In this article, we will show you how to Clone An SD Card on PC. A Secure Digital Card (SD card) is a small flash memory device that offers high storage capacity in a portable size. A standard SD card measures 32 mm x 24 mm x 2.1 mm and weighs about 2 grams, while miniSD and microSD cards are much smaller but have similar storage capacity.
Variations of SD cards include Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC), Secure Digital eXtended Capacity (SDXC), and Secure Digital Ultra Capacity (SDUC). These types of SD cards are designed to provide much higher capacity than a standard SD card. To access the data stored on an SD card, users usually need a USB card reader. Once the card is inserted into the card reader and the reader is connected to a computer, users can access and modify the files just like any other flash memory device. Below, we have mentioned the steps to Clone An SD Card On PC.
Step to Clone an SD Card on Desktop
Cloning SD Card Using Cloning Software
Some operating systems, such as Windows, do not have a built-in method for cloning drives, including SD cards. Therefore, you need to use a third-party cloning software. An easy-to-use open source application that you can use for this purpose is Win32DiskImager. This is a lightweight, free software that allows you to copy a complete image of a disk and restore a disk using that image.
Win32DiskImager clones each sector of the SD card into the image file. So the file size is equal to the maximum space on the SD card. Therefore, you can only use Win32DiskImager to clone an SD card to a storage medium of the same size or larger. Here are the necessary steps to clone an SD card with this application:
Step 1: Insert the SD card you want to clone into your computer. Use a memory card reader if you need to.
Step 2: Install the Win32DiskImager app and open it.
Step 3: Under Image File, enter an image path (.img) to store the SD card image.
Step 4: Set the drop-down box under Device to your SD card’s drive.
Step 5: Click Read to save the SD card image to the .img file.
Step 6: Click Ok after the process completes.
Step 7: Insert the SD card or disk where you want to restore the contents of the original one into your PC.
Step 8: Open Win32DiskImager if you closed it.
Step 9: Enter the path from step 4 under Image File and the new SD card’s drive letter under Device.
Step 10: Click Write to restore the image file to the new SD card.
Step 11: Wait for the process to finish and click Ok.
Cloning SD Card on Mac or Linux
Unlike Windows, Mac and Linux systems have native options for cloning an SD card. You can use Terminal for this purpose on both operating systems. Here is the complete process:
Step 1: Insert the source SD card into your computer and open the Terminal.
Step 2: Then, list out all of your disks. The commands are:
- On Mac: diskutil list
- On Linux: sudo fdisk -l
Step 3: Make a note of your SD card’s disk name. It should be something like /dev/sdb on Linux and /dev/disk2 on Mac.
Step 4: Unmount the disk using the following command while replacing the disk name with that from step 3:
- On Linux: sudo umount /dev/sdb
- On Mac: diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2
Step 5: Write the image of the SD card to your local drive using the command below:
sudo dd if=“disk name” of=~/backup_image.img
Here, replace “disk name” with your disk name on either OS. You can also use any name for the .img file.
Step 6: Now insert the destination drive on your computer.
Step 7: Copy steps 2 to 4 to determine its disk name and unmount the drive.
Step 8: Enter the command sudo dd if=~/backup_image.img of=“disk name”. Use your disk name and, if necessary, image file name.
Final Words
We hope you like this article on How To Clone An SD Card On PC. SD cards are made of extremely durable and strong material so that no mechanical damage can occur. They are based on non-volatile memory to ensure the stability of the data. The security of the stored information is not compromised in the event of a power failure. They also do not need to be refreshed regularly. They are extremely small, have a large storage capacity and can be easily inserted into any electronic device.
I hope you understand this article, How to Clone an SD Card on PC.
