How to Easily Clone Your Windows 11/10 OS HDD to an SSD

For years, HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) have dominated the computer hardware scene. With the impressive performance of SSDs (Solid State Drives), there has been a growing trend to shift from HDD to SSD. Many users are trying to switch from HDD to SSD in pursuit of improved computer performance. Here's a typical scenario:

However, since HDDs usually have much more capacity than SSDs, many users choose to only clone OS to SSD instead of cloning the entire HDD to SSD. This is not a difficult task. This tutorial will walk you through how to clone operating system on HDD to SSD in detail.

See the information you need to clone your operating system to an SSD:

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How to Clone Your Operating System to an SSD Using Disk Management Software

To clone system to SSD successfully, a better solution is to use a professional Windows partition manager – for example, tools Partition Master. Because manually copying the system partition files to SSD will surely cause boot problems in the future.

AOMEI Partition Assistant is a proven reliable tool to successfully clone your operating system to an SSD. Download the software now and clone your OS to the SSD in three simple steps.

Step 1: Gather the tools

• Download partitioning tool - tools Partition Master
• A SATA data cable to connect the SSD to your computer
• An SSD solid-state drive

Make sure the cable is functioning properly, otherwise, you might experience hardware recognition issues. Also, download and install the tool Partition Master on a computer with the HDD installed.

Step 2: Prepare the SSD

To clone the operating system to an SSD without issues, make sure that the SSD meets the following requirements:

Step 1: Initialize the SSD

Plug the SSD into the SATA-to-USB adapter, then plug that into your computer. If this is a brand new drive, you'll need to initialize it first. Right-click the Start menu and open Disk Management. It will prompt you to initialize the SSD using either the GPT or MBR partition style.

Regarding partition format:

Different partition styles (MBR and GPT) use different boot modes (BIOS and UEFI). To avoid boot issues, you should keep the SSD partition style the same as the source disk before cloning.

You can check the partition style of your SSD by right-clicking on the HDD in Disk Management and selecting Properties > clicking on the Volume tab, where the partition style will be displayed.

You can use a partitioning tool, such as Partition Master, to convert from MBR to GPT or vice-versa while installing Windows if you need to.

On capacity:

• The SSD should have more capacity than the used space on the system and boot partitions. • If there is enough unallocated space ahead of the SSD, you don't need to delete any existing partitions. • If there's enough unallocated space but not in front of the SSD, you can use the Partition Master tool to move the partition forward. • If there's not enough unallocated space, Partition Master will delete existing partitions to ensure enough room for the OS cloning. In this case, you should back up files in advance.

It's worth emphasizing that the SSD should be larger than the space used on the system and boot partitions (if you have those separate); even if they're equal, you'll get an error that the “target disk is too small.”

Step 3: Procedure to clone the operating system to an SSD using the Partition Master tool 1. First, download and install tools Partition Master. This is a powerful disk management tool that will assist you in cloning your OS. 2. After installation, launch the software. On the main interface, you'll see a list of your hard drives. 3. Locate the hard drive where your current operating system is installed (usually drive C:) and select it. Click on the "Clone" or "Disk Clone" option from the top menu bar. 4. In the popup window, choose the source drive (your current hard drive). Then, click "Next." 5. Next, select the target drive, which is your new SSD. Make sure the SSD has enough space to accommodate the entire operating system. If the SSD is not already connected to your computer, connect it first. Click "Next." 6. In the cloning options, you can choose "Auto Adapt" to let Partition Master automatically adjust the partition size to fit the SSD, or you can customize the partition size manually. Generally, selecting "Auto Adapt" is the best choice. 7. Review all the settings and, once confirmed, click "Finish." A prompt will appear asking if you want to execute the cloning process immediately. Click "OK." 8. Partition Master will start the cloning process. This may take some time depending on the sizes of the source hard drive and the SSD. Do not disconnect the SSD or turn off your computer during this time. 9. Once the cloning is complete, close the software. Now, you need to configure your computer to boot from the new SSD. This is typically done in the BIOS or UEFI settings. Restart your computer and enter BIOS/UEFI, find the boot order settings, and set the SSD as the primary boot device. 10. Save the changes and exit BIOS/UEFI. Your computer will automatically boot from the new SSD. Check if everything runs smoothly; the operating system should load without issues. 11. If all goes well, you can safely remove the original hard drive or keep it as a backup. Make sure to back up important data before making any hardware changes. Please note that these steps might vary slightly depending on the software version and your computer model. Adjust accordingly based on your specific situation.

Note: If there is not enough unallocated space on the target disk, migrating the OS to SSD or HDD will delete and remove existing partitions and data on the target disk. Back up any important data on it to an external hard drive beforehand.

