Why clone HDD to SSD?
Cloning HDD to SSD currently is commonplace subject in replacing hard drive among
thousands of PC users. Still, it is necessary to talk about the benefits of using
SSD. SSD is known for fast running speed, but it has many hidden advantages. For
example, it has high quivery resistance capability, low power consumption standby,
running noiseless, low operating temperature, and can be used in disk array etc
strong points. As a result, upgrading HDD to SSD is an inevitable trend.
Clone HDD to SSD via Clonezilla
Clonezilla is free and open source software for disk imaging and cloning. It can be
used in both Microsoft Windows OS and GNU/Linux. In the aspect of disk cloning,
Clonezilla requires the target disk (SSD in the article) should be equal or larger
than the source disk (HDD). Therefore, it is not easy to clone HDD to smaller SSD
through Clonezilla. Yet not easy doesn’t mean there is no way out. If your source
disk does not contain that much stuff, you can shrink its partition size in Disk
Management first to meet the target disk.
Pre-condition: 1. You need the essential physical disk SSD and an
external disk closure and an USB cable if you don’t want to install the SSD to your
PC directly.
2. A running operating system.
3. Download the Clonezilla zip file on the SSD and make it bootable. To make it
bootable, you need to extract the zip file, and create a 200 MB partition on SSD as
the boot partition. Or, you can create bootable USB
using Diskpart and place the Clonezilla ISO file there if you don’t want to
use the SSD as the boot device.

How to clone HDD to SSD with Clonezilla?
First, boot your PC using the bootable SSD, and in the boot menu,
choose “Other modes of Clonezilla live”. In the next interface, you can choose “To
RAM” to release the boot partition on the SSD.
Second, choose language, keyboard layout and then “Start
Clonezilla”.
Third, choose “device-device work directly from a disk or partition
to a disk or partition”. Then “beginner mode: Accept the default options”, and next
“disk_to_local_disk local_disk_to_local_disk_clone”.
Fourth, select the source disk and the target disk in turn now. You
may be asked to check the source file system here. Just skip or check based on your
needs.
Finally, it will start to clone and ask other several confirms. Wait
for the cloning process to be completed.
To clone hard drive like clone HDD to SSD in Windows 7 using Clonzilla above is a
little time-consuming and cumbersome since you have to prepare boot device
beforehand. What’s worse, it doesn’t have a graphical user interface, which is quite
difficult for common PC users who are new to computer in particular. But that is not
something to worry about because you always get a “plan B”, the alternative to
Clonezilla, AOMEI Partition
Assistant Standard free edition.
The “Disk Copy” in AOMEI Partition Assistant allows you to clone HDD to smaller SSD
with “Copy Disk Quickly” mode. Further, you have options to personalized edit the
partition size on the target disk before starting cloning. It is easy, install the
software, configure the parameter and then leave it complete the task alone.
Clonezilla to clone HDD to SSD workaround - AOMEI Partition Assistant
Step 1. Connect the SSD to your PC. Install and launch AOMEI
Partition Assistant. Select Disk Clone on the left side, and choose
your desire copy method.


Step 2. The disk 1 is selected by default. Select the target disk.
Chech the option "Optimize the performance for SSD". To change source
disk, please go to All Tools > Disk Clone Wizard to selected a new one.

Step 3. Edit the partition size if you wish to, and read the Note in the next window carefully.


Step 4. Click Apply to execute all operations, and
you will go to the final confirmation. If nothing goes wrong, click Proceed to reboot your PC and let it complete there.


Comparatively speaking, AOMEI Partition Assistant has the advantages of
multifunction, simple operation, and intuitive interface for using. That is to say,
it is more effective than Clonezilla when clone HDD to SSD in Windows OS.
Speaking of multifunction, you may have noticed that there are many features in the
Wizards pane. Say migrate
OS to new hard drive with Migrate OS to SSD feature; create bootable Sandisk
USB drive with Make Bootable Media wizard; and transformation between NTFS
and FAT32 with NTFS to FAT32 Converter.