Blog Entry #11

Balena Etcher and Rufus... A match made in Heaven!

Anyone who makes their own bootable USB drives, knows about these two programs. But did you know, they can do more? Balena Etcher is in my opinion, one of the easiest and best programs for this work. Just download an ISO file, open the program, select the file, the USB stick you want to use and click flash. Etcher takes care of everything for you and makes sure it's bootable. But, Etcher can also clone your Hard Drive to another Hard Drive. Let's say you want to upgrade to an SSD. You currently has a 500 GB standard hard drive. Go to amazon, Newegg, Best Buy, Walmart or Micro Center, and purchase a SATA to USB 3.0 adapter. I got mine from Micro Center for about $20. Then, simply plug your new SSD into the adapter and plug the adapter into an availalbe USB port. Open Balena Etcher and click clone. Select your current hard drive, then choose your new SSD as the target. Click flash and then replace your current hard drive. (See the guides). That's it! Now you have a new SSD, and everything is where you left it. 

Rufus also makes bootable USB drives, however, Rufus can also fix issues with USB sticks. For instance, if your USB drive says it has a capacity of 16GB, but you can only see 4GB when plugged in, run rufus and reformat the stick. Rufus can also make Windows bootable USB drives. 

In reality, you need both. Get to know them and use them. I use one at least every other day. I keep my USB sticks containing Linux and Windows up to date so Balena Etcher is always used. If there is a problem, Rufus allows me to usually, repair the USB drive and start again. 

To download Balena Etcher, click here
To download Rufus, click here

Please Note: The information contained here is for informational purposes only. Make sure you consult a professional whenever possible regarding hard drive cloning. This also poses a security risk so make sure you have consent from the owner first. Use the information here at your own risk. We are not responsible for any damage or data loss.