UEFI boot vs Legacy BIOS boot
Before you start to copy UEFI boot disk, you may want to know what UEFI boot is and
how it is different from traditional BIOS boot.
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is a kind of PC system specifications
that used to define the interface between operating system and system firmware and
hardware. This interface is responsible for powering the self-test (POST),
connecting operating system, and providing an interface to the operating system and
hardware.
UEFI and BIOS are different boot modes and the former is widely used in new
computers. UEFI uses different firmware and supports larger hard drive and brings
faster boot times and more security features comparing to the traditional one. It
also works with the newer partition table, GUID Partition Table (GPT), and is
replacing the old one eventually. On the contrary, you may have heard that after
converting larger hard drive (over 2TB) from
MBR to GPT, to keep the system bootable, one must change Legacy to UEFI in
BIOS. That is, UEFI with GPT and Legacy with MBR.
Why clone UEFI GPT disk?
Cloning a UEFI hard disk almost has the same purposes of common hard drives. To sum
up, following two reasons come first on the list.
First, upgrade existing UEFI hard disk. Some users want to clone
UEFI disk to SSD or larger or newer disk to replace the old one. Obviously, SSD or
any new disk would bring much better performance and experience than the disk that
has been used for years does. No need to reinstall Windows OS and software for this
as well.
Secondly, copy UEFI drive for backup. Sometimes, disk copy has the
same effect of disk backup, and it saves times and efforts to restore the image at
the same time. Only one thing, disk copy takes up much more disk space on
destination than images. It is not a bad idea to do UEFI HDD copy when you have a
spare external hard drive around.
Anyway, you probably want to clone UEFI drive with other intentions. However, when
you choose the software to clone UEFI disk, make sure it would recognize the GPT
partition table. Otherwise, things may be complicated.
Best UEFI clone software for Windows
AOMEI Partition Assistant
Professional is the right disk cloning software that will help you clone UEFI
HDD to SSD in simple and easy way. Partition on SSD will be aligned during the copy
process. Except for cloning the entire UEFI boot disk, you can clone UEFI boot
partition only to USB flash drive or external storage. This software recognizes both
UEFI GPT disk and Legacy MBR disk, and works quite well in Windows 10, 8, 8.1, and
7.
What’s more, if you need to change UEFI backward to Legacy in the future, you can use
this software to convert GPT to MBR without data loss. With its user-friendly
interface and simplified steps, even a computer novice can do a great job. Now,
let’s get to know steps to clone UEFI disk in Windows 10.
How to copy UEFI disk to SSD without reinstalling in Windows 10?
In the first place, connect the SSD to your machine and make sure it can be detected.
If it is new, initialize it to GPT partition style in Disk Management. Install and
launch AOMEI Partition Assistant on your Windows 10.
Step1. Right click the GPT boot disk and select “Copy Disk” from the
given options.

Step2. Select backup method, “Copy Disk Quickly” or
“Sector-by-Sector Copy”. Here will take the first method for example.

Step3. Select the destination SSD. And remember to check the box in
front of “Optimize the performance of SSD” since it is an SSD.

Step4. Given that you’ve chosen the first copy method, now you can
edit partitions with the three copy options. Edit the way you like.

Step5. Now, you will see the virtual result. All partitions on Disk
1 have been copied to Disk 2, with different drive letter. Click “Apply” and later
“Proceed” to execute the pending operations.

Step6. (Optional) If you want to boot from the cloned SSD, it is
suggested to remove the old UEFI boot disk and leave only the cloned disk to test.
If you copy disk for backup only, just disconnect the cloned one and save it to a
safe place.
Tips:
Copy Disk Quickly: As stated, it will copy only used space
on UEFI boot disk, and you’re allowed to adjust partitions on the destination.
Also, this method takes up less time to complete. You can copy large disk to
smaller disk as well.
Sector-by-Sector Copy: All sectors will be copied so you can
recover formatted or deleted data on UEFI disk through this way, only if they
haven’t been overwritten. This method requires destination must larger or equal
to the source. More time needed as well.
Conclusion
You see, it is quite simple to copy UEFI boot disk to another disk if you choose the
right cloning software to assist. If you want to use the old UEFI boot disk as a
secondary storage after cloning, you can format it to clean up disk. Try SSD data secure wiping if it is an SSD
AOMEI Partition Assistant also is capable of many other things. For example, you can
migrate OS to SSD only and leave data partitions on old HDD. This combination makes
full use of HDD’s and SSD’s advantages. To clone UEFI boot disk on Windows Server,
you may want to give its Server edition a shot.