Easily Move/Clone Windows 10 Hard Drive to New Computer

Part 1: Why Clone or Move HDD to a New Computer?

After three or four years, you might notice that it's getting a bit sluggish. Maybe it's time to start thinking about replacing it. Here's a typical thread from the CNET forums:

"How can I migrate my old SSD to a new computer without reinstalling Windows 10 and applications? Hello, about a decade ago, I built a top-of-the-line liquid-cooled desktop that I was very happy with. However, as they say, nothing lasts forever, and the components of this poor machine have finally given up. I'm preparing for my next build and wondering if there's a way to use my existing SSD in the new computer without having to reinstall Windows 10 (64-bit) and all the applications I currently have. Reinstalling the OS and all software would take weeks, and I'd rather not spend that time. Many thanks in advance for any suggestions. Appreciate it."

As far as I know, most people don't bother, because reinstalling the operating system, software, and data is such a pain. But it doesn't have to be. This article will show you how to clone your Windows 10 hard drive and move everything – the operating system, programs, settings, and data – from your old computer to your new one.

Part 2: Moving Windows to a New Computer

Moving or cloning a data disk is straightforward, but transferring a Windows system disk to another computer is trickier, because you have to deal with activation and driver issues.

It introduced driver conflicts in Windows 7, especially with low-level hardware like the SATA controller for your hard drive. As a result, you'd be met with a blue screen preventing you from booting into your system. Windows 8 and 10 handle these conflicts much better. When you transfer a Windows installation to a new PC, it will run through first-time setup as if it's a new PC, grabbing drivers for the new hardware, and (theoretically) letting you carry on. That is, assuming you're using Windows 8 or 10, in which case you can resolve these conflicts. However, every PC is different, and there could be driver conflicts and performance issues lurking behind what appears to be a normal setup.

Then there's the matter of activation. Windows comes in three flavors: OEM, retail, and volume. If you have a retail or volume license, you should be fine. Activation is designed to ensure that Windows is installed on only one PC, so replacing a motherboard (or even some internal hardware) can deactivate your copy. But you can reactivate by reentering your key. An OEM license (“original equipment manufacturer”) is meant to be locked to the original installation hardware. Microsoft doesn't want you to move that OEM version of Windows to another machine. If you do want to transfer an OEM license, you'll need to appeal to Microsoft's customer service team.

Step 3: How to Clone Your Hard Drive to a New Computer

No matter you are using Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 10, you can clone hard drive to new computer. When we talk about how to clone Windows 10 from one computer to another, compatibility and boot issues are what we care most. To avoid these troubles and clone system without removing and installing hard drives, we highly recommend you use Todo Backup's System Transfer feature. This tool helps you clone Windows 10 from old computer to new computer via bootable hard drive, and ensures the cloned hard drive boots successfully on the new computer. Now, get a suitable WinPE bootable disk or USB, let's start to create Windows 10 system backup to clone PC.

Step 1. Create the bootable USB drive

<1> Connect an empty USB flash drive or external hard drive (with at least 100 GB of space) to your computer.

Note: Set the USB drive or external hard disk to MBR and create two partitions: format the first partition as FAT32 and the second as NTFS.

2. Launch AOMEI Backupper, click on "Tools" and then "Create Bootable Media".

Select “USB” as the location to save the emergency disk, then click “Create.”

This boot disk will help you start up your computer and transfer the system image to the new one.

Step 2: Create a system image backup on the source computer

1. Click on "Operating System" on the main screen, and select "Windows operating system" by default.

2. Select the second partition of the USB drive labeled “Save system image to.”

You can also save the system backup image to another spare external hard drive (which must be larger than or equal in size to your system C: drive).

Click “Back Up Now” to start backing up the system image to the target device.

Step 3. Boot the target computer from the tools Todo Backup emergency disk

<1> Remove the Emergency Boot and System Backup Image USB from the new computer.

2. Restart your computer and press “DEL/F2/F10/F12” to enter the BIOS.

3. Load the boot menu and set your computer to boot from the Todo Backup Emergency Disk.

If you want to restore the system image to a GPT disk, you need to change the boot mode to UEFI in BIOS. Then, your computer will enter the main interface of Todo Backup Tools.

Step 4. Migrate to a new computer

Note: Restoring a system image to a new computer will erase the data on the target disk. Back up your files beforehand, or use an empty disk to restore the system image to avoid losing data.

In the Todo Backup main interface, click Tools > System Transfer.

2. Select the system image on your USB drive, then click OK to continue.

3. Click “Continue” to begin transferring your system to the new computer.

Step 5: Restart your computer and use the transferred system.

Conclusions

This method should greatly assist you in moving your hard drive to a new computer without having to reinstall Windows 10. However, if you encounter unknown issues and aren't sure how to proceed, feel free to reach out to our support team or consider doing a fresh install. We're always here to help, and we'd be glad to assist you every step of the way.