Macrium Reflect is a very useful disk cloning and imaging tool. However, some users claim that they encounter Macrium Reflect clone failed issue when cloning disk. How to fix it? Don’t be panic. This article will show you how to fix Macrium Reflect clone failed issue with top 5 fixes.

You may come across Macrium Reflect clone failed error message when cloning your HDD to an SSD or a new HDD. When it happens, what should you do? The first step is to learn the reasons that give rise to Macrium Reflect clone failed. After learning the reasons, you can follow the solutions in this article to fix the error efficiently.

What Is Macrium Reflect

Some users don’t know what Macrium Reflect is. Actually it is a backup tool for Microsoft Windows developed by Paramount Software UK Ltd in 2006. It creates disk images and file backup archives with the use of Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service.

Macrium Reflect can clone one disk onto another, backup whole partitions or individual files and folders, which is a very convenient disk cloning utility. However, some users report that they encounter Macrium Reflect clone failed error when they clone hard drive with the backup software Macrium Reflect.

How to fix Macrium Reflect clone failed issue? Do you know the reasons that lead to Macrium Reflect clone failed? Here I summarize some reasons for Macrium Reflect clone failed error. You may have a look.

Reasons for Macrium Reflect Clone Failed Issue

Macrium Reflect clone failed problem could occur from time to time. There are many reasons that could lead to Macrium Reflect clone failed issue. Here are some typical reasons for your reference.

1. The cable connection is not proper:

If the cable between your device and computer is not connected properly, you may fail in cloning disk with the disk cloning software Macrium Reflect. So, make sure the proper cable connection between the drive and the computer.

2. The storage device has bad sectors:

You may encounter Macrium Reflect clone failed error when there are bad sectors on the source disk.

3. Antivirus software is enabled:

The antivirus software blocks the process to clone system files due to security reasons, leading to Macrium Reflect clone failed issue.

4. The disk has file system error:

When the destination or target disk has corrupted file system, you may receive Macrium Reflect clone failed error message.

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Solution 1. Run CHKDSK Utility

Sometimes the Macrium Reflect clone failed issue is caused by bad sectors on hard disk. You can run CHKDSK Windows 10 to check and fix hard drive errors and bad sectors that may cause Macrium Reflect clone failed issue.

Well, how to run CHKDSK Windows 10 to scan and fix hard drive errors? If you don’t know, you can follow the steps as below to run CHKDSK utility in Windows 10 now.

Step 1. Launch the Command Prompt

  1. Input Command Prompt in the Windows 10 Cortana search box.
  2. Click the best match and right-click it to Run as administrator.

Step 2. Run CHKDSK

  1. Input chkdsk *: /f /r (* represents the letter of your source drive) and press Enter.

run CHKDSK

  • This command will scan the source disk and repair all the errors, bad sectors or corruption it finds.
  • When the process is done, you can input exit and hit Enter to close the command prompt window.

After that, you can run the software to clone your disk and see if the Macrium Reflect clone failed issue has been solved. If you still encounter Macrium Reflect clone failed error message, you have no choice but to the rest solutions.

Solution 2. Clean the target disk

If the target or destination disk has corrupted file system, it may also lead to Macrium Reflect free clone failed issue. In this way, you can clean the destination disk before cloning.

Step 1. Run Diskpart Windows 10

You can launch Diskpart via the following two ways.

  • Right-click Windows 10 Start menu and choose Run. Then type diskpart in the pop-up Run window.
  • Input diskpart in the Windows search box and clickthe best match

Step 2. Use Diskpart to Clean Disk

  1. Input list disk to show all the disks connected to your computer and hit Enter.
  2. Input select disk * (* represents disk number of your target disk) to select the destination hard drive. And then hit Enter.
  3. Input clean and hit Enter to remove all the data on the target disk.

clean the target disk

After the disk is cleaned, you can restart your computer and clone disk with Macrium Reflect. Make sure that both the drives are connected properly and try cloning again.

Solution 3. Disable Antivirus Software

The Macrium Reflect clone failed issue may be caused by antivirus software. If the antivirus software on your computer is enabled, it will prevent access to any program they find likely to infect a computer system. This could be the reasons for Macrium Reflect clone failed error message.

In this case, you can disable the antivirus software installed on your computer temporarily and then clone your drive again. After you successfully clone hard drive with Macrium Reflect, you can enable the antivirus software to protect computer from virus attack.

If you still encounter Macrium Reflect clone failed issue, try the next method.

Solution 4. Make an Image Instead of Cloning

If you meet the Macrium Reflect failed to clone issue when cloning, you can make a disk image with Macrium Reflect.

A disk image is a type of storage files. It is a backup copy of the contents of a hard drive and it contains all the data and the necessary information to boot into the operating system.

You can backup hard drive to an external hard drive and then restore the image to your new hard drive or SSD. In this way, the system and other data will all be copied to the new disk as well. When you come across Macrium Reflect clone failed, you can make a disk image instead of cloning.

