How to Transfer OS to Another Drive | 2 Effective Solutions

Why transfer OS to new drive?

Transferring your OS to a new drive can offer several benefits and solve common issues. Here are some key reasons why you might want to do this:

• Upgrade to a Faster Drive: Moving to an SSD from an HDD can significantly improve boot times, application load speeds, and overall system performance.
• Increase Storage Capacity: If your current drive is running low on space, transferring your OS to a larger drive can help you avoid system slowdowns and allow more room for data, applications, and files.
• Resolve System Performance Issues: If your current drive is showing signs of failure (e.g., slow speeds, frequent crashes), transferring the OS to a new drive can help protect your data and prevent future issues.

Key considerations before transferring the OS

Before transferring your OS to a new drive, it’s important to consider a few key factors to ensure the process goes smoothly and without issues.

✅Data Backup

Always back up your important data before starting the transfer. While the process is generally safe, it’s better to be cautious in case something goes wrong.

✅Drive Compatibility

• Size: Ensure that the new drive has enough capacity to accommodate your OS and files.
• Connection Interface: Check that your new drive has the same or compatible connection interface as your existing one (e.g., SATA, NVMe, etc.).

✅Cloning Software

Select reliable cloning software that supports OS migration and is compatible with your operating system and drive types. AOMEI Cloner is the best OS migration software for Windows PC and Server. It provides two ways for successfully cloning OS, System Clone and Disk Clone. You can choose a way as per your needs.

✦ System Clone
It allows you to transfer only the OS to a new drive. All system partitions (e.g., reserved or EFI) are cloned, along with system settings, personal files, and installed programs. This results in a similar Windows environment on the new drive.
✦ Disk Clone
It lets you move your OS by cloning the entire disk. With the "intelligent clone" feature, you can clone a larger drive to a smaller one, as long as the target has enough space for copied stuff. For a complete copy, you can choose a sector-by-sector clone.

Download AOMEI Cloner on your Windows PC now.

2 Easy ways to move OS to new drive in Windows 10/11

In this part, I’ll show you how to transfer operating system to new hard drive with AOMEI Cloner step by step.

Connect your new drive before cloning

Before you start to move OS to new drive or SSD, you need to install or connect the target hard drive to your computer and make sure it is detected.

• If the computer is a desktop computer, you can install it internally using the extra slot.
• If your computer is a laptop, you will need a USB cable, adapter or enclosure to connect the target drive for cloning.

🔔 Warning: The target drive will be overwritten, so backup files on it before cloning if you don’t want to lose them.

#1. Migrate OS to new drive via System Clone

Step 1. Launch AOMEI Cloner, and select Clone and System Clone in order.

Step 2. The program will automatically select source partitions including OS drive and other boot-required partitions. Just select another hard drive as destination location, and then click Next.

Step 3. On the Operation Summary window, preview the operation (source partitions and target hard drive) and set customized settings. If there is no problem, click Start Clone to clone OS to new drive.

• Make full use of disk space: If you are currently cloning OS to larger hard drive, it can extend the size of your system partition by using adjacent unallocated space.
• SSD Alignment: If you are migrating operating system to SSD, you can check it to improve SSD’s performance and prolong its lifespan.
• Sector By Sector Clone: It applies to copy all the sectors whether used or not. If you want to migrate OS to new drive with only used sectors copied, just keep the default intelligent mode.

#2. Transfer OS to new drive with Disk Clone

Step 1. Run AOMEI Cloner. Click Clone > Disk Clone.

Step 2. Select the current system disk as the source disk and the new HDD/SSD as the destination disk successively.

Step 3. Confirm the operation and click Start Clone to transfer OS, all the installed programs as well as personal data from old drive to new drive.

Note: If the target disk is larger, you can click Edit Partitions > Add unused space to all partitions or Manually adjust partition size to clone and resize hard drive without leaving unallocated space at the end of disk. And you are allowed to convert the destination disk from MBR to GPT if needed.

Bonus: How to boot from the new hard drive

After cloning, you can choose one way to boot from the new hard drive according to your situation:

👉Situation 1: The new disk is installed in an extra slot

1. Restart your computer and press the specified key in the initial screen (e.g.: F2, ESC) to access BIOS.

2. Go to the Boot Menu. At the boot priority section, set the new disk as the first boot drive.

3. Press F10 to save all the changes and restart the computer.

👉 Situation 2: The new disk is connected via an adapter

1. Power off your computer completely and unplug it from the power source. For laptops, remove the battery if possible.

2. Open the computer case (for desktops) or the back panel (for laptops).

3. Locate the old hard drive and carefully remove it from its slot.

4. Place the new drive into the same slot and secure it.

5. Put back the computer case or the back panel and power on. Your system should boot from the new drive just like it did with the old one.

Note: If your computer doesn't boot as expected, please refer to this article: "Cloned Drive Won't Boot."

Summary

That’s all for how to transfer OS to another drive. AOMEI Cloner is a powerful OS cloning tool that makes transferring OS or disk easier for common users. And it ensures that you can successfully boot your computer from the cloned hard drive. Try it now to discover more!