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CharlesTurner's avatar
CharlesTurner
Iron Contributor
Dec 29, 2025

How can I transfer or migrate windows to new ssd for Win11/10

Hey everyone, I‘m finally trying to upgrade my old hard drive to a shiny new SSD, but I'm completely lost on how to actually move Windows over without starting from scratch. I heard  of disk cclonin...
SilasDonovan's avatar
SilasDonovan
Iron Contributor
Dec 29, 2025

If you cannot use third-party cloning software and don't want a clean install, you can use the legacy backup feature built into Windows. This is a very useful way to transfer windows to another SSD drive. You can follow the steps in here.

How to migrate windows 10/11 to new ssd

Create Image: Go to Control Panel > System and Security > Backup and Restore (Windows 7). Click Create a system image. Save this image to your External USB Hard Drive.

Create Recovery Media: In the same menu, click Create a system repair disc (or search "Create a recovery drive" in the Start menu) to turn your small USB Flash drive into a boot tool.

Swap Drives: Install the new SSD.

Restore: Boot your PC using the Recovery USB. Navigate to Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > System Image Recovery.

Select Image: Connect your External Hard Drive containing the image and follow prompts to restore that image onto the new SSD.

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