How to Transfer OS to SSD without Data Loss (Available for Win 11)

Why transfer OS to SSD?

Compared with traditional HDD, SSD has the advantages of being more durable, faster to read and write and start, quiet, low power consumption and better shock resistance.

Therefore, SSD have gradually become a replacement for HDD, and more and more users will choose PC with SSD installed. Some users even use SSD for OS and HDD for storage. 

All in all, the main reasons for migrating OS to SSD are as follows:
● Replace HDD with SSD for better performance. Upgrade from HDD to SSD to make your computer run faster.
● Avoid reinstalling Windows OS. Migrating a system keeps all data intact and saves a lot of time and effort compared to a fresh install.
● Migrate OS to a larger SSD. The user plan to move OS from a smaller SSD to a larger SSD when there is not enough space.

Download a reliable OS migration tool

If you need to transfer the operating system to SSD, it is recommended you find reliable specialist software. AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is a fantastic program and is compatible with Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. 

It provides an extremely useful feature - Migrate OS to SSD, which is designed especially for completely transferring your OS and related data to the new SSD. Besides, it also includes the "Disk Clone Wizard", a feature which can help you transfer all data from HDD to SSD, including OS and personal data. 

Step-by-step: How to transfer OS from HDD to SSD

Using AOMEI Partition Assistant to complete the transfer is divided into 3 parts, you can refer to the following steps.

▶ Part 1. Preparations for transferring OS to SSD

To migrate OS to SSD successfully, we need to do some in advance to ensure that there are no issues during the migration process:

✍ You need to install an SSD on your desktop or laptop. If there is only one hard drive slot, then please prepare an appropriate SSD to USB adapter according to the type of SSD.

✍ If the SSD is new, it needs to be initialized, otherwise Windows will not recognize it. To avoid changing the boot mode after cloning, the boot mode (UEFI and Legacy BIOS) must be compatible with the partition style (MBR and GPT). So, please convert your SSD from MBR to GPT or GPT to MBR.

▶ Part 2. The process of transferring

After finishing the preparations, we can start migrating OS to SSD, please follow the steps below:

Step 1. Install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant. Next, click on the ‘Migrate OS’ option and read the introduction.

Step 2. Select your SSD as the destination for the OS transfer. If there are partition on the SSD you need to check “I want to delete all partitions on the disk 2 to migrate system to the disk”. Once checked, the ‘Next’ button will activate, you should now click on it.

Step 3. You now have the option to resize the system partition and change the drive letter on the new SSD.

Step 4. Read the troubleshooting guide on how to boot from the destination disk as you may need this later.

Step 5. Click ‘Apply’ and then ‘Proceed’ to transfer OS to new SSD drive.

▶ Part 3. Boot Windows from the SSD

After cloning, you need to boot Windows from the new SSD. If the computer has only one slot, you can start the computer after installing the SSD. But if the computer has multiple slots, after installing the SSD, you need to set the SSD as the boot drive.

★Tips:

After you migrate the OS to a new SSD, the old hard drive will still contain a copy of the system. As you will probably want to use the old HDD for secondary storage, you will need to wipe the data. You can try "Wipe Hard Drive" feature.

If you receive the “Operating system not found” or “Missing operating system” errors when trying to boot the system, you may have an invalid MBR partition table. MBR is the data structure containing the partition table for your SSD drive, it also includes a small amount of executable code used to boot the drive. You can fix the MBR issue on SSD.

AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional can work under Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7, XP, and Vista. To trasnfer Windows Server, please turn to AOMEI Partition Assistant Server

Verdict

It will be quite easy to transfer the OS to SSD in Windows 11/10 if you have the right specialist tools. If you have made regular backups of your operating system, you will be able to perform a system restore using the images and successfully migrate the OS to a new SSD. AOMEI Partition Assistant is the perfect specialist partition tool with its large array of features and helpful OS migration function.

In addition, AOMEI software offers many other useful features to help you manage your disks and partitions better such as resizing/moving partitions, deleting large files, recovering lost files, and so on.

FAQs

Can you transfer OS from HDD to SSD without formatting?

Yes, it is possible to transfer an operating system (OS) from a hard disk drive (HDD) to a solid-state drive (SSD) without formatting. This process typically involves cloning the contents of the HDD, including the OS, onto the SSD using disk cloning software.

How long does it take to move OS to SSD?

As a rough estimate, transferring an OS from an HDD to an SSD using disk cloning software can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours, depending on the factors mentioned above. It's best to start the transfer when you have some time to spare and be patient during the process. 

Is it better to have your OS on SSD or HDD?

Overall, installing the operating system on an SSD significantly improves performance and provides a better user experience compared to using an HDD. While SSDs may cost more per GB of storage compared to HDDs, the advantages they offer in speed, reliability, and energy efficiency often justify the additional cost, especially for the primary drive on which the operating system is installed.