If you clone a disk with no errors. And you buy a better computer faster hard drive etc. Would that actually make the size of the new disk you cloned go at the same speed as your old one? Is cloning just for moving it onto Windows 11 for example.
cloning has nothing to do with the speed it just does an exact copy of the drive. The speed is controlled by the version of SATA, disk speed and cache
Cloning a disk moves the data from one storage device to another bit by bit, mapped exactly as original.
It really does not impact the speed of the computer but it can impact the rate at which the data is read and we interpret that as computer speed.
If you clone your data, say from an SSD to a 5400 rpm HDD, and the data that was cloned is highly fragmented then the new computer will appear slower as it takes longer for the data to be read from the drive.
Of course the opposite is also true. If you clone data from an old 5400 to an SSD, data retrieval will be significant faster and we feel the computer is faster.
If you are thinking of buying a new computer, and plan to add this cloned drive to your storage pool it should not impact things like boot speed, browsing. Where you may notice a slow down is when you ask for the data.
The key with spinning drives and speed, see how fast it rotates, (5400 or 7200 for retail drives), how much cache does it have (computer sends data to drive memory, allowing computer to move on while the drive puts it away) and don't let them get to fragmented.
Others may have differing opinions.
Ken
Hi and thank you for the detailed information. I have never cloned a drive in my life . Always image file backup but I am going to do one now as it would save me having to install everything again correct? No not planning in buying one yet hard drive went on this one so I bought a Toshiba Hybrid SSD. And it is faster, but I haven't a clue how you make a hard drive that is part ssd. I think it will just be an HDD with faster speeds.
I think I may have gotten us off your topic as I read you were thinking of buying new computer.
Indeed if you clone your drive you should be able to plug it in and away you go. I believe Macrium has this capability. Test your cloned drive before declaring success.
As to your hybrid drive, I'm very sure it will handle the organization based on a usage algorithm. Data that is used a lot will be placed on the SSD portion. This will likely be dynamic, that is a file may live there for a period of time and then it will move to spinning storage as your usage of said file drops. I think it just shows as one drive to you. Of course I could be wrong so if a hybrid drive owner is following please correct me.
Ken
This analogy may work: if you take your well-used, well-maintained, GPS (a Garmin for example) device from your old car and place into your new car -- all the GPS settings, all the saved places, your maps, all the icons, buttons, etc., are now at your fingertips in the new car.
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