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How to Migrate Windows from HDD to SSD without reinstallation

Why want to migrate Windows to SSD?

Many computer users would like to replace their old HDD with a new SSD. Why?

SSD (Solid State Drive) is a hard disk consists of multiple flash memory particles and main control chips, there’s no motion structure design in it. Compared with HDD, SSD has the following advantages:

  • SSD has a faster read and write speed.
  • SSD is more robust.
  • SSD is more power-efficient.

In order to improve computer’s performance, migrate Windows from HDD to SSD should be a good way.

How to Migrate Windows from HDD to SSD?

To migrate Windows to SSD, here we recommend you a reliable third party migration software-AOMEI Partition Assistant, which can help you migrate Windows 10 to SSD and boot from the SSD successfully. It is compatible with Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, and the latest Windows 11. With this software, it would be an easy thing that even a novice can finish the whole process by himself. Here we take an example of how to migrate Windows 10 to SSD with this software.

*Note: AOMEI Partition Assistant is also a powerful disk cloning software for Windows 10 that can migrate all data from HDD to SSD with a few clicks.

Step 1. Download and install AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, double click its icon to open the software. Then click Migrate OS to SSD on the left side.

Step 2. In the “Migrate OS to SSD” window, you can see all the disk will be listed. Select a free space on the SSD and click “Next”. You can tick “I want to delete all partitions on this disk 2 to migrate system to the disk.” if necessary.

Step 3. You will be asked to resize partitions, so please adjust the size of the system partition by drag the double arrows. Or you can skip this steps, and AOMEI Partition Assistant will help you adjust partition size after migration. It is also a powerful free partition software that provides many functions to keep your disks in a more reasonable status.

Step 4. The “Note” displayed below can teach you to boot OS after the migration, after reading it you should click “Finish”.

Step 5. Click “Apply” and “Proceed” to complete this migration.

After migration, you can try to boot from the SSD to get a faster Windows computer. Restart the PC and enter the BIOS setup -> Click the “Change boot order” to set the SSD as the boot drive. Finally, save the changes and exit to boot computer.

How to do if boot failure?

Some users may meet the problem that the computer cannot boot successfully from the SSD. The big possibility is because the computer is not using the correct boot mode:

  • If the SSD is an MBR disk, then you need to make sure the boot mode has been set as Legacy/CSM boot mode. Otherwise, the computer cannot boot from the drive.
  • If the SSD is a GPT disk, you need to make sure that the computer’s motherboard supports EFI/UEFI boot mode, and it has been set as EFI/UEFI boot mode. Otherwise, you cannot boot from the drive successfully.

Fortunately, many computers with UEFI firmware will allow you to enable a legacy/CSM BIOS compatibility mode. If not, you can convert the disk from MBR to GPT without losing data or GPT to MBR for the current boot mode.

Tip: You may need to disable the Secure Boot control under the Boot tab (or Security tab, or the Authentication tab) before changing boot mode.

1. When you get into BIOS, look for a setting called “UEFI Boot”, and “Launch CSM”, change the boot mode from UEFI to Legacy/CSM: disable the UEFI Boot option and enable CSM Boot support.

  • If you need to boot from UEFI, just keep the Launch CSM “Disabled”.

2. Or, find the Boot tab, and change the boot mode to Legacy or UEFI according to your need with the arrow keys. Press Enter to boot from it.

Conclusion

Using AOMEI Partition Assistant to migrate Windows from HDD to SSD is an easy thing. If you boot failure after migration because of disk type, Convert MBR to GPT Windows 10 or convert GPT to MBR is also a piece of cake. It is an all-in-one system migration software that can help you migrate Windows 10 or Windows 11 to SSD without reinstalling.

Categories: Tech
Joey Riggs: