How to Clone UEFI Disk to SSD Without Boot Issue (A Full Guide)

Tracy King Updated on September 14, 2021 to Disk/Partition Clone | How-to Guides

• Differences Between UEFI Boot and BIOS Boot
• Why Need to Clone UEFI Hard Drive
• Overview of UEFI Hard Drive Cloning Software
• How to Clone UEFI Hard Drive to SSD

This article mainly introduces a simple yet effective way to clone UEFI disk to SSD in Windows 10, 8.1, 8 or 7. This method works for all Windows users, either tech-savvy or not. Just follow this guide to clone UEFI disk to SSD without boot issue in Windows 10/8.1/8/7.

# UEFI Boot versus BIOS Boot

UEFI stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, which initializes the hard drive with the GPT partition style. BIOS stands for Basic Input/Output System, which initializes the hard drive with the MBR partition style.

UEFI allows the use of disks larger than 2 TB. It has a faster boot process and more security features. The boot process proceeds as follows:

BIOS restrictions limit users to disks larger than 2TB. Also, BIOS must run in 16-bit processor mode, with only 1MB of space to execute. The boot process goes like this:

You may also like to know: MBR vs GPT | What Are the Differences and Which Is Better?

## Why Clone a UEFI Disk? There can be various reasons for cloning a UEFI disk. Here are some common ones: 1. **System Migration**: When you need to move your operating system from an old hard drive to a new one, cloning the UEFI disk ensures that all drivers, settings, and custom configurations are transferred intact. 2. **Backup and Recovery**: Disk cloning serves as a system backup, protecting against unexpected failures or malware attacks. If the original disk fails, you can easily revert to the cloned state. 3. **Performance Optimization**: If you're upgrading from an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) to an SSD (Solid State Drive), cloning the UEFI disk allows you to take full advantage of the SSD's higher performance, boosting system speed. 4. **Multiple System Environments**: For testing different operating systems or software configurations, cloning disks lets you quickly switch back to your original setup without reinstalling or reconfiguring. 5. **Device Consistency**: IT administrators can ensure all work devices have the same system image by cloning UEFI disks, simplifying management and maintenance. 6. **Disaster Recovery**: In an enterprise setting, cloned disks can be part of a disaster recovery plan, enabling rapid business continuity in case of data loss or hardware failure. Now that you understand these reasons, you might be curious about how to clone a UEFI disk. Let's explore a simple method to accomplish this task.

Here are the main reasons why people opt to clone UEFI disk:

• Upgrade UEFI disk to a larger hard drive
• The UEFI boot drive is not functioning properly
• The UEFI boot disk fails
• Clone UEFI disk to SSD for optimized Windows/PC performance

If you are one of them, wanting to clone UEFI disk to SSD effortlessly without booting issue, what you need is a simple yet professional disk cloning tool.

UEFI Disk Clone Software for Windows 10/8.1/8/7

How to clone UEFI hard drive easily? Here we recommend using the UEFI disk cloning software - AOMEI Backupper Standard. It is fully compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and 10. It supports disk cloning, partition cloning, sector-by-sector cloning, etc. on GPT disk, MBR disk, and WinPE boot disk.

Disk cloning software boasts the following amazing features:

Step-by-Step Clone UEFI Disk to SSD in Windows 10/8/7

To ensure that you can clone your Windows UEFI boot disk to SSD without any boot issue, you'd better convert SSD to GPT in advance. Then, follow the below steps to clone UEFI disk to SSD.

Step 1: In the Disk Mode, select the HDD you want to clone.

Step 2: Select the SSD as the target disk.

A warning will appear, telling you that the data on the SSD will be erased. If you don't have anything important on the target drive, click “OK” to proceed.

Step 3: Edit the disk layout if you wish, and click “Continue” to proceed.

Since the destination location is an SSD, it's recommended to check the option “If the target is an SSD, please select this option.”

Step 4: Wait for the process to complete.

Please activate the tool Disk Copy with the activation code in advance. You can click the button below to get the official activation code immediately and activate it as the professional version now:

How to Create a Bootable Clone of an UEFI Disk on an SSD with UTF-8 Encoding

The other thing you need to do after cloning your UEFI boot disk to an SSD is to enable UEFI boot on the new drive:

Insert the new SSD with the UEFI bootable disk image into your laptop. Restart your computer, and you should now be able to run Windows from the new SSD in UEFI mode.

If you have trouble switching between UEFI and BIOS boot modes, you can refer to Microsoft's guide on Booting to UEFI mode or legacy BIOS mode.

Conclusions

As you can see, that's how to clone a UEFI disk with a disk cloning tool. As long as you choose the right disk cloning software, it's easy to copy a UEFI boot disk to another disk. In addition, a disk cloning utility can also clone one partition to another, clone a bad hard drive, and so on. You can download this software anytime to fix HDD/SSD issues.

FAQs on Cloning UEFI Disk to SSD with UTF-8 Encoding

If you're having trouble, please read the following troubleshooting tips for more help.

Yes, you can clone a GPT disk. The GUID Partition Table (GPT) is a modern alternative to the Master Boot Record (MBR) for partitioning hard drives. Cloning a GPT disk allows you to create an exact replica of the original disk, including all its partitions and data. This process can be done using various tools, such as disk cloning software or built-in operating system utilities. Ensure that the target disk has enough space to accommodate the cloned data and that the cloning process supports GPT disks.

You can use a disk cloning tool to clone a GPT disk. Note: If there is no system on the source disk (i.e., the GPT disk), you can successfully clone the data on the GPT disk. If there is a system on the source disk, the target disk must also be a GPT disk to boot successfully. If your target disk is an MBR disk, it may fail to boot after cloning a GPT disk.

How do I boot from a cloned SSD?

Step 1: Once the cloning is complete, restart your computer. While it's booting back up, hold down “F2” (or another key like DEL, depending on your computer) to enter your BIOS/UEFI environment.

Step 2. In the BIOS, change the boot order to set the cloned SSD as the boot drive.

Step 3: Press the Enter key. Your computer should now boot from the SSD.

Can I clone MBR to GPT?

Yes, you can use a disk cloning tool to clone an MBR data disk to a GPT disk, and the cloned disk will be in the GPT format. There's no need to consider the boot issue for a data disk. If you want to clone an MBR system disk to a GPT disk, please follow these steps.

Step 1: Firstly, convert the GPT disk to MBR disk with a partition manager.

Step 2. Clone an MBR disk with the Disk Mode feature.

Step 3: Use the Partition Master tool again to convert the MBR disk to GPT.

To ensure the system boots properly, confirm that your operating system is 64-bit and uses GPT for booting, and that your BIOS supports EFI boot. After the conversion, change the boot mode in the BIOS.