How to Clone Hard Drive to SanDisk SSD in Windows 10/11
Need: Replace hard drive with SanDisk SSD
Compared with HDDs, solid state drives (SSDs) come with faster startup and read/write speed so that many users want to replace their old hard drive with an SSD. Among all the choices, SanDisk SSD is a popular one due to its outstanding performance and compatibility.
However, reinstalling Windows 11, 10, 7, etc. and all the apps on the new SanDisk disk can be a headache, not to mention the data that has been accumulated for a long time. You may wonder, is there a way clone everything on the hard drive to SanDisk SSD.
The answer is yes. You can make an exact copy of the source hard drive, transfer it to the SanDisk drive, and then boot Windows from the cloned SSD. To achieve this, all you need is professional SanDisk SSD clone software.
Does SanDisk SSD come with cloning software?
SanDisk SSD doesn't come with a cloning software, but you can download Acronis True Image for Western Digital, which can back up and clone files, programs, and operating system of a Western Digital disk (WD, SanDisk, G-Technology). This software is available under a limited time offer and must be redeemed by download and install within 90 days of purchase or by December 31, 2023, whichever is earlier.
Meanwhile, because this product is designed for certain products, it is also limited in its scope of use. It can only be used when a Western Digital storage device is detected on your system. And in actual use, many users reported that the product could not detect the SanDisk SSD connected through an external dock or adapter.
✍Other limitations of Acronis True Image for Western Digital:
- It doesn't support cloning OS to external USB drive, or an internal drive inside of external drive bay/enclosure.
- The source and target disks must have equal logical sector size.
- The cloning process will fail if the orginal drive has errors or bad sectors.
- It only supports cloning an entire disk. Cloning a single partition is not supported.
If any of the above factors prevent you from using, we recommended you an alternative SanDisk cloning software, Qiling Disk Master. It is much less restrictive, and supports any brand of HDDs and SSDs that can be detected by Windows (not only SanDisk).
The best SanDisk cloning software to migrate data and OS
Qiling Disk Master Professional is the best tool for SanDisk to clone HDD to SSD. It’s simple but professional, allowing you to clone entire disk, selected partitions or only OS directly. It is not only a SanDisk clone software, but also works with other brands of SSDs, HDDs, USB drives, NAS, SSHD, etc.
In practical use, it also has the following advantages:
✔ Support all Windows editions. Qiling Disk Master can be used in Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10/11.
✔ Make an exact copy of hard drive and ensure secure boot. Compared with fresh install, the “Clone” feature can avoid reinstalling system from scratch, installed programs and data loss.
✔ Clone hard drive to SanDisk SSD regardless of disk size. That’s to say, in this software, you can clone hard disk between the same size or different sizes.
✔ Advanced cloning features. Use “Sector By Sector Clone to clone all sectors whether used or not, accelerate target SSDs with “SSD Alignment”, change partition size with "Edit Partitions" to make full use of disk capacity.
Hit the download button below to try it now, and follow the guide to demonstrate cloning HDD to SanDisk SSD.
Steps of SanDisk clone hard drive to SSD
Before starting SanDisk clone HDD to SSD, you need to connect SanDisk SSD via one of the following 2 methods:
- Clone HDD to SSD via SATA to USB adapter: If your computer has only one slot, you need an SATA to USB adapter or SSD enclosure to connect the target drive to your PC externally.
- Clone HDD to SSD without SATA to USB cable: If your computer has more than one slot, you can add the SSD as a secondary disk so to clone HDD to SSD without SATA to USB cable.
Then try the following steps for SanDisk data migration:
*By default, this software clones only used sectors and therefore allows you to clone larger HDD to smaller SSD successfully. You just need to make sure the target disk has enough space to hold all the data on the source disk.
1. Install the HDD to SSD cloning software, and launch its main interface.
2. Select Disk Clone under Clone tab. There's also a System Clone option allowing you to clone only system partition.
Note: This software supports cloning both data disks and systems disks from MBR to MBR/MBR to GPT, or GPT to GPT/GPT to MBR. But please make sure the partition style of the target disk is compatible with the boot mode (MBR for legacy BIOS and GPT for UEFI).
3. Select the current HDD (here is disk 0) as the source disk, and click Next to continue.
4. Select your SanDisk SSD (here is disk 2) as the destination disk to receive the disk copy. Click Next.
5. Select SSD Alignment to accelerate the target SanDisk SSD, and click Proceed to continue.
✍More useful options:
- Edit partitions: When you clone to larger disk without adjusting partition size, there will be unallocated space that you cannot use. To make full use of the storage space, you can use this feature to change partition size and assign unallocated space.
- SSD Alignment: While cloning HDD to SSD, tick this option to accelerate its reading and writing speed.
- Sector-By-Sector Clone: Clone all sectors whether used or not and can keep data security to the greatest extent. If you want to clone the system reserved recovery partition on the source disk and make sure it will work on the target disk, remember to check it.
Frequently asked questions about HDD clone to SanDisk SSD
💬Why is it essential to clone a hard disk to SSD?
Cloning a hard disk to SSD can help you upgrade your computer’s performance and speed. It can also help you transfer all your data from the old hard drive to the new one without losing any data.
💬Can I clone a hard drive to SanDisk SSD without losing data?
Yes, you can clone a hard drive to SanDisk SSD without losing any data. Cloning software like Qiling Disk Master can help you transfer all your data from the old hard drive to the new one.
💬How long does it take to clone a hard drive to SanDisk SSD?
The time it takes to clone a hard drive to SanDisk SSD depends on the size of the hard drive and the speed of your computer. On average, it can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours.
💬What should I do after cloning my hard drive to SanDisk SSD?
After cloning your hard drive to SanDisk SSD, you should check if the cloned disk is bootable. You should also update your BIOS settings if necessary and format the old hard drive if you don’t need it anymore.
Wrapping things up
With SanDisk cloning software - Qiling Disk Master, you can easily to clone hard drive to SanDisk SSD. But it’s still can regarded as other branded SSD cloning software, such as, OCZ SSD clone software, ADATA SSD clone software, WD disk cloning sofwtare, M.2 SSD cloner, and so on. And all features mentioned above can be applied to all SSDs.
Need to clone hard drive to SSD successfully without reinstalling, even for a smaller one? Download Qiling Disk Master and then follow the above steps to clone disk.
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