Skip to content
BranchesTags

Latest commit

 

History

36 Commits

Folders and files

NameName
Last commit message
Last commit date
Clone.ps1
Clone.ps1
 
 
README.md
README.md
 
 
overcome_defender.ps1
overcome_defender.ps1
 
 

Repository files navigation

BootableVolumeClone

Clone a live Windows volume to a bootable VHDX file — while Windows is running.

PowerShell Windows License

Features

  • Live Cloning — Clone your running Windows system without rebooting
  • Smart Copy — Only copies allocated clusters, dramatically reducing time and file size
  • No Dependencies — Uses native Windows APIs (virtdisk.dll), no Hyper-V module required
  • Bootable Output — Creates fully bootable VHDX files with proper boot configuration
  • Dual Boot Mode Support — UEFI (GPT) and BIOS (MBR) compatible
  • Interactive & Scripted — Menu-driven interface or command-line automation
  • Progress Tracking — Real-time speed and progress monitoring

How It Works

┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐
│  Source Volume  │────▶│ VSS Snapshot │────▶│  Read Bitmap    │
│    (Live C:)    │     │  (Frozen)    │     │  (Find Used)    │
└─────────────────┘     └─────────────┘     └────────┬────────┘
                                                     │
┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────┐     ┌────────▼────────┐
│ Bootable VHDX   │◀────│  Install    │◀────│   Smart Copy    │
│   (Ready!)      │     │  Boot Files │     │ (Allocated Only)│
└─────────────────┘     └─────────────┘     └─────────────────┘
  1. VSS Snapshot — Creates a consistent point-in-time snapshot of the live volume
  2. VHDX Creation — Creates a new VHDX using Windows virtdisk.dll API
  3. Partition Setup — Initializes disk with proper boot partitions (ESP/MSR for UEFI, System Reserved for BIOS)
  4. Smart Copy — Reads NTFS bitmap to identify allocated clusters and copies only used data
  5. Boot Configuration — Runs bcdboot to install Windows boot files

Requirements

  • Windows 10/11 or Windows Server 2016+
  • PowerShell 5.1 or later
  • Administrator privileges
  • VSS service running (default on Windows)

Not Required:

  • Hyper-V role or module
  • Third-party tools
  • Reboot

Installation

Download the script directly:

# Download to current directory
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mr-r3b00t/clone_disk_to_vhd/main/Clone.ps1" -OutFile "Clone.ps1"

Or clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/mr-r3b00t/clone_disk_to_vhd.git

Usage

Interactive Mode

Simply run the script without parameters for a menu-driven experience:

.\Clone.ps1

Command Line Mode

.\Clone.ps1 -SourceVolume "C" -DestinationVHDX "D:\Backup\MyClone.vhdx"

Parameters

Parameter Type Default Description
-SourceVolume String — Drive letter to clone (e.g., "C" or "C:")
-DestinationVHDX String — Full path for output VHDX file
-BootMode String "UEFI" Boot mode: "UEFI" (GPT) or "BIOS" (MBR)
-FullCopy Switch $false Copy all sectors instead of allocated only
-FixedSizeVHDX Switch $false Create fixed-size instead of dynamic VHDX
-BlockSizeMB Int 4 Copy block size in MB (1-64)
-SkipBootFix Switch $false Skip boot file installation

Examples

Basic Clone (Smart Copy, Dynamic VHDX, UEFI)

.\Clone.ps1 -SourceVolume "C" -DestinationVHDX "E:\VMs\Windows_Clone.vhdx"

Full Sector Copy

.\Clone.ps1 -SourceVolume "C" -DestinationVHDX "E:\VMs\Full_Clone.vhdx" -FullCopy

BIOS/MBR Boot Mode

.\Clone.ps1 -SourceVolume "C" -DestinationVHDX "E:\VMs\BIOS_Clone.vhdx" -BootMode "BIOS"

Fixed-Size VHDX with Larger Block Size

.\Clone.ps1 -SourceVolume "C" -DestinationVHDX "E:\VMs\Fixed_Clone.vhdx" -FixedSizeVHDX -BlockSizeMB 16

Clone Secondary Drive (Data Only, No Boot Files)

.\Clone.ps1 -SourceVolume "D" -DestinationVHDX "E:\VMs\Data_Clone.vhdx" -SkipBootFix

Output

╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║                    BOOTABLE VOLUME CLONE                          ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

  Source:      C:
  Destination: D:\VMs\Clone.vhdx
  Used Space:  118.13 GB
  VHDX Size:   953.42 GB (virtual)
  Disk Needed: ~125 GB
  Boot Mode:   UEFI
  Copy Mode:   Smart (allocated blocks only)

