Best Free Xcopy Alternative in Windows 10, 8, 7 and Windows 11

• Xcopy command to copy data from one drive to another
• Xcopy not working in Windows 10
• What’s the best Xcopy alternative in Windows 10, 8,7?
• Tutorial: clone partition with Xcopy alternative in Windows 10
• Final words

Xcopy command to copy data from one drive to another

Xcopy is a built-in command on Windows OS like Windows 10, 8, 7 and more. Compared with old basic copy command, Xcopy has added some new and advanced features. For example, it can copy directories, copy all files including subdirectories recursively and can replicate the source directory structure from one drive to another. To copy contents from one drive to another on a Windows PC, firstly, open up the command prompt (Windows key + R then type cmd), secondly, run the following command:

“xcopy d:\ e:\ /h/i/c/k/e/r/y”

The above command copies all of the files on the d:\ drive to the e:\ drive. There are many options specified here (the letters with a slash before them). Here's what the parameters are doing:

d:\-- is the source drive you are cloning.
e:\--is the destination drive you are cloning to.
/h – copy hidden and system files/folders.
/i – if in doubt always assume the destination is a folder e.g. when the destination does not exist.
/c – continue copying even if an error occurs.
/k –keep read-only attribute. With this option, read-only files will retain the read-only file attribute after copy.
/e –copy all directories, even if they are empty.
/r – overwrite read-only files in destination.
/y –assume yes to all overwrites.

Xcopy not working in Windows 10

Although Xcopy commands can copy a drive and all inside content to another drive, it is a file/folder level copy rather than a partition/drive level copy. Besides, an error might occur when you copy content between two different file systems-e.g. from an NTFS drive to a FAT32 drive; therefore you need to ensure the source and destination drive are using the same file system. Moreover, some PC users complain that Xcopy does not working in Windows 10:

“I am trying to run xcopy but it returns the ‘invalid number of parameters’. The command is ‘xcopy C:\Users\User1\Downloads\Surface RT 8.0 Recovery.ISO:\*.* /s/e/f/h F:\’. Maybe I have to abandon this command, so is there another way to do what I want to accomplish? Thanks,”

In such issues, an alternative to Xcopy command will be required to clone a drive/partition content to another location flexibly.

What’s the best Xcopy alternative in Windows 11,10, 8,7?

When Xcopy command does not work to copy content from one partition to another in your situation, the free partition manager –AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard can be a great alternative. It works well on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 10/8/7. As a perfect alternative to Xcopy command, it is able to clone partition, clone disk, clone OS effectively. With a user-friendly and intuitive main interface, you can easily finish every steps of cloning a partition/disk. Besides, you will have two different clone methods to choose:

1. Clone Partition Quickly (file by file): only copies all existing files from the source partition to the destination disk.
2. Sector-by-Sector Clone (complete copy): copies both existing files and lost/deleted files to the destination disk.

Tutorial: clone partition with Xcopy alternative in Windows 10

Now, you can free download the software and learn how to clone a partition in Windows 10 (as an example).

★Tips:

Make sure there is an unallocated space on the destination disk to hold the source partition; otherwise you will need to shrink an existing partition to generate such space.

The unallocated space should be equal or larger than the used space of the source partition for “Clone Partition Quickly”. And it must be equal or larger then the all space of the source partition for “Sector-by-Sector Clone”.

You can close all running programs on the partition you will clone, or this operation will be executed under PreOS mode.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant,  right-click the partition you want to clone and select the "Clone Partition" tool to run partition clone. (You can also click the "Clone" main tab and select "Clone Partition".)

Step 2. In next window, select the destination partition or unallocated space to hold your source partition, and then click "Confirm".

Step 3. Then, you will enter the Confirm interface where you can check the source and destination clone location. After all is set, you can click the "Confirm" button to continue.

Notes:

• There is a "4k alignment" option. If you want to copy a partition onto a SSD (Solid State Drive), ticking this option will optimize the read and write speed on this partition. It can also extend the life of the SSD.
• If you select the "Sector-by-Sector Clone" mode, the unallocated space must be equal or larger than source partition. If you tick the option, it will be unable to resize the destination partition.

Step 4. In the next window, you can click the "Settings" button to adjust the target partition size. As you can see from the screenshot, you could adjust the size of source partition in order to fit the target partition as per your need, or directly skip the step and click "Save".

Step 5. You can preview the partition copy operating by viewing the "Pending Operations". To commit the "Pending Operations", please click "Apply" and "Proceed".

The cloning process will start and you can check the cloning process. Once the process is completed successfully, you will get a congratulation window. Finally, you can check the partition layout on the destination disk will be identical to the source partition.

If you plan to clone system drive, the “Migrate OS to SSD Wizard” is a better choice.  It allows you to migrate only operating system to another disk.

Final words

As seen above, AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard is a great Xcopy alternative in Windows 10/8/7 when the Xcopy does not work as expected. Apart from partition/disk/system clone function, this versatile software also does well in converting disk between MBR and GPT without deleting partitions, merging partitions, checking partition for bad sectors, rebuilding MBR, etc. For Windows Server 2019/2016/2012/2008/2003 users, AOMEI Partition Assistant Server is highly recommended.