How to Clone Windows Server 2012 (R2) to SSD at Ease?

To clone Windows Server 2012 (R2) to SSD without losing data, you can turn to disk cloning software, AOMEI Partition Assistant Server.

Bryce

By Bryce / Updated on May 12, 2023

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Why clone Windows Server 2012 (R2) to SSD?

Compared with HDD, SSD performers better in many aspects. Employing memory chips to store data, SSD owns faster read and write speed; without moving parts, it decreases the risk of data loss.

Therefore, many Windows Server 2012 (R2) users are willing to upgrade HDD to SSD to enjoy its advantages. Nevertheless, it is a time-consuming and cumbersome task to reinstall Windows Server 2012 (R2) and other applications on a new SSD. At this time, it is a wise choice to duplicate Windows Server 2012 (R2) to SSD.

How to clone Windows Server 2012 (R2) to SSD?

As Windows has no built-in tool to clone Windows Server 2012 (R2) to SSD, it is necessary to employ a reliable third-party disk cloning tool. AOMEI Partition Assistant Server is exactly what you need to achieve your goal.

It is able to clone the entire Windows Server 2012 (R2) hard drive to SSD or clone certain specific partitions to SSD. To retain Windows Server 2012 (R2) on your new SSD without reinstallation, you can choose to clone all partitions or migrate only OS-related partitions to SSD. What’s more, it allows you to make a 4K alignment for SSD to improve its performance during the cloning process.

✔ Clone entire Windows Server 2012 (R2) hard drive to SSD

If you need to reserve the operating system and all other data on disk, you can duplicate the whole disk to SSD on Windows Server 2012 (R2), which can migrate all the content on the hard drive to SSD without losing data.

In advance of cloning Windows Server 2012 (R2) hard drive to SSD, you have to make the following preparation work:
◤ Prepare proper SSD and connect it to your machine (The capacity of SSD should not be smaller than the used space of source hard drive).
◤ Defrag your hard drive if it is HDD to decrease the time spent on cloning.
◤ Check the error of the partition on the hard drive and fix it if there is an error on the hard drive.

Step 1. Install and run the software. Right-click the source disk (the disk with Windows Server 2012 (R2) installed) and choose Clone Disk.

Select Copy Disk

Step 2. Here you need to choose the destination (Disk 2) and check Optimized the performance of SSD. Then, click Next.

Select Destination Disk

PS.: If the target disk is HDD, you don’t need to check Optimized the performance of SSD.

Step 3. Choose a way to clone Windows Server 2012 (R2) hard drive (here the first way is selected).and click Next.

Disk Copying Methods

Notes--Clone Disk Quickly & Sector-by-Sector Clone differ in the following aspects:
Cloning speed: The speed of the former is faster.
Capacity demand for SSD: The former demands that the space of SSD equal or larger with the used space of the source disk while the latter is equal or larger with the space of the source disk.
The flexibility of partition size: The former allows you to adjust partition size and not the latter.

Step 4. On this page, you can adjust partition size on the destination disk or leave it alone and resize the partition after cloning. Make your decision and click Next.

Edit Partition Size

You’ll get a Note about how to boot operating system after cloning; read it and keep it in mind.

Boot Note

Step 5. Check the pending operation and click Apply > Proceed.

Proceed

✔ Migrate OS to SSD on Windows Server 2012 (R2)

When you need to keep Windows Server 2012 (R2) on SSD and don’t care about other applications on the hard drive, you can migrate only OS-related partitions to SSD rather than the entire hard drive on Windows Server 2012 (R2) via AOMEI Partition Assistant Server. Now, let’s see how it works.

Step 1. Run AOMEI Partition Assistant Server, click “Clone” in the top toolbar, and choose Migrate OS to SSD> Next.

Clone Windows Server 2012

Step 2. Choose an unallocated space on the destination SSD. Then, click the Next button.

Select Unallocated Space

Step 3. Here you can resize partition size through the drag slider and click Next.

Resize Partition

Remember the Note about how to boot OS from SSD or HDD and click Finish.

Step 4. Confirm the pending operating and click Apply to implement the task.

Proceed

Notices:
 A reboot is required as the operations (clone Windows Server 2012 (R2) hard drive to SSD and migrate OS to SSD on Windows Server 2012(R2)) involve system partition and will be performed under PreOS Mode.
 When the system is unable to boot from SSD after cloning or migrating, you can disconnect the source disk or exchange the position of the destination disk and source disk. Then, boot the computer from SSD.
 When you migrate OS from MBR to GPT or GPT to MBR, you need to enter BIOS to change boot mode according to disk mode after implementing migrating.

Conclusion

It is obvious that AOMEI Partition Assistant Server helps you to clone Windows Server 2012 (R2S) to SSD quickly and securely. It manages to keep Windows Server 2012 (R2) to SSD through cloning the whole disk to SSD or migrating OS to SSD. You can apply one way according to your need.

With strong compatibility, AOMEI Partition Assistant also supports Windows Server 2022/2019/2016/2008 (R2)/2003. It is not only cloning software for Windows Server but also a great partition tool that can manage your disk well. It allows you to extend the C drive without data loss, merge partitions, convert partition from NTFS to FAT32 without formatting, and more. All in all, with it, you can manage your disks and partitions easier.

Bryce
Bryce · Staff Editor
Bryce is an editor of AOMEI Technology, he covers backup & restore, hard disk & partitions management, cloud files transfer, website & database backup and so on for AOMEI. He enjoys helping people find solutions to their problems. He loves traveling, Sleeping, reserching and so on. He enjoys helping people find solutions to their problems. He loves traveling, Sleeping, reserching and so on. He would like to spend all time on reaserching computer problems. He is a very cute boy.