How to Clone Windows OS to A Smaller SSD?

Quick Navigation:

• 1. Clone a hard disk to an SSD for benefits
• 2. How to Prepare for Windows OS SSD Migration
• 3. Steps to clone Windows OS to a smaller SSD
• 4. Windows 10/11 clone to smaller SSD without reinstalling?
• 5. Conclusion

When you replace the system drive, you may need to change to a smaller SSD. For example, if the current system drive is very big and you can replace it with a smaller SSD, then use the original system drive as data drive. Also, bigger SSD is often expensive, so a smaller SSD would be better and you can only use it as system drive. This guide will show you everything you need to know about how to clone Windows OS to a smaller SSD.

Do you need to downsize your operating system to fit on an SSD? If that's the case, you need this manual. Users who upgrade to lightning-fast solid-state drives (SSDs) may want to consider installing their operating systems there to benefit from the SSD's quicker boot time.

Newer computers often employ solid-state drives (SSD), although older ones may still rely on hard disk drives (HDD). This tutorial will teach you how to move your operating system to a smaller solid-state drive (SSD). We'll cover both the native Windows approach and an external program. Let's go right into it then.

Clone a hard disk to an SSD for benefits:

To what end does cloning a hard disk to a secondary, smaller SSD/HDD serve? Some positive outcomes might include:

• Make a copy: It's always a good idea to make a copy of your data just in case something happens to your hard disk. Losing data is a horrible experience that may be prevented with a current backup.
• Hard drive replacement is essential if the drive ever develops issues; all storage media eventually wear out. Everything on the old disk is preserved, while the new disk serves as a backup.
• Replacement of the system disk with a solid-state drive (SSD) has been shown to boost computer performance. It is possible to avoid reinstalling Windows, and all your customized settings and applications by creating a clone of your system drive.
• If you configured a new computer and don't want to configure the settings and programs, you can also clone the old Windows OS to SSD and use the SSD on the new computer directly. It's easy to migrate the system in this way and you can work on the new computer the same way as the old one with the familiar settings.

After knowing the benefits of using SSD, then you can follow the guide below to find out how to prepare and start to clone your Windows OS to an SSD step by step.

How to Prepare for Windows OS SSD Migration:

1. Enough SSD storage:

First, acquire an SSD with more storage than the existing files stored on hard drive. Microsoft's hardware requirements for Windows 11/10 state that the 64-bit version only needs 32GB of storage.

2. USB-to-SATA cable and slot:

SATA SSDs need a USB to SATA connector to connect to your computer. Make sure SSD is detected on the PC.

However, NVMe and M.2 SSDs must be installed on the motherboard. So ensure to check first and buy the SSD with correct interface for your motherboard.

3. Windows disk cloning software:

Finally, a good disk cloning program determines if you can clone Windows 11/10 to SSD. Drive cloning saves time and effort by reinstalling Windows and programs and copying all data to another drive.

There are some disk cloning software available in the market. If you want to clone your Windows OS to a smaller SSD successfully, it's necessary to choose a trusted tool first.

To help you do the job smoothly and ensure to create a bootable SSD, we suggest the software DoYourClone. The software is very easy to use and reliable to clone system drive on PC. With the software, you can easily clone all data from the system drive to a smaller SSD (if the space is enough for all data).

The software offers different modes to clone disk or partition. It can guarantee the cloned drive is exactly the same as original. All your data, applications, system will be copied to the destination SSD.

Also, the software can clone other drive to back up or transfer data. If a drive is failing, the software can also help you cloning the drive with sector by sector mode, which can save your data in such a case.

4. Power supply:

If you are using a laptop, ensure to connect the power cord. The cloning process may take some time depending on the status and size of the system drive. If it will take a long time, power supply should be enough to avoid sudden power off and disk cloning failure.

Steps to clone Windows OS to a smaller SSD:

Connect the SSD you want to clone Windows PC from securely, then follow the steps below to clone Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista or Server to a smaller SSD:

Step 1. Download and install the reliable disk cloning program - DoYourClone. Then connect the SSD to your Windows PC and open DoYourClone.

Step 2. If you want to clone entire Windows disk to the SSD, just choose Disk Clone mode, otherwise, choose Partition Clone mode to clone the Windows OS partition to the SSD.

Step 3. Select the Windows OS disk as the source disk and select the SSD as the destination disk. Click Next.

Step 4. Preview the clone layout, select "Check the option if the destination is SSD," then click on Clone button. Then the software will start to clone the system drive to SSD.

It will take some time to finish the cloning depending on the size of the disk and computer performance. After it's done, the Windows OS, settings, apps and all your data on the drive should be cloned to the smaller SSD.

🎈 Tips:
The disk cloning process will overwrite all data on the destination drive, so ensure to move or back up the files on the destination SSD drive. Otherwise, data loss will happen.
Ensure to select the right SSD drive as destination. To avoid selecting wrong drive, it's better to remove all the other external devices on the computer.

Finally, it's essential to check if the system clone to smaller SSD is successfully. First, open and access the SSD after the cloning is done. Check if all the files are copied to the SSD fully. Then you need to check if the cloned SSD is bootable. Restart the computer and then enter the BIOS by pressing the Del, F2, F10, or any other key depending on your own computer mainboard. Then find the right option to change the boot device sequence, choose the cloned SSD as first boot drive. Save the settings and restart the computer. If the computer can boot successfully from the cloned SSD, the system cloning is successful.

Windows 10/11 clone to smaller SSD without reinstalling?

Do you want to avoid installing Windows again by cloning Windows 11 or 10 to a smaller solid-state drive? Here is how to fix it. DiskGenius Free Edition allows you to downsize your Windows installation to fit on a smaller solid-state drive (SSD), hard disk (HDD), or even a USB flash drive. After successfully connecting the SSD to your computer, you may begin migrating the operating system to the SSD.

1. First, select System Migration from the Tools menu.

2. Second, when the SSD has been successfully attached, choose it as the destination drive and press OK.

3. Third, set up the OS switch settings.

4. To initiate the migration, go to Step 4. Then, choose OK to proceed.

5. Fifth, choose "Hot Migration" from the menu.

You may clone Windows 11/10 to the destination SSD using the "Hot Migration" approach without shutting down the running system or switching to the WinPE environment. Clicking the "Reboot to WinPE" option will cause the machine to restart and load the WinPE version of DiskGenius so that you may finish the remaining steps.

6. Sixth, be patient until the movement takes place.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, copying Windows OS to an SSD is a powerful method that may greatly enhance your computer's speed and use. Moving the OS, applications, and data from a traditional hard disk to a solid-state drive will result in quicker boot times, quicker program launches, and improved system responsiveness.

DoYourClone simplifies copying with its intuitive UI, intelligent algorithms, and flexible clone settings. It safeguards information and boosts functionality, making for a trustworthy and easy cloning experience. You should try it out after downloading it.