Quite often, many users have a question related to how to transfer Windows 10 from HDD to SSD, since solid state drives are much faster. Now it will be considered why this is necessary, and also some basic methods are given that make it possible to carry out this operation without much effort and time.
Why do you need to migrate Windows 10 to an SSD, and what benefits does the user get?
To begin with, let's decide why to try to do such operations. The thing here is that, as mentioned above, SSD-type hard drives have a higher read speed compared to conventional HDDs.
This begs the simplest conclusion: after Windows 10 is transferred to the SSD drive, the system will work much faster, as they say, “fly”. It is supposed to copy only the operating system to the new hard drive, without any third-party garbage. With all this, if you give preference to some specific software products for cloning disks or intended to transfer the system from HDD to SSD, in some cases you can copy only the system itself, clone Windows with all the programs and user files installed in it, even create images with all user settings. Here, as already clear, the main condition is the choice of the appropriate program, depending on what you need to get in the end. But first things first.
General principles for transferring a system to an SSD drive
We will make a reservation right away: all those users who believe that the quick transfer of Windows 10 to SSD can be carried out by simply copying all files and folders, even hidden ones, are deeply mistaken. Nothing good will come of it, and the system itself will simply not boot. Here you need to apply a different technique. At the same time, it is possible to use both native Windows 10 tools and third-party software products specifically designed for this. Transferring Windows 10 to an SSD in both the first and second cases is quite simple and does not require special efforts or special knowledge.
Consider several possible options, especially since none of them should cause difficulties even for the most unprepared or novice user, since in most cases all processes are as automated as possible.
Windows 10 Native Tools
First, let's focus on our own capabilities of Windows 10. Transferring the system to an SSD-drive is quite realistic if you use the backup and restore section, which can be accessed from the standard Control Panel. This is due only to the fact that in this case Windows 10 will be transferred to SSD without third-party programs, which greatly simplifies the task.
Here, you first need to create an image of the system for transferring it to a prepared drive, and then select the item for creating a recovery disk from which to boot when replacing the HDD with SSD. When the process begins, you will need to provide a link to the system image saved on the new drive. But the old hard drive needs to be disabled to avoid trouble. If in the future you need to use the old hard drive, you should completely remove the boot partitions from it, because otherwise there is a risk of contingencies and crashes. Actually, this can transfer Windows 10 to SSD on a laptop or on a stationary terminal, provided that the HDD is replaced with SSD. Another thing is that the laptop will have to open itself, as they say at your own peril and risk. You can, of course, use the services of service centers, but after the replacement they themselves will transfer the system to a new hard drive, and this is unnecessary material costs. In addition, if the laptop is under warranty, opening the seals will only lead to the fact that in the future, with any breakdown for free warranty service, no one will accept it for anything. So first, think carefully about whether to do such things.
But the feedback from users and experts about this method is ambiguous: some consider it the easiest, others, on the contrary, see it as unnecessary actions and are more inclined to use highly targeted utilities.
Most suitable utilities
It is much easier to use specialized programs that are designed specifically for such purposes. For all their diversity, some utilities of this kind are intended exclusively for hard drives of strictly defined manufacturers. So, for example, software products like Acronis True Image are perfect for Western Digital drives, Seagate Disk Wizard is used for Seagate hard drives, the Samsung Data Migration native utility is suitable for Samsung drives, etc. But the most universal, from the point of view of automation and security of all the operations that will be required to complete the transfer, is Paragon Migrate OS.
Migrating Windows 10 to SSD: Paragon Migrate OS to SSD
Among Paragon products there are quite a lot of utilities in this area. A special place is occupied by the software packages Paragon Migrate OS to SSD, Paragon Drive Copy 15 Professional, Paragon Disk Manager 15 Professional and Home Expert 15. Alas, unfortunately, these are paid utilities. Nevertheless, you cannot bypass them.
