and Enterprise editions can create VMDK, VHD, VHDX, and VDI images for VMware, VirtualPC, and VirtualBox virtual machines. It runs as a Windows application or from bootable CD/DVD or USB media. The Free Edition costs nothing, for private use only, and is limited to 4 TB and 70 MB/s. Basic costs €19.90, paid once and is limited to private use on up to two PCs; higher one-time editions add further capabilities.

Iperius Disk Cloning is a free Windows utility that makes an exact disk-to-disk copy. It runs inside Iperius Recovery Environment, which can start from a USB stick or optical media such as a CD or DVD. The maker describes it for moving an operating system to a larger disk or cloning a hard disk to an SSD. Disks connected directly to the machine and USB disks are supported. The destination must have capacity equal to or greater than the source, and the selected source cannot also be the destination. For hardware needing specific drivers, the utility can load an .inf driver while running, including for RAID controllers and SCSI devices. The recovery environment is WinPE-based and can be prepared on a USB drive or ISO file. The maker describes procedures for Windows 10 and 11 and says they apply from Windows 7 through Windows Server 2025. It can restore Iperius .VHD or .VHDX images, including on different hardware. Creating recovery media permanently erases the selected USB drive.