[Freeware] Clone HDD to SSD Windows 10 without Reinstalling

Key Takeaways:

• This article will introduce the best free SSD cloning software to help you easily replace hard disk in Windows 10.
• Moreover, with the help of effective disk cloning software, you can even clone a 256GB hard drive and clone Windows 10 to SSD in 15 minutes.
• AOMEI Partition Assistant provides a one-stop service for cloning, including initializing SSD before cloning, disk cloning process, and changing boot order after cloning.

Cloning HDD to SSD or cloning Windows 10 to an SSD means you can accurately copy the source drive contents and disk layout. The method is designed to create the same hard drive image, along with all Windows installation files, file system, configuration, program components, and every bit of data. Usually, it's hard to clone Windows to SSD without softwareware. By cloning with the method in this article, this saves you the trouble of reinstalling the operating system and downloading data.

Freeware: Clone HDD to SSD in Windows 10 easily and safely

To clone HDD to SSD safely and quickly, I recommend you to use  AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard.  This is a market-leading free cloning tool with simple operation and a friendly interface. Even if you are a beginner, you can easily complete the cloning under instructions.

What can the AOMEI HDD to SSD Clone Software Do:

📍It provides two cloning methods: "Clone Disk Quickly" and "Sector-by-Sector clone". The former only clones the used space on the hard disk, so you can clone 1TB HDD to 500GB SSD. The latter clones all sectors on the hard disk.

📍It provides the Migrate OS to SSD option to migrate the entire system partition and related partition to SSD. With this feature, you can easily clone Windows 10 to SSD.

📍The tool supports 4K alignment of cloned SSDs to ensure that they have the best performance.

📍The tool has great compatibility, whether it's for Windows 11 or Windows 10 systems, or if the capacity of the SSD doesn't match that of the HDD, AOMEI Partition Assistant is acceptable.

Although Windows 10 doesn't offer a cloning tool, downloading the powerful disk cloning software AOMEI Partition Assistant will benefit you a lot. It will get you out of the hassle of not knowing how to do a fresh install of Windows 10 on an SSD or replacing your hard disk. Keep reading and see how to easily clone HDD/SSD to a new SSD using this tool to migrate Windows 10 to SSD .

How to clone HDD to SSD in Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7

Now, I will show you the specific steps of clone hard drive to SSD.  Before starting, we need to make some preparations in advance to ensure that there are no issues during the cloning process.

▶ Before cloning

✎ You need to install an SSD on your desktop or laptop. If there is only one hard drive slot, then please prepare an appropriate SSD to USB adapter according to the type of SSD.

✎ Make sure that the unallocated space of the SSD is not less than the used space of the current HDD.

✎ You should initialize the SSD if it is a new one, otherwise, Windows will not recognize it. And please set the partition style(MBR or GPT) as the same as the HDD. AOMEI Partition Assistant can automatically recognize the new drive and remind you to initialize it. If it's an old SSD hard disk, you can use this tool to convert MBR to GPT easily.

▶ Cloning process

AOMEI Partition Assistant is fully compatible with the latest Windows systems, and its disk cloning feature enables users to clone and migrate their entire computer data (including the system) to a new SSD without losing any data. Follow the step-by-step tutorial to move Windows 10 from HDD to SSD by cloning the system disk using AOMEI Partition Assistant.

Step 1. Open the installed AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, click "Clone" in the main interface, and select "Clone Disk".

Step 2. Choose the hard disk that you need to clone as the source disk like SSD and click "Next".

Step 3. Select the destination disk to store the data on the source disk, and then click "Next".

Step 4. Then, you can check the source and destination disk in the next window or change to "Sector to Sector clone", and click the "Confirm" button to continue if there is no problem.

Here, you can also click the "Settings" button to adjust the partition size on the destination disk or tick "4k alignment" to Optimize the performance of SSD if the target disk is an SSD drive. 

Tip: If you want to clone Windows to a smaller drive, the "Clone without resizing partitions"  button will be greyed out. Then, a Note about how to boot OS from the destination disk will pop up. Read and keep it in mind.

 Step 5. After returning to the main interface, check the pending operation and click "Apply" and "Proceed" to commit the operation.

 More features are waiting for you to try, such as allocating free space, moving applications to another drive, converting MBR to GPT, etc.

How to Clone Windows 10 OS from HDD to SSD

If you only want to clone your Windows system and don't want everything except your Windows 10 system files (installed programs, applications, personal files), you can choose Migrate OS to easily create an image of your system.

▶ Boot Windows from SSD after cloning

If you cloned the system disk and kept both the HDD and SSD on the computer, you may need to go into the BIOS to set SSD as the boot drive.

Step 1. Reboot your PC and constantly press F2, Del, F8, or F12 to access the BIOS menu. 

Step 2. You can use the arrow key to choose the Boot tab.

Step 3. Then move the cloned SSD to the first position in the list. Save the changes and exit the BIOS setup utility.

Why clone HDD to SSD in Windows OS?

✦ HDD V.s. SSD

As we all know, HDD and SSD are two different hard disks. Compared with traditional HDD, SSD has the advantages of being more durable, faster read and write speed, quieter, lower power consumption, and better shock resistance. Therefore, many users are willing to replace HDD with SSD for better performance.

✦ Benefits of cloning HDD to SSD

- Upgrade from HDD to SSD to make your computer run faster.
- Migrate a system keeps all data intact and saves a lot of time and effort compared to a fresh installation.
- Migrate the operating system to a larger SSD. When running out of space, users may clone the OS from the smaller HDD to the larger one.

FAQs about cloning HDD to SSD

☞ Can I clone HDD to SSD without reinstalling?

Yes, you can. AOMEI Partition Assistant can help you clone HDD to SSD without data loss. And the steps of cloning are very simple, even if you are a novice.

☞ Can you boot successfully after cloning the system disk?

After the cloning is over, install the SSD. If you have only one hard drive left on your computer, reboot to start Windows. If you keep both the HDD and SSD in the computer, you need to enter the BIOS/UEFI settings during reboot and set the SSD as the boot disk. Windows can then successfully boot from the SSD.

☞ How to clone HDD to SSD when the PC boot fails?

AOMEI Partition Assistant supports creating a bootable USB. You may need to clone a hard drive from a bootable USB when you cannot clone a disk directly from a physical device.