CREATE A BOOTABLE CLONEBOY26
▶ HOW YOU CLONE THIS PC
make the USB, boot it, pick Clone. done.
needs a 64 GB+ USB drive: your images are saved on it · powered by Ventoy
“it's better.” -nick*
a Nick's Tech Shop joint
little bandit, big backups.
Clone a whole PC. Make the USB, boot it, pick Clone. Done.
DOWNLOAD FOR WINDOWS26.1 · SETUP .EXE · COMING SOON
Mac · coming soon
free for a limited time
“it'll boot on anything.” -nick**usually right, tbh
how it works
Three steps. That's the whole thing.
- 1
Make the USB
Plug in a 64 GB+ USB drive and press CREATE A BOOTABLE CLONEBOY²⁶. Your images get saved on it.
- 2
Boot it
Start the PC from the stick. It starts on old BIOS and UEFI PCs, with or without Secure Boot.
- 3
Pick Clone
Knox's menu comes up. Pick Clone. Done.
what it does
Five jobs. One program.
CAPTURE OS IMAGE
Saves any plugged-in OS drive as a verified image.
“use it for backups too.” -nick*
DEPLOY AN IMAGE
A saved image onto a drive, ready to boot. Pick the image, pick the drive, type GO.
CLONE A DIFFERENT DRIVE
Clone any OS drive onto a third connected drive.
CREATE A WINDOWS INSTALLER
Any Windows 10 / 11 ISO onto a USB drive, 8 GB or bigger. Or press DOWNLOAD WINDOWS 11 and it comes straight from Microsoft, checked against Microsoft's SHA-256.
“it'll boot on anything.” -nick*
*usually right, tbh
what you need
Not much.
- A Windows PCWindows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
- A USB drive, 64 GB+For the CloneBoy²⁶ stick. Everything on it is erased.
- Or 8 GB+If all you want is a Windows installer.
- Administrator rightsWindows only lets a program read and write whole disks as administrator.
screenshot coming:the home screen
screenshot coming:the boot menu
screenshot coming:a clone running
is this safe?
Fair question.
CloneBoy²⁶ erases and writes whole disks, so here is straight what it is, why Windows warns about it, and how to check that the copy you have is the real one.
The download
CloneBoy26-Setup-26.1.exe
26.1 “Yeah Buddy” isn't released yet. The download, its fingerprint and its scan report show up here together on release day.
DOWNLOAD FOR WINDOWSCOMING SOONSHA-256 fingerprint
published on release dayAfter installing, the program itself, CloneBoy26.exe:
Check yours in PowerShell, in the folder with the download:
Get-FileHash .\CloneBoy26-Setup-26.1.exeThe long number must match the one above, letter for letter (capitals don't matter). If it doesn't, don't run it: download it again from here.
Why Windows warns you
CloneBoy²⁶ is not code-signed. Signing costs money every year, and this is a small shop's tool. So the first time you run it, Windows shows this. It means “Windows doesn't know who made this yet”, not “this is malware”.
Windows protected your PC
Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting.
More info1 · click this
Run anyway2 · then thisDon't run
Then Yes when Windows asks for administrator rights.
The virus scan
Each release is uploaded to VirusTotal, which runs it through about seventy antivirus engines. The report link sits next to the download so you can read it yourself.
A scan is a check, not a guarantee: no one can certify a program “malware-free”, and we don't claim that. Now and then one engine flags a new, unsigned disk tool by mistake.
What CloneBoy²⁶ will never do
- Erase without asking. Anything that erases a disk shows you the disk, says so in red, and waits for you to type
GO. - Write to the Windows you're running from. That disk shows in red. The one exception is a deploy onto this PC that you asked for, after a restart.
- Erase the wrong disk. Right before it erases, it reads the disk again and checks its serial number. If anything changed, it stops.
- Phone home. No account, no tracking. It only goes online when you press DOWNLOAD WINDOWS 11, and then only to Microsoft.
- Get around Windows activation or any other Windows protection.
release notes
26.1 “Yeah Buddy”
not released yet
New
- An installer. One Setup exe: the program, the boot environment, Ventoy and the guides. Uninstall leaves your images and logs alone.
- A new home screen with five jobs, plus ADVANCED TOOLS (image library, drives, about).
- The stick is a Ventoy stick. Legacy BIOS and UEFI, with or without Secure Boot (one key enrolment per PC). Dark boot menu with Knox.
- DOWNLOAD WINDOWS 11: latest, x64, English US, straight from Microsoft, resumes if cancelled.
- SHA-256 fingerprints and a VirusTotal report with every release.
Changed
- “Restore” is now Deploy everywhere. Capture makes an image; Deploy writes a drive so it boots.
- CLONE THIS OS moved under CAPTURE OS IMAGE.
Known
- Not code-signed: Windows shows “Windows protected your PC” the first time.
- DOWNLOAD WINDOWS 11 uses Microsoft's download service. Microsoft changes it now and then; when it breaks, an update fixes it, and PICK THE WINDOWS ISO always works.
- On a PC with only one drive, Capture and Deploy say why there's nowhere to save to.
Mac
- Coming soon, once it's been benched on a Mac: the same stick, the same menu words.
Knox the Raccoon
CloneBoy26
26.1 “Yeah Buddy” · a Nick's Tech Shop joint
little bandit, big backups.
SUPPORT CLONEBOY
CloneBoy is free for a limited time. If it saved your day, buy Knox a snack.
REPORT A BUGInside the app, REPORT A BUG zips the logs for you.