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Solution 5. Try Macrium Reflect Alternative Backup Software

MiniTool Partition Wizard

If the above solutions cannot help you fix Macrium Reflect clone failed issue, you can try using other disk clone software to copy disk. MiniTool Partition Wizard is the best Macrium Reflect free alternative software.

MiniTool Partition Wizard is an all-in-one partition manager & disk cloning utility, which can help you perform many partition and disk management operations like resize partition, extend partition, convert FAT to NTFS, convert MBR to GPT, migrate OS to SSD/HD, copy disk, check file system and so on.

You can try using the drive cloning software when you encounter Macrium Reflect clone failed error during the cloning process. If you have never used the software and don’t know how to get and utilize the software, don’t worry. The following contents will show you how to copy disk with MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Before you start, connect a hard disk, for example, SSD or an external hard drive, to your computer.

Step 1. The first thing is to get the Macrium Reflect free alternative MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition by clicking the following button. Install the drive cloning and backup software on your computer. Then launch it to get the main interface.

MiniTool Partition Wizard FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 2. On the main interface, select the disk you need to copy and choose Copy Disk from the left action panel. To clone system disk, MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro Ultimate is recommended.

choose Copy Disk

Step 3. Select a target disk from the disk list and click Next. When you click Next, it will remind you that all the data on the disk will be destroyed. Make sure there is no important file on the destination disk. Then click Yes to continue.

choose a disk to copy the source content to

Step 4. You may change the copy options by yourself. Fit partition to entire disk means the selected disk will be copied to target disk with the whole disk filled proportionally. Copy partitions without resize means the selected disk will be copied with their original sizes.

review the changes and click Next

Step 5. Then MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition will tell you how to boot from the new disk. Read the note and click Finish to go on.

click Finish to continue

Step 6. Then click Apply to allow the pending operations and click Yes to allow changes.

click Apply

This is how to copy disk with the Macrium Reflect free alterative MiniTool Partition Wizard. If you just want to copy a partition, you can choose Copy Partition function to copy a specific partition by yourself.

Actually, apart from this drive cloning utility, you can choose the professional backup software MiniTool ShadowMaker, which has the same magic like MiniTool Partition Wizard.

With the Macrium Reflect free alternative MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition, I successfully cloned hard drive without a hassle. This disk cloning software is worth trying if Macrium Reflect clone failed.Click to Tweet

MiniTool ShadowMaker

MiniTool ShadowMaker is a professional backup tool. It can help you backup files and folders, disks and partitions in just a few clicks. With this backup software, you are able to clone system disk or data disk on your computer without a hassle. When you encounter Macrium Reflect clone failed issue, you can try using MiniTool ShadowMaker to clone disk.

Here are detailed steps to clone disk with MiniTool ShadowMaker.

Step 1. Download MiniTool ShadowMaker by clicking the following button. Install it on your computer.

MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 2. Launch the Macrium Reflect free alternative MiniTool ShadowMaker. Click Keep Trial and choose Connect in This Computer to continue.

connect this PC

Step 3. When you get the main interface, go to the Tools page directly and choose Clone Disk to clone your disk.

choose clone disk to continue

Step 4. On this page, click The Source Disk and The Target Disk modules respectively to choose the hard drive you want to backup and choose the destination disk to save the copy.

choose source disk and destination disk

Step 5. After selecting the source disk and target disk, you can click OK to continue. When you click OK, a pop-up window will remind you that data on target disk will be destroyed. So, backup important files on target disk in advance.

choose disk clone source

Step 6. Then the Macrium Reflect free alternative software will start cloning your source disk to target disk. The time for disk cloning depends on how many files you have stored on the source disk. Please wait patiently.

disk cloning process

Step 7. When disk clone is finished, you will receive a message which tells you that the source disk and the target disk have the same signature and one disk will be marked as offline if both of them are connected to your computer.

Remove either of them when the disk clone process is finished. However, if you need to boot your computer from the target disk, you should go to the BIOS settings to change the boot order.

read the note

Now you have learned how to clone disk with the two Macrium Reflect free alternatives. If you encounter Macrium Reflect clone failed error or other Macrium Reflect errors like Macrium Reflect error 0 or Macrium Reflect error 9, you can try using the MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition and MiniTool ShadowMaker to clone disk and make backups.

MiniTool Partition Wizard FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Wrapping things Up

After reading this article, you should know how to resolve the Macrium Reflect clone failed error with the above 5 solutions. Even if you cannot fix Macrium Reflect clone failed error, you can try using the two awesome Macrium Reflect free alternatives.

If you have any question about how to fix Macrium Reflect clone failed issue or you have any other good drive cloning and backup software to recommend, you can leave a message on the following comment zone and we will respond as soon as possible. If you need any help when using MiniTool software, you can contact us via [email protected].

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