How to Clone C Drive to SSD Windows 10 Without Losing Data

Are you looking for a way to clone your C drive to SSD on a Windows PC? This article will explain how to clone C drive to SSD Windows 10 using EaseUS Disk Copy with tips and step-by-step guides.

C drive is also called a boot disk because it is the disk that boots your computer. Local disk C is typically a Windows PC's primary hard disk partition, often the main drive itself, where the operating system, programs, and system files are stored. If your C drive is full and has nothing to delete, you can extend it, but replacing it is a grand cure for all. This article from EaseUS elaborates on how to clone C drive to SSD Windows 10 without reinstalling Windows or losing data.

What to Prepare Before Cloning C Drive

You need to manage the disk before you clone C drive to SSD. Pay attention to the following aspects for a seamless transition:

➡️Clean up Your Old Drive

The source disk might have many unnecessary files that take up space. You can clean them to free up your original disk because the less data on the source drive, the less time it will spend on disk cloning. You can remove temporary files or uninstall rarely used programs in Settings and go to Recycle Bin to empty deleted files.

➡️Prepare Your SSD Drive

If you do not have an SSD on hand, you must purchase a new one with the appropriate capacity to ensure the SSD is large enough to hold data on your old disk. If you have an SSD but not new, besides guaranteeing the SSD capacity, you need to back up your data because cloning will erase data on the destination disk.

➡️Connect Your SSD Drive

You must connect the SSD to your computer to clone C drive to new SSD. If you use a desktop, you can install the SSD on it, and things will be tougher if you use a laptop. For a laptop with two slots, you can also install the SSD on it; for a laptop with only one slot, you must use an external hard drive enclosure or USB-to-SATA cable to connect the SSD to your laptop.

➡️Download Disk Cloning Software

There is no direct way to clone Windows 10 to SSD because Windows lacks a built-in disk cloning utility. Therefore, you must download and install a third-party disk cloning tool to clone a Windows 10 hard drive to SSD. To save time and effort in looking for a disk cloning program, you can directly look into EaseUS Disk Copy, a safe, reliable, and simplified cloning tool for Windows 11/10/8/7.

➡️Verify SSD Drive Recognition

After connecting your SSD to your Windows computer, you must ensure your computer can detect it. You can go to the Disk Management to verify the disk recognition. In addition, you can choose to initialize the disk if necessary, but modern disk cloning software like EaseUS Disk Copy can perform disk cloning even if you don't initialize it.

How to Clone C Drive to SSD on Windows

After downloading and installing the Disk Copy, you can start cloning your C drive to an SSD from different manufacturers. EaseUS Disk Copy can help you clone a drive to another in just a few simple clicks with its Disk Mode feature. It can help you change your primary hard drive, resize a disk when cloning a disk, and create a bootable disk to boot your new computer. Furthermore, you can also migrate your OS to another drive using its System Mode.

Here is how to use it to clone hard drive to SSD Windows 10 using Disk Copy:

Prior Notice:

• The "Sector by sector copy" asks the size of your destination disk to be at least equal to or larger than that of the source disk. Leave this feature unchecked if you wish to clone a larger hard disk to a smaller hard disk.
• All data on the destination disk will be completely erased, so take care.

Step 1. To start copying/cloning an entire disk to another, choose this disk as the source disk under "Disk Mode" and click "Next".

Step 2. Choose the other disk as the destination disk.

Step 3. Check the disk layout of the two disks. You can manage the disk layout of the destination disk by selecting "Autofit the disk", "Copy as the source" or "Edit disk layout". 

• "Autofit the disk" makes some changes by default on the destination disk layout so that it can work at its best status.
• "Copy as the source"does not change anything on destination disk and the layout is the same as source disk.
• "Edit disk layout" allows you to manually resize/move partition layout on this destination disk.

Tick the "Check the option if the target is SSD" option to put your SSD in its best performance.

A message now appears, warning you that data will be lost. Please confirm this message by clicking "OK" and then click "Next".

Step 4. Click "Proceed" to officially execute the task.

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What to Do After Cloning C Drive to SSD

Here is what you need to do after cloning.

➡️Replace Disk & Boot from Cloned SSD

Once the cloning process is complete, you will get a bootable SSD. If your PC has only one slot, you must replace the old disk with the SSD and boot your PC from the cloned disk by pressing F2 (F8, F10, DEL, etc) and selecting the cloned SSD as the boot drive in the BIOS settings.

Here is an article about how to replace a laptop disk without losing data.

➡️Test & Verify a Successful Migration

When you clone a hard drive with OS to another, the migration may raise configurations, interface, and compatibility challenges. To ensure a successful cloning, it is best to test and verify the results of your migration.

• Check whether all data is transferred, accurate, and consistent with the target system.
• Check whether the data is integrated correctly with the migration goals.
• Check whether user experience and PC's performance are enhanced.
• Check whether the functionality and usability of the system are satisfactory.

➡️Choose Hard Disk Retention

After checking, one last thing to do is hard drive retention. If you use a laptop with only one slot, you can skip this, but it will be somewhat different for a computer with more than two slots. You can directly mount the cloned SSD on your computer and have 2 boot drives in this case, so you need to choose which disk to boot from.

After booting your computer, you can choose whether to keep the 2 disks for dual boot or keep the SSD as your boot drive and format the old disk as the storage drive. If you choose to keep both boot drives, you must go to the BIOS settings to select one as the boot disk every time you start your PC. You'd better format the old disk as a storage disk. Thus, you will have one disk for OS and one disk for data storage.

To Wrap Things Up

This post details how to clone C drive to SSD Windows 10 or how to clone HDD to SSD Windows 10. If your C drive is an HDD, cloning it to an SSD will significantly enhance your PC's overall performance. Following the guides above, you can easily clone your C drive to another disk without losing data or reinstalling the OS with the help of EaseUS Disk Copy. Just download and try it!

Clone C Drive to New SSD on Windows 10 FAQs

Below are frequently asked questions on "how to clone C drive to new SSD on Windows 10".

1. Does Windows 10 have disk cloning software?

No, Windows lacks preinstalled cloning features. If you want to clone a hard drive on a Windows PC, you must employ third-party disk cloning software like EaseUS Disk Copy, Clonezilla, or Rescuezilla.

2. What's the best way to clone a drive with Windows 10?

Using simple yet powerful disk cloning software like EaseUS Disk Copy is the best way to clone a hard drive with Windows 10 OS installed. It can help you clone a hard drive to another in just 3 simple clicks.

3. How to clone Windows 10 HDD to SSD free without software?

Windows has no cloning tools to clone a hard drive. If you want to clone Windows 10 to an SSD without software, use the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) feature. You need to create a system image on an external drive, install SSD, and restore the image on the SSD drive. However, it is uncertain whether you can succeed and need to reinstall some necessary drivers.

4. How do I transfer my C drive to a new SSD?

Cloning is the best and easiest way to transfer C drive to a new SSD drive. You must try professional disk cloning software to migrate C drive to another drive without reinstalling anything.