You might be using the same old hard disk on your computer but there are many reasons to upgrade to an SSD. There are two options for users who want to upgrade; they can either get a bigger hard drive or clone hard drive to SSD. It is advisable that you go for the later as it has many advantages. Your computer will work much better once it has an SSD installed.

Benefits of Cloning from HDD to SSD

When you close HDD to SSD, you will see a lot of improvements to your computer. These are in terms of reliability, speed, and performance.

Better Performance

First of all, the performance of your computer will get much better. The hard drive is a temporary memory for your computer so as you store more data on it, the computer starts to lag. On the other hand, SSD tends to be much faster and cooler. It also consumes less power and works quietly.

Affordability

There was a time when SSDs were quite expensive and you had to consider the cost. However, manufacturing has increased in the past and the prices of SSD have gotten lower.

Safety

Data that is stored on SSD is much safer as compared to the data that is stored on your hard drive.

Lesser Cost of Maintenance

Since SSD has lesser energy consumption, you will save a lot of money when it comes to electricity bills. Also, the room will stay very quiet since SSD does not make as much noise as a hard disk.

What do you need?

There are a few things you need to clone from hard disk to SSD. The first thing you need is an SSD. You can choose one according to your budget and the size of hard drive that you have to clone. For example, if your hard disk is 500GB, your SSD should also be of similar size. On a desktop computer, you can install multiple hard drives. So, the Windows and Programs could go to SSD and the media files can go to hard disk.

SATA

You will also need a dock or enclosure since you will have to attach the SSD and HDD to the computer at the same time.

Back up Your Data

Make sure you back up your data before cloning the hard disk. This step is essential. Do not skip this. With a single click, you can end up losing all your data. If your SSD is smaller in size that the hard disk, delete some files if they are unnecessary. Otherwise, you can store these files on a USB drive.

How do I transfer Windows 7 from HDD to SSD?

When you are closing from hard disk to SSD, you need to be prepared or you will end up losing all your data. It is important to remember that when you close from HDD to SSD, the data on your target device will be gone. So, you should make a backup before you start cloning. Also, your SSD should have enough space to contain the data from your hard disk. If there is not enough space, you will lose data.

Partition Style

The partition style of your destination and source disk should be compatible with each other. There are two main partition styles; MBR and GPT. You can also convert them to each other. If you do not know the partition style of your HDD or your SSD, you can find it using the instructions given below.

  • Connect the disk to your computer,
  • Then, go to My PC and from the Manage section, click on Disk Management.
  • Right clicking on it will show you the option for choosing Properties.
  • In Properties, click on Volume.
  • Here, you will see the partition style of your drive.
disk management section in windows

How do I transfer Windows 10 from HDD to SSD?

There is no in-built software on Windows that lets to clone to SSD but you can use third-party software. One of the software that you can use is AOMEI. The Standard Edition of this software is free so you can download it easily.

  • First of all, download the software and connect SSD to it.
  • After downloading, run the program.
  • Select ‘Clone’ and then go to the ‘Disk Clone’ option.
aomei software download for partition
  • The next window is Source Disk where you have to choose the disks.
  • Here, choose hard drive as source disk and Select Next.
  • Then, select the SSD as destination disk. Select ‘Next’ again.
aomei software download for partition of hardrive
  • On the next window, click on SSD Alignment.
  • After that, choose Start Clone.
cloning using the aomei software

How do I transfer Windows 8 from HDD to SSD?

Just like Windows 10, you need a third-party installation tool to clone hdd to ssd. Another tool that you can use is EaseUS Todo. Download this app and start it when you want to clone the hard drive. On the first screen, you will see the option to Clone on the top right corner. Click on it.

easeus todo to backup data

Select your current hard drive as the source disk. There will be three partitions here; active pool, recovery and Windows partition. Select all of them as they all need to be cloned. After selecting them, click on Next.

easeus todo to backup data

Choose the SSD as the destination. Choose the right drive if you want your data to be safe. You can also checkmark the section ‘Optimize for SSD’. It will give you the best performance.

easeus todo to backup data

There will be an edit button in front of the Hard Disk section. You can edit the partition size depending on your data. If there is no need to edit, just proceed to click on Next.

easeus todo to backup data

How long does it take to clone HDD to SSD?

The duration of this cloning will depend on the size of your source drive. If it is bigger, the duration of cloning will be longer. Normally, it takes about 10 minutes to close hdd to ssd. After cloning, reboot. This might not be necessary for all computers but some computers do have errors. Restart your computer. From the start-up screen, go to boot screen. You need to find the BIOS option. Here, you will be able to change boot settings. From the list, select your SSD and save the settings. When your computer starts again now, it will be rebooted and the SSD will work. Now, you can experience faster and more impressive performance.