How to Make SSD Bootable on Windows 10 And Boot from It

User case: How to make SSD bootable in Windows 10

I have a desktop running Windows 10. I bought a Toshiba 1GB SSD that operates through a USB cord. I intend to clone my desktop hard drive to the SSD portable drive and then plug it into a laptop computer and boot from the SSD so that I have access to all my programs with the laptop as I do with the desktop. I have no Windows 10 installation disks. So can I directly clone HDD to SSD and make SSD bootable?

SSD boot VS. HDD boot in Windows 10/11

An SSD drive is flash storage without any moving parts inside, so they are smaller and occupy less space in a computer, sometimes you can even mount it to the motherboard. The HDD is made up of magnetic tape with mechanical parts inside, so they are larger than SSD drives and slower in data read and writing. In one word, which type of drive is set as the boot drive will make a huge difference in PC performance.

For example, with the HDD as your boot drive, the Windows operating system will take a longer time to boot up, the applications will take longer to load, and the folders or files will take longer to open and save. Briefly, making the HDD the bootable drive means the speed isn’t something coming your way. By contrast, switching to an SSD boot drive will make OS boot more quickly and the software load up in a flash. So it is better to make an SSD bootable drive on Windows PC.

Now, there are two core problems you need to deal with: how to clone your Windows operating system from HDD to SSD, and how to set SSD as the boot drive. Next, I will explain how to perform those two tasks step by step respectively.

How to clone HDD to SSD and make SSD bootable

To clone a hard disk drive with pre-installed Windows to a solid-state drive, you can make use of AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. This software comes with “Disk Clone Wizard”, allowing you to clone one disk to another one and make sure everything (including OS, apps, programs, etc) on the cloned drive will work as it did in the original hard disk. Besides, you will have two clone methods to choose from:

• Clone Disk Quickly: clone only used sectors from the source disk to the destination disk and allows to clone of a large drive to a smaller drive as long as the target disk has enough space to contain the used space of the source disk.
• Sector-by-Sector Clone: clone both used and unused sectors to the destination disk so the target disk must be larger than, at least equal to, the source disk size.

You can download the Demo version to see how to make SSD bootable in Windows 10.

Part 1. Precautions for make bootable SSD on Windows

▸ Back up everything important on the SSD drive because it will be erased to save contents from the HDD.

▸ You can uninstall the large programs, and remove unnecessary personal files from the HDD to make it smaller to fit the SSD drive which is always of less capacity.

▸ Connect the SSD to your machine. To do this on a laptop, you might need a SATA to USB adapter, connect the SSD to the SATA/USB adapter, then plug the adapter into a USB port on your laptop. Then it will be detected as an external hard drive.

▸ If you plan to clone MBR HDD to GPT SSD drive, please ensure your motherboard supports EFI/UEFI boot mode because you have to change Legacy to UEFI after clone so that you can boot the machine from the SSD drive.

Part 2. Make SSD boot drive

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant, 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 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 improve the reading and writing speed of SSD if the target disk is an SSD drive.

Step 5. At last, click "Apply" and "Proceed" in the main interface to start cloning the hard drive.

How to make new SSD bootable in Windows 10

After you have created bootable SSD for Windows 10, now you should remove the old HDD and install the SSD drive to boot the laptop from it. If you are using a desktop and have installed both HDD and SSD on it, you can change the boot order to set the SSD as the boot drive and boot the computer from it. Below is the instruction:

Step 1. Power on your PC. Press the keyboard key (usually F12, F2, F8, Esc, Del) to enter BIOS.

Step 2. Access to Boot Menu and Change Boot Order. Use the arrow keys to move up/down the displayed Boot Options until you set the cloned SSD as the first boot device.

Step 3. Exit while saving the changes and then proceed to boot.

If you successfully boot the desktop from the cloned bootable SSD drive, you can wipe the old HDD to free up disk space for saving personal data.

Advanced reading on making bootable SSD in Windows 10/11

Above is how to create a bootable SSD drive to replace the traditional HDD. What if you just want to make a bootable SSD for a portable OS device, which you can take everywhere and boot any computer (even the brand new one) into your familiar OS environment?

Luckily, AOMEI Partition Assistant can also help you to achieve that. Its “Windows To Go Creator” allows you to transfer the current operating system (Windows 11/10/8/7) or copy the Windows ISO files to the SSD/HDD/USB flash drive to make a portable bootable drive.

Summary

Now, you should know how to make SSD bootable in Windows 10, 8, 7, or the latest Windows 11. Whether you plan to clone HDD to SSD to make SSD as a boot drive or make a portable SSD bootable drive to boot any other machine, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is a great choice. Besides, it also helps to create bootable media for Windows OS that crashes due to damaged MBR. To make a bootable SSD drive for Server operating system, please check out AOMEI Partition Assistant Server.

FAQs about make SSD bootable on Windows 10

There are some frequently asked questions about make SSD bootable that you can refer to:

Q: Why should I make my SSD bootable on Windows 10?

A: Making your SSD bootable on Windows 10 significantly improves your computer's performance and reduces boot times. SSDs (Solid State Drives) are faster and more reliable than traditional HDDs (Hard Disk Drives), offering quicker access to data and applications, resulting in a smoother computing experience.

Q: What if I already have Windows 10 installed on an HDD and want to migrate it to the SSD?

A: You can use AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional to migrate your existing Windows 10 from the HDD to the SSD. It allows you to transfer the entire operating system and all your files and settings to the SSD without data loss.

Q: Do I need to format my SSD before making it bootable?

A: If you are performing a clean Windows 10 installation on the SSD, the installation process will automatically format the drive. However, if you are migrating your existing Windows 10 from an HDD to the SSD, the cloning process typically handles formatting the SSD.

Q: Will making my SSD bootable affect my files on the existing HDD?

A: Making your SSD bootable won't directly affect the files on your existing HDD unless you choose to format or erase it during the process. However, it is crucial to handle the process with care and have proper backups to avoid any accidental data loss during the migration or installation.