If you have upgraded Windows 10 to Windows 11 or installed Windows 11 on the old hard drive of your computer, you may want to transfer Windows 11 from HDD to SSD. Among all the branded SSDs, Samsung SSDs enjoy great popularity. Here are some Samsung SSD recommendations for Windows 11:
Product |
Form Factor |
Interface Type |
Capacity |
Price |
Samsung 870 EVO |
2.5 Inches |
SATA III |
1 TB |
$89.99 |
Samsung 870 QVO |
2.5 Inches |
SATA III |
1 TB |
$86.00 |
Samsung 970 EVO Plus |
M.2 |
PCIe 3.0 |
1 TB |
$99.99 |
Samsung 980 PRO |
M.2 |
PCIe 4.0 |
1 TB |
$129.99 |
Samsung offers a migration tool named Samsung Data Migration to help users transfer OS and data from the old hard drive to Samsung SSD. Learn how to use Samsung Data Migration to clone HDD to Samsung SSD below:
💜 If the data to be cloned is smaller than the capacity of the target drive
Note: The cloning speed may vary depending on the computer specifications and operating environment.
💜 If the data to be cloned is larger than the capacity of the target drive
The main steps are the same as the above steps. The only difference is that you need to exclude some files from cloning before you Proceed. Just click the Search button and follow the wizard to scan for files to exclude from cloning.
After selecting the files that need to be excluded, you should also select what to do with the excluded files. Then click the Apply button.
💜 Boot from the cloned target drive
Two situations will be described below.
Situation 1: If the target drive is connected via SATA, just change boot order in BIOS to boot your computer from the cloned Samsung SSD.
Situation 2: If the target drive is connected via USB, connect the target drive to your computer internally and then change the boot priority to the cloned drive.
Note: When there is only one connectable drive inside the computer, remove the source drive and then connect the cloned target drive.
If you are disappointed by the limitations of Samsung Data Migration, you can turn to Qiling Disk Master Professional, the easiest Samsung SSD transfer software. It breaks the Data Migration tool’s limitations and offers more attractive features:
🌟 Disk Clone: it allows you to clone all partitions on a hard drive, whether the hard drive contains OS or not.
🌟 System Clone: it enables you to clone OS only. Boot-related partitions will be selected by default, including boot partition, EFI system partition, system reserved partition, and recovery partition.
🌟 Partition Clone: it allows you to choose a particular partition to copy data from. You can also clone a dynamic disk with this feature.
🌟 Intelligent Clone: this feature copies only used space on the source drive. It is useful when you clone a larger drive to a smaller drive.
🌟 Sector By Sector Clone: this feature copies both used and unused space on the source drive. You may need this feature when cloning a BitLocker encrypted drive.
🌟 Hot Clone: it ensures the cloning process runs smoothly while other programs are running.
Download and install Qiling Disk Master now. Then follow the steps below to perform Samsung SSD clone in Windows 11/10/8/7:
Step 1. Connect the target Samsung SSD to your computer properly. Backup files on it to another place if you still want to keep them.
Step 2. Run this Samsung SSD cloning software. Click Clone from the left panel and select Disk Clone.
Step 3. Select the old hard drive on your computer as Source Disk and the Samsung SSD as Destination Disk subsequently.
Step 4. Remember to check SSD Alignment to optimize the Samsung SSD performance. Then click Proceed to launch the cloning process.
Step 5. Boot from the cloned Samsung SSD as mentioned in the Second Part.
Note: When you are certain that your Samsung SSD is working properly, you can wipe old HDD for reuse or keep it as a backup drive.
Yes, Windows 11 64 bit is supported. Besides, Samsung SSD Data Migration can work on 32 and 64 bit of Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10.
Yes, Samsung Data Migration supports both HDD and SSD as the source drive. Just make sure there is a supported operating system installed.
No, Samsung Data Migration supports the Samsung SSDs listed in the User Manual only. Other SSDs like WD SSDs, Kingston SSDs and Seagate SSDs are not supported.
You have learned how to use Samsung Data Migration in Windows 11 to transfer HDD to Samsung SSD. However, the Data Migration tool has so many limitations that may let you down. If you prefer a more advanced Samsung SSD cloning software, Qiling Disk Master can be the best choice. Actually, it is not only a cloning tool for Samsung SSD but also clone software for Pioneer SSD, WD SSD, Kingston SSD, etc. Why not try it by yourself?