[Secure Boot] Clone System Disk to SSD Without Any Reinstalling in Windows 10/11

Why clone a system disk to SSD?

Slow startup times and lagging performance on your PC makes you annoying and frustrating. Upgrading from a traditional hard drive (HDD) to a solid-state drive (SSD) can remarkable solve this problem as the SSDs can offers many advantages: faster data access, higher reliability, lower power consumption, and more, especially after the advent of the PCIe NVMe SSD, which has further widened the performance gap between the SSD and HDD. In addition to these, a large number of users want to replace hard drive to SSD because they don't want to receive "low disk space warning" any more. The following picture is a detailed comparasion.

If you want to move everything from HDD to SSD, such as programs, files, operating system, etc., you can use a reliable HDD to SSD disk cloning software - it can help you transfer everything quickly and easily. In the next part, we will tell you how to use it to migrate everything without any reinstalling and any boot issue.

Best HDD to SSD cloning software for migrating system disk

To clone your current system hard disk drive to SSD, it's important to choose reliable disk cloning software. AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is highly recommended as its highlights listed below:

AOMEI Partition Assistant

The Best Windows Disk Partition Manager and PC Optimizer

Free Download
Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7

✍ Bootable clone: If a partition related to OS is not copied to the new SSD, you won’t be boot Windows from the SSD. This cloning tool can clone all partitions including hidden partitions on the source system disk, ensuring that the cloned SSD bootable.
✍ Considerate: It is common that the capacity of the new SSD is smaller than the size of the source system disk. This cloning tool supports cloning system disk to smaller SSD, as it can clone only used space on the current disk.
✍ Compatibility: It is designed for Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 users.
✍ 4K alignment: It can make 4K alignment for SSD to improve performance during cloning system disk to SSD. 

How to: Clone system disk to SSD without boot issues

Let's walk through how to clone hard drive to SSD via the reliable HDD to SSD cloning software, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. 

Before the operation:

♦ Check OS and remove bad sectors.
♦ The capacity of SSD can be smaller than the capacity of the original disk but should be larger than or equal to the used space on the source disk.
♦ Back up necessary data if there are files on the SSD, as this operation will erase all data on the destination disk.
♦ Ensure the target disk's partition style matches the source disk. You need to convert from MBR to GPT or vice versa.
♦ Connect SSD to your computer. A SATA to USB adapter might be necessary for a laptop.

Step 1. Open the installed AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, click "Clone" in the main interface, and select "Clone Disk".

Step 2. Choose the hard disk that you need to clone as the source disk like SSD and click "Next".

Step 3. Select the destination disk to store the data on the source disk, and then click "Next".

Step 4. Then, you can check the source and destination disk in the next window or change to "Sector to Sector clone", and click the "Confirm" button to continue if there is no problem.

Here, you can also click the "Settings" button to adjust the partition size on the destination disk or tick "4k alignment" to Optimize the performance of SSD if the target disk is an SSD drive. 

Tip: If you want to clone Windows to a smaller drive, the "Clone without resizing partitions"  button will be greyed out. Then, a Note about how to boot OS from the destination disk will pop up. Read and keep it in mind.

 Step 5. After returning to the main interface, check the pending operation and click "Apply" and "Proceed" to commit the operation.

Notes:

▪ A reboot is necessary for this operation as it involves the system.
▪ If the storage space of the SSD is too small to hold all data on your current hard drive, it’s not a bad choice to clone OS-related partitions only to SSD via Migrate OS to SSD.

How to: Boot from SSD after cloning system disk

To boot successfully from the cloned SSD after cloning system disk, you can have a look at the following content.  

When your computer supports you to hold the old HDD and the new SSD at the same time, you can reboot your PC and press ESC, F1, F2, F8 or F10 during the startup screen to enter Windows BIOS setup; then use the arrow keys to select the Boot tab; set the new cloned SSD as the priority in boot sequence; finally, save and exit the BIOS setup utility.

When your PC has no extra drive bay, you need to remove the old system disk and install the new cloned SSD and then boot from the SSD. 

Step 1.  Unplug the power and remove the battery from your laptop.

Step 2. Press and hold the power button for about 10 seconds to release any residual power.

Step 3. Remove the case cover and locate the old system disk on the motherboard. Loosen the screw and unplug your old drive.

Step 4.  Install the SSD by doing the reverse of how you removed the old disk  and then screw the screws to fasten the bracket.

Step 5. Place the case cover and battery back onto the computer. Then connect the power.

Conclusion

All in all, whether you want to upgrade the system disk to SSD or replace it with a bigger one without Windows and applications reinstallation, it’s a nice choice to clone it. Obviously, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional can help you to complete the operation effectively and easily. What's more, it is featured various other functions, such as copying data partition to a new hard drive, recover lost partition, convert dynamic disk into basic without data loss, etc.

To cloning OS disk in Windows Server 2025/2022/2019/2016/2012 (R2)/2008 (R2) without boot failure, you can use AOMEI Partition Assistant Server.