MiniClone HD: The $5 Live Windows disk cloning tool

Two weeks ago, I was not planning to enter a hackathon. My Windows SSD was dying, I already had a replacement drive, and I needed to move my running system without reinstalling everything. I expected that to be a solved problem. Instead, I found the same small group of cloning utilities I remembered from years ago. Many prominently advertised a free edition, then placed live, bootable Windows migration behind a roughly $50 annual subscription—after the user had already downloaded, installed, configured, and sometimes started the workflow. I did not want to rent a once-in-a-decade utility for an entire year. I wanted one focused tool: choose a destination, confirm it, clone Windows, and receive truthful evidence about what completed. That became MiniCloneHD.