How to Clone Hard Drive to SSD via Clonezilla (Full Guide)

While Clonezilla is a reliable tool for cloning a hard drive to an SSD, it can be complex and time-consuming. For a simpler and more user-friendly alternative, we recommend AOMEI Backupper.

By @LilyLast Updated December 19, 2024

Why Use Clonezilla for Cloning?

Clonezilla is a powerful, open-source disk cloning and imaging software, offering several key benefits for users looking to clone a hard drive to an SSD or another storage device. Here are a few reasons why Clonezilla is chosen for cloning:

  • Free and Open-Source: Clonezilla is completely free, making it a cost-effective solution for cloning hard drives. As an open-source tool, it’s also highly customizable for advanced users.
  • Supports Multiple File Systems: Clonezilla supports NTFS, FAT32, ext3, ext4, and more. This makes it compatible with various operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.
  • Powerful Cloning Features: Clonezilla provides advanced cloning options, including whole disk cloning, partition cloning, and sector-by-sector cloning.
  • No Installation Required: Clonezilla operates through a bootable environment, meaning it doesn’t need to be installed on your computer.

Prerequisites for Cloning Your Hard Drive to SSD

Before you begin the process of cloning your hard drive to an SSD, it’s essential to ensure that you have the necessary tools and meet certain requirements. Here’s a checklist of what you’ll need:

1. Compatible SSD

Ensure that the SSD you choose is compatible with your system (M.2 or SATA). The SSD should have enough storage capacity to hold all the data from your original hard drive.

2. SATA-to-USB Adapter or External Dock (if needed)

If you're using a laptop or there is no extra drive bay inside your desktop, you may need a SATA-to-USB adapter or an external drive dock. This will allow you to connect the SSD to your computer during the cloning process.

3. Backup of Your Important Data

While cloning generally preserves your data, it's always a good practice to back up important files before starting the cloning process. What’s more, the target SSD will be overwritten, so backup files on it if there’s any.

How to Clone HDD to SSD with Clonezilla

Here’s a step-by-step guide to walk you through Clonezilla HDD to SSD in Windows 10.

Step 1. Create a Clonezilla bootable USB and connect the SSD to your computer.

  • If your computer is using UEFI boot mode, just extract all the contents of Clonezilla Live zip file to the FAT (not NTFS) partition on your USB flash drive. Then the USB drive is bootable.
  • If your computer is using Legacy boot mode, you may use Rufus to install Clonezilla Live on your USB flash drive.

Step 2. Change boot order in BIOS to make your computer boot from the Clonezilla bootable USB. When you see the boot menu of Clonezilla live, keep the default mode Clonezilla live (VGA 800x600).

Step 3. Choose a language and keyboard layout that you would like to use.

Step 4. Select Start Clonezilla > device-device > Beginner respectively.

Step 5. Decide an HDD to SSD cloning method: disk_to_local_disk.

Step 6. Select the HDD as the source disk and SSD as the target disk.

Step 7. Select -sfsck to skip checking/repairing source file system and select -k0 to use the partition table from the source disk.

Step 8. Select the action to perform after the disk cloning is done. By default we will choose later, but if you have decided, you can choose to reboot or poweroff your computer.

Step 9. Before doing the real cloning, Clonezilla will ask confirmation twice. Type y to start cloning. When the cloning process is done, press Enter to continue.

Step 10. Choose Poweroff to shut down your computer. Now your SSD is ready to be used.

In fact, it is much difficult for a newbie to use Clonezilla to clone HDD to SSD, especially when the target SSD is smaller than the HDD. So why not choose another convenient and powerful cloning software?

Best Clonezilla Alternative to Clone HDD to SSD

If you're looking for an easier, more user-friendly alternative to clone your HDD to an SSD, AOMEI Backupper Professional is an excellent choice. Here’s why it stands out:

💛User-Friendly Interface: Unlike Clonezilla, which requires navigating through a command-line interface, AOMEI Backupper provides an easy-to-follow GUI, making it ideal for beginners and those who prefer a hassle-free experience. 💛One-Click Cloning: With just a few clicks, you can clone entire hard drive to SSD or transfer C drive to new SSD. 💛Intelligent Clone: It automatically adjusts the partition size when moving from a larger HDD to a smaller SSD. 💛SSD Alignment: It ensures that the data is properly aligned to maximize the lifespan and speed of your SSD, which is a missing feature in Clonezilla.

Download and install AOMEI Backupper now!

Easiest hard drive clone software for Windows PC.

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Follow the instructions below to Clone HDD to smaller SSD via AOMEI Backupper.

1. Connect the target SSD to your computer and ensure it’s detected.

2. Launch AOMEI Backupper and choose Clone -> Disk Clone.

3. Pitch on the HDD as the source disk, and click Next.

4. Choose the smaller SSD as the destination disk, and press Next.

5. Preview the operation to clone hard drive to SSD, check SSD Alignment option, and then press Start Clone.

Summary

As you see, it requires a lot of steps to clone hard drive to SSD using Clonezilla. Things become much easier if you pick AOMEI Backupper. Apart from disk clone, you can use AOMEI Backupper to do many other things, such as create automatic backup to external hard drive. Why not try it now?

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