When you install Windows 10 on an SSD, it extraordinarily boosts the performance of your PC. An SSD is arguably far better and faster than traditional hard drives that are also decent storage technology on their own. However, HDD stands no chance when compared to a high-quality SSD in terms of speed, durability and other aspects.
Installing Windows 10 from scratch on an SSD could be way too easy, but what to do when you don’t want to perform a clean install?
If you also want to move your laptop’s operating system to an SSD, then you have landed on the right place. In this article, you will learn how to move the Windows 10 OS to your new SSD.
Why Transfer Windows 10 to Your SSD?
Despite the fact that Windows 10 has far better booting time on its own, SSD can significantly reduce the booting time even further as well as enhance overall speed. Your apps and other heavy-duty programs will take very less time to load. For example, your 4K video games, Chrome browser, Adobe Photoshop, etc. will load in no time once you have Windows 10 on SSD.
Another benefit of Windows 10 on SSD is that you can move the OS from old HDD to new SSD without losing your data and settings. Moreover, there are some third party tools that will make the procedure ever far easier. You don’t have to be a tech giant in order to transfer OS to SSD. Let’s learn how to get this done practically.
Simple Solutions to Move Windows 10 from HDD to SSD
All you have to do is close the system partition to your SSD, and then your Windows 10 will be ready to run on your SSD. In simple words, you have to back up the system drive, trim down the disk space, copy the system drive data to SSD and finally format your system drive on the HDD. We will format the HDD only when the system partition is successfully copied or cloned to SSD, so there will be almost negligible chances of losing your system partition data.
Whatsoever, you should create a complete system backup of your PC data in case anything goes terrible during the operation. The backup will help you to put everything back on track if the process fails for any reason.
Once you have created a comprehensive backup of your system drive and files, we will take another backup for cloning your system partition to SSD. This backup of your system C drive should be small in size so that it can fit in your SSD without any issues. This is because most SSDs are smaller than HDD, so you should delete the music, movies, videos and other user data from system drive before backing up.
Try to keep the system partitions backup as small as you can as it will save a lot of time and free space on your SSD. Also, defragment your system drive prior to backing it up.
Methods 1: Using the Laplink PCMover Utility
Laplink PCMover is a tool for moving all system files, settings, and user profiles to an SSD. You have to first download and install this software to your system. Once the software is installed, you have to run it and then follow the recommended instructions to move all system partitions to an SSD. This tool is surprisingly easy to use even for the beginners.
With PCMover, all you need to do is run the program and then manage the transfer process with the instructions provided on the screen. You don’t have to download OS files, DVDs, use various links, drivers, and other things if you are using this tool for transferring OS to SSD.
In short, the Laplink PCMover utility will do everything for you once it is installed on your system. You only have to grab a cup of coffee and follow the on-screen prompts.
Here’s how to move Windows 10 to SSD using Laplink PCMover:
- First and foremost, ensure that the SSD is connected to your computer properly.
- Download the Laplink PCMover utility to your main computer drive and on the SSD.
- Now launch the tool from your computer HDD.
- Then launch the tool from your SSD as well simultaneously.
- Now select the network method that you want to use to connect your computer for the Windows 10 moving process.
- Follow the instructions on the screen to allow the utility to set your SSD as a new PC.
- Now your both SSD and HDD Laplink PCMover are connected together.
- Go to the SSD’s PCMover.
- Navigate to Analyze PC and follow the on-screen prompts.
- Select what you want to move to the SSD, and then the transfer should start.
- Hold tight until the process wraps up. This might take several hours, so make sure to connect the charger to your laptop.
Congrats! Your Windows 10 has been moved to the SSD successfully.
Method 2: Using AOMEI Backupper
Another utility for moving Windows 10 to an SSD, AOMEI Backupper offers excellent features to ensure that your PC system partition’s OS moves to SSD without any issues.
Follow the given below instructions to make it happen:
- First and foremost, download and install AOMEI Backupper.
- Make sure that the SSD is installed on your system properly.
- Now open the utility to continue.
- Click on Clone from the left side navigation pane.
- Now navigate to System Close.
- Choose where you want to transfer the operating system files. You should choose your SSD when it asks to do so.
- Confirm your selection.
- Go to the Next button on the bottom.
- Follow the instructions on your screen to complete the Windows 10 transfer to SSD.
Once your Windows 10 is moved to the SSD, you can restore the data such as movies, music and other files using the backup you created prior to the operation.
