This post shows how to upgrade HDD to SSD with Samsung Data Migration on Windows Server 2012 (R2) and 2008 without reinstalling system and applications in simple steps.
✔ Scenario ✔ Matters You Should Know about Samsung Data Migration on Server 2012 ✔ Clone Hard Drive with Samsung Data Migration on Server 2012 ✔ Beyond Samsung Data Migration-Disk Cloning Software for Server 2012 ✔ Conclusion
“I have a 1TB HDD currently running Windows Server 2012 R2 Essential for some five years. I’d like to replace it with 1TB Samsung 850 EVO SSD to shorten the boot up time and equip my Server with better condition at the same time. I have the cloning software, Samsung Data Migration Software (SDM), which comes with the SSD. What are specific steps and the things that I should pay attention to? I have no idea about that. Help, please.”
That is a help post on how to clone hard drive to Samsung SSD using Samsung Data Migration on Windows Server 2012. As a matter of fact, some users also ask how to perform disk cloning with Samsung Data Migration on Server 2008 on forums.
Samsung SSD is one of the most popular HDD replacements among thousands of users due to its high-level performance and reliability. Therefore, when you find current hard drive cannot meet your requirements any more, it is a wise move to replace old hard drive with SSD or a new HDD. Surely, some users like SSD for OS and HDD for storage arranging.
Samsung Data Migration software is designed to help users quickly, easily, and safely replace their existing storage device (e.g. HDD) with their new Samsung SSD. Then, how to use it properly on Server 2012?
To perform disk cloning task with SDM on Windows Server 2012 or 2008, you need to pay attention to these things.
Clone large HDD to small SSD. Make sure the target Samsung SSD is large enough to contain all data, at least the used space of the source disk. If not, you may have to delete useless files or uninstall some software on the source disk in Server 2012 in advance.
Clone small disk to large SSD. Generally, SDM will clone source disk to target disk and keep all partitions unchanged in size. Therefore, chances are that you’ll get some unallocated space after cloning. You can create a new partition with that space in Disk Management or add it to an existing partition.
Samsung SSD not detecting issue. Many users complain that their Samsung SSDs will not be detected by Samsung Data Migration or Samsung Magician. You can refer to solutions in this article- Samsung EVO 850 not recognized by Windows, if you happen to meet the situation.
Opened files cannot be cloned. To ensure successful cloning, you need to close all running applications and files on the source disk.
After knowing the important information, now you can perform the disk cloning with the help of Samsung Data Migration on Windows Server. Actually, the process is quite simple.
Before proceeding to the steps, please pay attention to:
All data on target Samsung SSD will be deleted and cannot be recovered easily. So back up important files beforehand.
If the source disk is MBR while the destination Samsung SSD is GPT, you need to ensure your motherboard supports UEFI boot mode, since you will have to upgrade BIOS to UEFI boot mode after cloning to ensure a successful boot. The vice is also true.
Step 1. Connect the Samsung SSD to your Server. You can connect it via USB-to-SATA cable or just install it. Install SDM. Once installed, it will run automatically and check for latest version.
Step 2. At the main interface, click Start in the lower-right corner.
Step 3. At the next page, you can verify the source disk and target Samsung SSD. You can select only one partition to clone at this step. Click Start after your confirmation.
Step 4. It will prompt a warning dialogue. Confirm it and click Yes and then the cloning progress will start immediately. Wait for the process completes. Do not disconnect any of the disks during that process.
Step 5. When you see The data on the Source Disk has been successfully clone to your Samsung SSD, it means the cloning is successful. You can shut down your Server and replace the original disk with the cloned SSD now.
Tip: above steps are also proper for cloning HDD to SSD with Samsung Data Migration on Windows Server 2008 as well.
It is simple and easy-to-follow. Nevertheless, the Samsung Data Migration fails you sometimes. For instance, you may find Samsung Data Migration stuck at 99 percent. In a few cases, it reports cloning failed because target disk has been disconnected. But the truth is the target disk is connected well and lies still over there. As a result, you might need an alternative to Samsung Data Migration to clone hard drive to SSD on Windows Server 2012.
When the Samsung Data Migration is not working, you can switch to AOMEI Partition Assistant Server. It is a reliable alternative to SDM, and allows you to clone hard drive to Samsung SSD on Windows Server 2012, 2008, 2003, 2016, 2019 and 2022. In fact, you can clone hard drive to any brand of SSD with this software, not just Samsung SSD. Hot clone and SSD optimization are available. Besides, it provides two different methods:
Clone Disk Quickly: this method will only copy the used space from the source disk to the target one, so the destination (Samsung) SSD can be smaller than the source disk, but should be larger than its used space. During the cloning process, you can adjust partition size according to your requirements.
Sector-by-Sector Clone: this method will copy each sector to the target SSD drive, so the destination disk must be larger than the entire space of the source disk.
Moreover, AOMEI Partition Assistant Server also provides system migration feature (Migrate OS to SSD) to move only Server OS drive to SSD and keep data drive on HDD.
To clone Server 2012 system disk to target SSD with secure boot, please execute the following steps:
Step 1. Install and start AOMEI Partition Assistant Server. Right-click the disk you want to clone and select Clone Disk.
Step 2. Select a way to clone To save time, the first method is recommended. If you want to recover lost or deleted partition at the same time, try the second method. Here will take the first one for example.
Step 3. Select the destination disk (target SSD) at this window. Tick the option Optimize the performance of SSD because the target disk is an SSD.
Step 4. Adjust the partition size. You have three copy options. Choose one of them according to your situation.
Step 5. Here is a note about how to boot up from cloned SSD later. Bear it in mind.
Step 6. Finally, at the main interface, click “Apply” to execute the pending operations.
Step 7. Shut down your Server when you complete the operation. Replace the original disk with the cloned SSD. Reboot your machine and enter BIOS by constantly pressing a specific key (DEL, ESC, F1, F2, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12 ). Then change the boot order in the BIOS interface to make your computer boot from the destination disk.
Tips:
You can create a bootable media and perform disk cloning in WinPE without any interrupting.
You can format the original system disk for other purposes after confirming everything works well with the new SSD. AOMEI Partition Assistant Server allows you to create WinPE bootable media and format system drive without booting Windows.
If you want to clone HDD to SSD using Samsung Data Migration on Windows Server 2012 or 2008, check out what you need to pay attention to and then start cloning. If it fails for some known or unknown reasons, you can use the alternative Server cloning tool.
Apart from cloning hard drive, AOMEI Partition Assistant Server also does quite well in other aspects. For example, it allows you to resize C drive without rebooting OS, convert system disk from MBR to GPT on Server 2012 without losing data, and copy a specific data partition to another hard drive and more. So why not give it a try now?