How to Clone a Hard Drive to an SSD in Windows 10

One of the best changes we can make in a computer is to change the hard drive we use for an SSD with similar or better characteristics. However, many users do not dare to carry out the whole process themselves, since this means having to replace one disk with another, make a backup copy of everything in case there is a problem, not lose anything, install the operating system on it. SSD and pass all the data from the old hard drive. But if you don’t want to have to do all this, we are going to show you how to clone the hard drive to an SSD.

Clone a Hard Drive to an SSD

Before doing any type of cloning, the first thing we have to do is invest some time in examining and preparing the hard drive, since there will be many things that we can do.

  • We should delete all those files that are no longer useful, that is, they are junk files.
  • The applications that we have installed and that we do not use should also disappear.
  • We should run the antivirus in the most exhaustive way it has, to make sure that we do not have any type of infection that we can clone on the SSD.

Once we have all this clear and verified, it would be a good time to make a backup copy of the hard drive in case there is any kind of problem when it comes to cloning it. In this way we can always retrieve the information and we will be much more relaxed.

Clone a hard drive to an SSD

There are several applications that we can use for the process of cloning a hard drive to an SSD, but we have opted for AOEMI Partition Assistant , a software that can be downloaded for free, although it has some limitations, but none that prevent us from performing the cloning without problems.

AOEMI Partition Assistant

Once we have downloaded the program and installed it on our Windows 10 operating system, it is time to see how it works and how we are going to be able to clone a Hard Drive to an SSD.

  • We open the program and we realize that all the disk drives that we have in the computer will come out. At the bottom, where the units come out vertically, is where we must click on the name of the unit , for example, disk 0.

AOEMI Partition Assistant Disco

  • After that we will see that on the left side of the screen we have two menus, one called Assistants and the other called Disk Operations .
  • Within the latter, we are going to click on the Clone Disk option.

AOEMI Partition Assistant Clonar Disco

  • Once we click, a window appears where we must choose the type of cloning. yes we want it fast or slower and precise as it would be, Sector by Sector. Each one will choose which one they think is best, but we must bear in mind that sector-by-sector cloning will clone everything, even sectors that have not even been used.

AOEMI Partition Assistant

  • After clicking on Next, we see how it asks us to indicate which is the destination disk for this cloning. it does not ask us for the origin, because we have already indicated it in the first point.
  • Then we must choose if we want to Clone without resizing partitions , Fit partitions to the entire disk or Edit partitions on this disk . At this point, each one must choose what is best for them. Once decided, click on next and then on Finish .

AOEMI Partition Assistant finalizar

  • Now it takes us to the main menu again and all we have to do is click on Apply , which is located in the upper right part of the screen.
  • It will open another window where it will show us from which disk to which disk the cloning is going to be performed. It is time to click on Proceed and wait for the process to finish. In this window we can see an estimate of how long the cloning will take.

If we have cloned the disk with the operating system

If we have cloned a hard disk where our operating system was to an SSD, we must restart the computer and enter the BIOS to tell it that the new SSD disk is the one to choose to start the PC . Depending on each computer, the normal thing is that we can enter the BIOS by pressing the f8, f10, del or similar keys at the moment the computer starts to boot. We must pay attention to which key we have to press to enter the BIOS, being able to use the pause key to freeze the moment when this message appears when starting the computer.

Once inside we have to look for the boot order section and select the SSD as the first option, so that the system reads this unit first and the operating system boots without any problem. If we do not do this, Windows 10 will continue to load this old hard drive, which will cause the cloning to have been of no use. We must not forget to save the changes and then the operating system should be restarted from the SSD.

If everything goes well, we will see how when the system starts from the SSD, we will have everything as we left it on the old hard drive. Of course, the performance that we are going to experience on our computer will be considerably. In addition, the old hard disk can be formatted and left connected to the computer as a storage disk.

More cloning software

If AOEMI Partition Assistant does not convince you and you want to try other software, the truth is that there are several that could help us to perform the same task.

Acronis True Image

We can use Acronis True Image, a software that specializes in backup copies, but which is one of the most complete programs that we can have today in everything that has to do with copies, since we can clone any type of drive without too much trouble.

Acronis True Image

EaseUS Todo Backup

This is a well-known free program with which we can make backup copies, clone disks, partitions and a few other things. The truth is that EaseUS Todo Backup we will be able to transfer everything we have on a hard drive to an SSD quite simply, since the interface is very user-friendly and intuitive. the process is very similar to that of all the programs we have seen.

EaseUS Todo Backup