Replace C Drive with SSD for Windows 11/10/8/7 [Without Data Loss]

Traditionally, the C drive is the system drive on a hard drive that stores the operating system, boot sectors, and other system-related files. As time goes by, more and more files are stored on your C drive, the storage space of the C drive is insufficient, or the condition of the HDD works worse and worse since your current hard drive is experiencing a hardware failure, Or you simply want to upgrade for a better performance, etc. Replacing C drive with new SSD is necessary to improve the whole performance.

This post will describe how to replace C drive with SSD or make a new SSD C drive easily. Let's get started. Here is a quick overview before diving in.

Download EaseUS Disk Copy, an awesome and reliable Windows disk cloning software, and start the C drive cloning to new SSD smoothly.

Can I Replace My C Drive with a New SSD

replacing C: drive with a new ssd ?
byu/TrashGod777 inbuildapc

The answer is YES. Replacing C drive with a new SSD can give your computer's speed and performance a nice boost. Here are some specific benefits that you'll enjoy:

Replacing the C drive with SSD or cloning only C drive to SSD is a good idea if you want to give your computer's speed and performance a boost.

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What to Prepare Before Replacing C Drive with SSD

Replacing the C drive with SSD is not as simple as swapping out the drives. There are a few things that you need to do before getting started.

• 1️⃣A New SSD: There are various types of SSD, like SATA and NVMe, 2.5'', etc. You need to ensure you choose one that is compatible with your computer. Moreover, the new SSD/HDD must have equal or larger storage space than your system drive to ensure a successful system migration. Otherwise, the disk cloning process won't complete successfully. Some of the recommended popular SSDs include Samsung 980/990 Pro, Samsung 870 EVO, Crucial MX500, WD Blue SN570, Kingston KC3000, Seagate FireCuda 530, etc.
• 2️⃣A Connect Cable: You need to use a connecting cable to connect the destination disk(SSD or a larger HDD to your computer, usually a SATA to USB cable. Or, if your computer has an SSD slot, you need to install the SSD in it with screwdriver.
• 3️⃣Create a system backup: Create a system image to avoid data loss during the cloning process. Since the cloning process will erase all data on the target disk, remember to back it up if you save data on it.
• 4️⃣Choose A Data Transferring Method: Two ways to replace C drive(system partition) with SSD or a larger hard drive without losing data are available. The first is backing up all the data on the C drive and then restoring to the new disk. Another one is cloning the C drive to SSD directly. We recommend 'disk clone' to clone entire drive because it is more direct and time-saving, generating a 1-to-1 copy of your target system drive (C drive). EaseUS Disk Copy will help you do that without losing any data.

[Steps Tutorial] How to Replace/Upgrade C Drive with SSD

With all the above preparations done, you can start your disk cloning process now. Here is the step-by-step guide to replace C drive with the new SSD. During the process, you need to use EaseUS Disk Copy "System Mode" to clone C drive to new SSD to ensure that all the system-related files are migrated to the new disk. You need to download and install EaseUS Disk Copy and connect the SSD to your computer in advance.

Key Takeaways: How to replace C drive with a new SSD

• 1️⃣Connect or install the new SSD to your computer via a connecting cable or by removing its back cover.
• 2️⃣Launch EaseUS Disk Copy to clone the C drive to the new SSD with the "Partition Mode" feature.
• 3️⃣Restart your computer and boot it from the new SSD without reinstalling the operating system.

Follow the steps below:

Step 1. To clone OS from one hard drive to another, choose the target disk in "System Mode" and click "Next".

Step 2. Adjust the disk layout of the target disks. You can manage the disk layout of the destination disk by selecting "Autofit the disk", "Copy as the source" or "Edit disk layout". Then, click Proceed.

• "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.

Step 3. A message now appears, warning you that data on the target disk will be lost. Please confirm this message by clicking "Continue".

Step 4. Wait for the cloning process to complete.

🧩What to do after disk cloning? Of course, replace the old hard drive with the new cloned one and boot your computer from the cloned disk.

If you want to keep the new cloned disk only in your laptop, follow the steps:

• Shut down your computer, unplug the old disk, and replace it with the new one.
• Restart your computer, and it will automatically boot from the new disk and run operating system on it.

When your desktop computer has two disk slots, you can use the new cloned drive as the boot drive and keep the old drive as a storage device to expand your computer's capacity.

• Insert the cloned drive properly into your computer.
• Restart the PC and press F2 (F8, F10, DEL...) to enter BIOS settings.
• In the Boot option, select new HDD/SSD as the new boot drive under the Boot Mode.
• Exit BIOS and restart the computer.

You may be interested:

These are all the preparations and steps to replace C drive with SSD without losing data and reinstall the operating system.

🎞️You can also watch the below YouTube video to learn how to replace or upgrade C drive:

⌛Time Stamp:

• 00:20 Introduction
• 00:26 What to Do Before Transferring C Drive
• 01:31 How to Transfer C Drive to SSD
• 02:57 Ending

Is the post helpful? Remember to share it with your followers to help them upgrade C drive with a larger drive or an SSD:

Choose The Best C Drive Cloning Software

EaseUS Disk Copy is an easy-to-use and reliable disk cloning utility for Windows 11/10/8/7 that can create the exact copy of your C drive. It has the following reasons for you to choose it entirely:

• Quickly migrate Windows PC from one PC to another
• Create a local backup of hard disk effectively
• Clone a hard drive with bad sectors
• A quicker cloning speed than other similar tools, requiring less time to clone a hard drive
• Automatically monitor the target drive's unlocated space and migrate only OS to SSD when the space is not enough
• You can choose to clone the operating system or clone only used sectors of the source disk to an SSD
• Your PC can be booted from the cloned disk without any problem, and you don't need to reinstall the Windows operating system
• Replace the old SSD with a new SSD without losing data
• It also supports creating a disk image of the bad hard drive to a new healthy one with ease

With it, you can replace the C drive with SSD without any data loss, and you don't need to reinstall the Windows operating system too.

FAQ on Changing C Drive with SSD

1. Can I replace my C drive with a larger one?

Of course, you can. Replacing C drive with a larger one will boost the computer's speed and make it run faster and smoother. And it will avoid lots of potential issues.

2. How do I move my OS from C to SSD?

You can use EaseUS Disk Copy to move the operating system from the C drive to SSD. Follow the steps we introduced in the post to do it. Don't worry about losing data. EaseUS Disk Copy will ensure a safe and quick OS moving speed.

3. How long does it take to replace the C drive?

The time it takes to replace the C drive with a new disk relies on many factors, like data storage, cloning speed, hardware condition, etc. Generally speaking, the process of upgrading C drive may takes about one hour to five hours, depending on your actual condition.