Best Way to Copy Disk to SSD in Windows 10 (Secure Boot)
Quick Navigation:
- Why copy disk to SSD in Windows 10
- Best software to clone disk to SSD in Windows 10
- Detailed steps to clone disk to SSD via Qiling Disk Master
- How to boot from the cloned SSD
Why copy disk to SSD in Windows 10
Cloning your hard drive to an SSD offers several benefits, including:
For better performance: As we all know, SSDs can make your computer run much faster, accelerate the read and write speed during data transfer. So, many users may clone bootable HDD to SSD in Windows 10/8/7.
For larger capacity: Normally, the PC/laptops come with a low-quality and low-capacity disk, typically around 500GBs. So, user may receive the low disk space warning after just a few months and PC/laptop will run slower and slower. Therefore, user will then consider upgrading their disk to a large capacity SSD.
For old disk upgrading: If your old disk has been used for years, the disk itself will be more prone to damage. Replacing the old disk with a new SSD can avoid the disk failure and subsequent data loss.
For a backup: Cloning hard disk (especially the disk with the system installed) to SSD drive, actually, is also a process of transferring OS and all data from one disk to another, so it is also a great way to back up your computer.
Best software to clone disk to SSD in Windows 10
Cloning a hard disk to an SSD can be a bit tricky, but with the right tool, it's a breeze. Qiling Disk Master is a reliable and user-friendly clone software that can help you clone your hard disk to an SSD with ease.
- Guarantee secure boot after cloning. It allows you to boot from the cloned SSD successfully as long as you set the cloned SSD as the first boot order in BIOS.
- Support intelligent clone (default). It's very useful when you clone large hard drive to smaller hard drive.
- Provide "SSD Alignment" feature, which can improve the reading and writing speed of SSDs.
- Offer "Sector By Sector Clone" feature to clone all the sectors on a hard drive that can guarantee the integrity of cloned data.
Want to experience the powerful cloning functions of Qiling Disk Master Professional? You can download the free trial to get started!
Detailed steps to clone disk to SSD via Qiling Disk Master
Want to copy your hard drive to a solid-state drive (SSD) in Windows 11/10/8/7? Follow these detailed steps to ensure a smooth and successful cloning process.
Part 1. Preparations before cloning
1. Before you start the cloning process, you need to connect the SSD to your computer and ensure it is detected successfully.
- If your computer only has one drive bay, you will need to prepare a SATA-to-USB cable to connect the SSD to your computer. This cable will allow you to connect the SSD to your computer's USB port, giving you access to the SSD's storage.
- If your computer has two drive bays, you can install the SSD in the extra drive bay. This is generally the easiest way to install an SSD, as it allows you to take advantage of the computer's existing drive bay infrastructure.
Detailed steps: If your computer has two drive bays, you can install the SSD in the extra drive bay. This is generally the easiest way to install an SSD, as it allows you to take advantage of the computer's existing drive bay infrastructure.
2. Remove unnecessary files or programs on the old disk if your target SSD is not much larger than the hard disk.
3. Back up files to external hard drive in advance because all data on the target SSD will be deleted after cloning.
Part 2. Start cloning disk to SSD using Qiling Disk Master
1. Launch Qiling Disk Master, click Disk Clone option under the Clone tab.
2. Select the disk you want to clone as the source disk and then click "Next".
✎Note: Qiling Disk Master supports cloning data disks and system disks of all brands and partition styles, such as cloning MBR to MBR/MBR to GPT or GPT to GPT/GPT to MBR directly. But you still need to make sure the partition style of the target disk is compatible with your boot mode (MBR for legacy BIOS and GPT for UEFI).
3. Select your SSD as the destination disk, and then click "Next".
4. Tick "SSD Alignment" and then click "Proceed".
✎When cloning a smaller disk to a larger one, you can take advantage of the increased capacity by resizing the partitions on the target hard drive. To do this, follow these steps:
How to boot from the cloned SSD?
After copying disk to SSD, you can follow the steps below to make your computer boot from the cloned SSD successfully.
1. Reboot your computer.
2. During the initial screen, constantly press setup key (such as F2, DEL…) to access the BIOS environment during the restarting process.
3. Once you get inside the Setup screen, look for the Boot tab and set the cloned SSD as the boot drive in BIOS.
4. Hit F10 to save the changes and exit the Setup screen. Now you should boot the computer from the SSD drive.
✎When working with disk partitions, it's essential to understand the difference between Legacy and UEFI boot modes. These modes determine how the computer boots from a disk.
Conclusion
To copy disk to SSD in Windows 10/8/7, Qiling Disk Master is a good helper. It can help you clone disk to SSD easily and directly without reinstalling OS and losing data. And after cloning, you can boot from the cloned SSD successfully.
Besides disk clone, it also supports system clone and partition clone only, so you can clone system or a partition like Recovery Partition only to SSD, USB drive, etc. In addition, if you want to clone Server hard drive to SSD or HDD, you can use Qiling Disk Master Server.
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