Step 1. From the left-hand menu, choose “Clone.” Select “Migrate the operating system,” and click “Next” to proceed.

Step 2. Select the target disk that you want to clone to. Click “Next”.

Step 3: Review the warning, then click “OK”. All data and partitions on the target disk will be erased. Make sure you have backed up all important data beforehand. If not, please do it now.

Step 4: Preview the layout of the target disk. You can also click on the Layout option to customize the layout of the target disk as per your requirement. Then, click on "Start" to begin migrating the operating system to the new disk.

5. When prompted with the confirmation message asking if you want to “Boot from the cloned disk,” check the box for “Adjust the boot order to boot from the cloned disk,” then click the appropriate button depending on your needs.

• Restart Now: Restarts the computer immediately and boots the operating system from the new disk.
• Finish Later: Completes the change at a later time.

Confirm the system clone to the new drive

Do you like using Partition Master to clone the operating system to SSD? This tool provides a simple and quick solution. If you find it helpful, please also hit the social buttons to share it with others in need.

What to Do After Cloning Your OS to an SSD

After a successful OS migration, you'll need to change the boot order in your BIOS to set the installed SSD as the boot disk, so your computer starts from the SSD.

Here are the steps to set the cloned SSD as the boot drive for your Windows operating system:

Step 1: Restart your computer and press F2/F12/Delete to enter BIOS.

Step 2: Enter the boot options and change the boot order to set your operating system to boot from the new SSD.

Step 3. Save your changes, exit the BIOS, and restart your computer.

Wait for your computer to boot up. Your new SSD should now be recognized as the system drive.

Frequently Asked Questions About Cloning an Operating System to an SSD

Based on feedback from the Support team, you might have the following questions after cloning your operating system to an SSD.

1. How do I clone only Windows to an SSD? How can I clone just my operating system to an SSD? To clone only your Windows system to a solid-state drive (SSD), follow these steps: 1. **Backup data**: Before starting, ensure you back up all important files and data in case of any issues. 2. **Acquire cloning software**: You can use free cloning tools like Macrium Reflect Free, Clonezilla, or AOMEI Backupper Free. For this example, we'll use AOMEI Backupper Free. 3. **Connect the SSD**: Attach your new SSD to your computer using a USB-SATA adapter or by installing it in an extra slot on your motherboard. 4. **Launch the cloning software**: Run AOMEI Backupper Free and select the "Disk Clone" option. 5. **Choose source and target disks**: In the source disk, select your current Windows system drive, and for the target disk, choose the newly connected SSD. 6. **Start cloning**: After confirming the information is correct, click "Start Clone." The cloning process may take some time, depending on your hard drive's size and speed. 7. **Set BIOS/UEFI**: Once cloning is complete, restart your computer and enter the BIOS/UEFI settings. Set the SSD as the first boot device. 8. **Verify the clone**: Save your settings and reboot. If everything goes well, your computer should boot from the SSD with only the Windows system installed. Please note that the exact steps may vary slightly depending on the cloning software used, but the general process remains similar. Make sure the cloning software correctly selects the source and target disks to avoid data loss.

A "Migration Tool" can help you transfer your OS from an HDD to an SSD by cloning everything on the system and boot partitions (if there are multiple ones). This way, any programs installed on these partitions and files saved in them will also be copied to the SSD.

For your reference, both the system partition and the boot partition are required for Windows to start up normally. They can be the same partition or two separate ones.

Why can't I boot my computer from the SSD?

Usually, if you strictly follow the preparation steps, there shouldn't be any boot issues. However, there are still some anticipated scenarios. SSD boot failure can result from various reasons. To effectively address the problem, it's recommended that you reach out to our technical support team (techsupport@tools.com) for remote assistance.

The target disk space is too small.

If your SSD doesn't have enough space, you'll receive an error message stating that the destination disk is too small. In this case, you can either move some applications and files to another drive or replace the SSD with a larger one.

4. Some errors occurred while reading/writing disk sectors

If you see messages about errors while reading/writing sectors from/to the disk, there are most likely bad sectors on the source/destination disk.

To check bad sectors, select the drive or partition and click “More” > “Surface Test” in the Tools tab of Partition Master.

• If bad sectors exist on the disk, try removing them first using Command Prompt, then clone the operating system to the SSD. • If the bad sectors can't be repaired, you can use a disk cloning tool to clone HDD to SSD. The disk cloning process will skip over these bad sectors.

Ultimately

With the help of third-party software, cloning your OS from HDD to SSD can be straightforward. However, make sure your SSD meets the requirements for a successful cloning process. Should unexpected errors occur, don't worry; we've also outlined the most common issues and their solutions. If you encounter a problem that you can't resolve, feel free to reach out to our support team anytime via email or live chat for assistance.