How to Clone Windows Server 2016 to SSD/HDD

To clone Server 2016 to another hard drive effortlessly, you can employ this great cloning software, AOMEI Partition Assistant Server.

Bryce

By Bryce / Updated on July 21, 2023

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How can I clone Windows Server 2016 to SSD quickly?

 

 

Hello, my machine is running Windows Server 2016 and I have bought a great solid-state drive. Now I want to replace the existing OS hard drive with the newly purchased SSD. But I’m afraid of the complicated process of reinstalling the operating system and other applications. Is there any advice?”

 

Windows Server 2016

Powerful tool: Clone Server 2016 easily and safely

As mentioned in Scenario, it is bothering to reinstall Windows Server 2016 operating system and other applications one by one on the new hard drive. Windows Server 2016 has a built-in tool, Windows Server Backup, allowing you to make a backup. And then you need to restore the backup image. It seems still a little bit troublesome.

To save time and energy, you can employ AOMEI Partition Assistant Server to clone Server 2016 to SSD/HDD without reinstallation. That cloning software requires no complicated operation but a few clicks to complete hard drive duplication, and it is featured with the following highlights:

With two copying methods: clone only used space and clone every sector even unused, it allows you to clone hard drive to smaller one or clone BitLocker hard drive effortlessly.
It supports (NVMe) SSD, HDD, SSHD, SD card, etc. And it allows you to clone MBR system disk to GPT disk and vice versa with secure boot.
☞ During the cloning process, it enables you to perform 4k alignment for SSD, which can improve SSD’s performance.

To make better use of it, keep on reading to learn steps of Windows Server 2016 clone disk.  You can download the demo version to have a try! It also works with Windows Server 2022/2019/2012 (R2)/2008/2003 and Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP/Vista.

Download Demo Windows 2022/2019/2016/2012 R2/2008
Secure Download

How to clone Windows Server 2016 without reinstalling

Firstly, connect the destination SSD or HDD to your machine (the capacity of the target disk should not be smaller than the used space of the source disk) and install AOMEI Partition Assistant Server. Then do the steps given below:

Step 1. Run the software, right-click the hard drive with Windows Server 2016 installed, and choose "Clone Disk".

Select Windows Server 2016 hard drive

Step 2. Choose a proper way between “Clone Disk Quickly (recommended)” and “Sector by-Sector Clone.

Clone Windows Server 2016 Hard Drive

Step 3. Select the prepared SSD as the destination disk, check the option “Optimize the performance of SSD” and click “Next” (If the target drive is HDD, don’t check the option “Optimize…”)

Select Destination Disk

Step 4. In this window, you are able to edit partitions on the destination disk.

Edit Partition

Step 5. You’ll see a Note about how to boot from the cloned drive successfully after cloning. Read it carefully and keep it in mind.

Note

Step 6. Here you can preview the operation. Click “Apply” and “Proceed” after confirmation.

Proceed

Clone only OS drive to another hard drive in Windows Server 2016

When your new SSD is not big enough to contain all data saved on the previous one, you can use AOMEI Partition Assistant to clone only Server 2016 OS-related partitions not all partitions to the target disk, and use the original HDD as a data storage device. Let’s how it works:

Step 1. Run AOMEI Partition Assistant Server and click “Clone” in the top toolbar, and choose “Migrate OS”.

Migrate Windows Server 2016 to SSD

Step 2. Choose an unallocated space on SSD and click “Next” button.

Choose Unallocated Space

Step 3. Here you can adjust the system partition on the SSD. Then, click “Next” button.

Edit

Remember the Note about how to boot from the cloned disk and click “Next”.

Step 4. After confirming the operation, click “Apply”>“Proceed” to execute it.

Proceed

★Tips:
A reboot is required as the operations above are performed under PreOS mode.
After confirming that you can boot successfully from the cloned hard drive, you can wipe the original hard drive or delete the C drive on it to free up disk space.

After copying Windows Server 2016 hard drive to another one or copying only OS-related partitions, you need to change boot order to boot from the cloned disk; or you can switch the old disk with the new one and boot from it directly. What's more, if you clone MBR disk to GPT disk or GPT to MBR, you need to change boot mode accordingly.

Conclusion

To clone Server 2016 hard drive to another one, “Disk Clone Wizard” of AOMEI Partition Assistant Server can help you to complete this task without obstacles. When the used space of the original disk is larger than the target one, you can delete unnecessary files and uninstall applications before cloning.

If the size of the target disk is still smaller, you can use the feature “Migrate OS to SSD” to migrate OS drive in Windows Server 2016 to SSD/HDD and keep the hard drive for data storage. You can make your choice about migrating Server 2016 according to different situations.

Apart from allowing Windows Server 2016 users to clone disk, AOMEI Partition Assistant Server has many other functions, such as recovering lost partition, converting MBR to GPT without losing data, etc. To enjoy those functions on unlimited Servers/PCs within one company with only one license, you can employ AOMEI Partition Assistant Unlimited

Bryce
Bryce · Staff Editor
Bryce is an editor of AOMEI Technology, he covers backup & restore, hard disk & partitions management, cloud files transfer, website & database backup and so on for AOMEI. He enjoys helping people find solutions to their problems. He loves traveling, Sleeping, reserching and so on. He enjoys helping people find solutions to their problems. He loves traveling, Sleeping, reserching and so on. He would like to spend all time on reaserching computer problems. He is a very cute boy.