Actually, the Paragon Migrate OS to SSD program itself is a real step-by-step wizard, which is aimed at the maximum automation of the system transfer process. Without going into the technical details of the process, we note that you can save space and time if you do not move your own documents or files to a new drive, after unchecking them in the corresponding window. Well, the Master will practically independently perform all the necessary actions. Upon completion of the copy, you must remember to change the BIOS settings, where the new (SSD) drive must be specified as the main (first) device.
Migrating with Acronis True Image
Acronis True Image makes porting Windows 10 to SSDs just as easy. But here it is better for Western Digital hard drives to use the special release of the WD Edition modification program. If the computer has a hard drive of this particular manufacturer, the application will become an indispensable assistant.
The whole process boils down to selecting the recommended (automatic) system transfer mode in the disk cloning section after installing and launching the application. Of course, this can take a lot of time. Everything will depend on the amount of data transferred and the speed of the old hard drive. However, the process itself is simple for a user who is not even familiar with such specifics.
Using the Seagate DiscWizard Utility for Seagate Disks
Here is another program for transferring Windows 10 to SSDs. As already clear, it should be used only in cases where on a computer or laptop there is at least one hard drive from this manufacturer.
If we talk about how Windows 10 is transferred to SSDs, we can say that this application almost completely repeats the previous program and excludes the user’s participation in the migration process by almost one hundred percent. Needless to say, there is a Master of its own, who will carry out the entire process from beginning to end.
Samsung Data Migration System Transfer Program
Samsung winchesters have their own utility that works no worse than the ones described above.
Here, the special step-by-step Transfer Wizard is used in the same way, however, the main advantage of this utility is the use of the selective data transfer mode. This is very important, because, you see, the size of the SSD is still much smaller than that of conventional hard drives. Well, as for the practical side, here, again, user participation in the process comes down to only confirmation of automated actions. In most cases, you don’t even need to select any specific parameters - the program will do everything on its own.
Free Macrium Reflect App
Finally, you can transfer Windows 10 to your SSD using the free Macrium Reflect package. What bribes the most is that the program doesn’t care what hard drives of which manufacturers are used as the initial and target drives.
In addition, the versatility of this software product (as evidenced by the reviews of the people who used it) also lies in the fact that the program can not only clone hard drives or their partitions, but also creates boot disks and images quite simply, and also supports data transfer to based on Windows PE. Actually, it is this application that can be classified as all-in-one.
What else do you need to pay attention to?
In the end, it remains to add that such programs as AOMEI Backupper Standard were not specifically considered here. This utility, although it is distributed free of charge, nevertheless, when performing the transfer operation, it requires first to create a boot disk or flash drive, and only then, when loading from such media with the priority set in the BIOS, it starts the Cloning Wizard. However, not to mention the technical side, it can be used equally for Windows and Linux systems.
As for the choice of means by which a solid-state hard drive will be produced, here, as they say, is a personal matter. By the way, we didn’t delve deeply into some points related to calling certain functions from the command line, because an ordinary user does not need this, in general. Extra headache. It’s much easier to run a specialized utility and wait for the cloning process to complete.
What to prefer?
If there is no suitable utility at hand, you can use your own means of Windows operating systems . And this applies not only to the “tens”, which in our case was taken as a basis. In the same way, all these procedures are simply performed in the G7 and G8. Here the question, rather, is different. The fact is that third-party utilities and applications work much more efficiently, at least the simplicity of the produced and in most cases automated actions is beyond doubt. But as for the cloning speed, you should not flatter yourself - you simply can’t jump above the read or write speed that the desired and target hard drives have. So with all the desire to quickly finish the processes will have to be patient.
Otherwise, even when using the system’s own resources, no one should have difficulties. But the presence of the Wizard in almost any specialized utility allows you to not only track every step with an executable action, but also simply not to participate in the already highly automated process. Well, unless you have to push a few buttons or select the desired sections or user folders and programs for cloning.