How to Ghost a Hard Drive With Xcopy

Duplicate your hard drive with xcopy.

There are several commercial software packages available to "ghost" or make an exact copy of an existing hard drive. For those willing to take an extra few minutes to learn a few command-line switches, Microsoft includes a free system command, "xcopy," which allows a user to make a duplicate of any Windows hard drive without the need to purchase or download additional software. With proper use, these command switches transfer hidden and system files to a new disk along with the directory structure of the existing disk.

Instructions

1. Open a command window. Click the Windows "Start" button. Type "cmd" in the text box and press the "Enter" key.

2. Type "cd\" and press the "Enter" key. Doing this takes you to the top-level directory on the C drive. Issuing the "xcopy" command from the root of the drive includes all lower-level directories in the command process.

3. Type "xcopy C:\*.* D:\*.*/s/h/e/k/o" at the command prompt and press the "Enter" key. Substitute the appropriate drive letters for your computer for C: and D: in this example. The first drive letter represents the drive you are copying from; the second is the target drive.

4. Type "exit" to close the command window once the xcopy is finished running. This may take a significant amount of time depending on the size of the drives and the speed of the computer.

Tips & Warnings

• An explanation of the switches: "/s" tells xcopy to copy system files to the target; "/h" includes hidden files in the operation; "/e" copies subdirectories, even if empty, to the target; "/k" copies file attributes; "/o" includes file ownership information.

• A full list of available switches and their descriptions can be viewed by typing "xcopy /?" at the command prompt.

References

• Microsoft: Xcopy