Forum Discussion

Copper Contributor

Sep 13, 2024

Solved

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

I have a backup PC running Windows 10 and it becomes very slowly when editing videos. I doubt it is the issue with the internal hard drive. So I bought a new compatible SSD and want to move all staff...

Luciansb
Sep 13, 2024
I was in the same boat with my painfully slow PC, and while there's no truly "software-free" way, I used the DiskCopy and it cloned everything perfectly—this is the tutorial that saved me.
https://www.devshowto.com/clone-windows-10-11-hdd-to-ssd

Remysop

Brass Contributor

Sep 13, 2024

ArthurClark To safely clone Windows 10 to SSD for free, there are three things you should pay close attention to.

Clone Entire Disk: Make sure you're cloning the entire disk (not just individual partitions) to capture the system reserved partition and any other boot-related partitions.

Use Reliable Disk Cloning Software: The cloning tool you use must support boot sector cloning. And there are many free disk cloning software out there for Windows 10. The tool should be able to check the correct boot information (like the Master Boot Record (MBR) or GUID Partition Table (GPT)) is transferred.

Check Boot Mode: If you're migrating from an HDD to an SSD, ensure the boot mode in your BIOS (UEFI or Legacy) matches the drive format (GPT for UEFI, MBR for Legacy).