Creating VSS snapshot for C:\...
  Snapshot created: \\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy1
Creating Dynamic VHDX: D:\VMs\Clone.vhdx (953.42 GB)...
  VHDX created successfully
Attaching VHDX...
  VHDX attached at: \\.\PhysicalDrive1
Initializing disk structure for UEFI boot...
  Allocated: 118.13 GB of 953.03 GB in 797 ranges
Copying 118.13 GB of allocated data...
Copied 118.28 GB in 1.7 min (1170.3 MB/s)
Installing boot files...
  Boot files installed successfully

╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║                    CLONE COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY                   ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

  VHDX File: D:\VMs\Clone.vhdx
  File Size: 125.44 GB

Using the Clone

Boot in Hyper-V

  1. Create a new Hyper-V VM (Generation 2 for UEFI, Generation 1 for BIOS)
  2. Attach the VHDX as the primary hard drive
  3. Start the VM

Native VHD Boot

Add the VHDX to Windows boot menu:

bcdedit /copy "{current}" /d "Windows Clone"
bcdedit /set "{NEW-GUID}" device vhd="[D:]\VMs\Clone.vhdx"
bcdedit /set "{NEW-GUID}" osdevice vhd="[D:]\VMs\Clone.vhdx"

Mount for File Access

Mount-VHD -Path "D:\VMs\Clone.vhdx"
# Access via assigned drive letter
Dismount-VHD -Path "D:\VMs\Clone.vhdx"

BitLocker Considerations

Scenario Result
Cloning unlocked BitLocker volume (e.g., running C:) ✅ Works — clone is unencrypted
Cloning locked BitLocker volume ❌ Fails — encrypted data is unreadable

When you clone a running BitLocker-encrypted system drive, Windows transparently decrypts the data during reading. The resulting VHDX contains unencrypted data.

To secure the clone:

  • Store the VHDX on a BitLocker-encrypted drive
  • Or boot the clone in a VM and enable BitLocker on it

Smart Copy vs Full Copy

Mode Copies Speed VHDX Size Use Case
Smart (default) Allocated clusters only Fast Smaller Most scenarios
Full All sectors Slower Larger Non-NTFS, forensics, disk recovery

Example: A 1 TB partition with 100 GB used:

  • Smart Copy: ~100 GB copied, ~105 GB VHDX
  • Full Copy: ~1 TB copied, ~1 TB VHDX

Troubleshooting

"PtrToStructure" Error

Exception calling "PtrToStructure" with "2" argument(s): "The specified structure 
must be blittable or have layout information."

Solution: Close PowerShell completely and open a new window. This error occurs when .NET types are cached from a previous script run with different definitions.

"Insufficient Space" Error

The script calculates required space based on:

  • Dynamic VHDX + Smart Copy: Used space + boot partitions + 5% overhead
  • Fixed VHDX or Full Copy: Full partition size + boot partitions

Ensure destination drive has adequate free space.

VSS Snapshot Fails

Common causes:

  • VSS service not running: Start-Service VSS
  • Insufficient disk space for shadow copy
  • Volume not supported (some USB drives)

Boot Files Installation Fails

If bcdboot fails:

  1. Ensure Windows folder exists on the source volume
  2. Try running with -SkipBootFix and manually run bcdboot afterward
  3. Check that EFI System Partition was created correctly

Technical Details

Partition Layout

UEFI (GPT):

Partition Size Type
EFI System 260 MB FAT32
Microsoft Reserved 16 MB —
Windows Remaining NTFS (raw copy)

BIOS (MBR):

Partition Size Type
System Reserved 500 MB NTFS
Windows Remaining NTFS (raw copy)

APIs Used

  • virtdisk.dll — CreateVirtualDisk, AttachVirtualDisk, DetachVirtualDisk
  • kernel32.dll — CreateFile, DeviceIoControl, ReadFile, WriteFile
  • FSCTL_GET_NTFS_VOLUME_DATA — Retrieve cluster size and count
  • FSCTL_GET_VOLUME_BITMAP — Get allocation bitmap
  • Win32_ShadowCopy — VSS snapshot management

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch
  3. Submit a pull request

License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

Acknowledgments

  • Microsoft for the Windows Virtual Disk and VSS APIs
  • The PowerShell community for P/Invoke patterns

About

powershell create a disk clone of the OS using VSS etc. DEV USE AT OWN RISK

Resources

Readme
Activity

Stars

66 stars

Watchers

2 watching

Forks

6 forks
Report repository

Releases

Packages

Contributors

Languages