How to Clone IDE to SATA HDD/SSD

"Hi there, do you know how to clone IDE to a SATA as a boot drive? My computer is running slower and slower recently and I'm thinking to migrate OS from the IDE to a SATA SSD without reinstalling Windows, is that possible?"

Why need to clone IDE to SATA

With the fast spread of SSD, more and more users are trying to change their system disk from HDD to SSD. Most of these disks are SATA drive now.
However, there are some users still use IDE hard drive as their boot drive, which makes it quite inconvenient for them to complete some advanced test or doing some jobs with their PC. And this is why IDE users are trying to migrate their system disk from IDE to SATA. 
Besides, there are some other reasons which make IDE users want to upgrade IDE disk to SATA HDD/SSD. Here below is a list of why it's necessary to clone IDE to SATA HDD or SSD:

• SATA has many advantages over IDE;
• IDE doesn't support some intense disk I/O task well;
• IDE doesn't support the latest Windows system such as Windows 10/8 well;
• Don't need to reinstall the Windows system after cloning IDE to SATA HDD/SSD;

So how to clone IDE to SATA? How to clone IDE hard drive data with Windows system to SATA HDD or SSD without booting issue? Some preparation jobs are needed to be done before cloning IDE disk to SATA drive. Let's see now.

What should you do before cloning IDE disk to SATA HDD/SSD

In order to clone IDE to SATA without reinstalling system and booting issue, there are some preparation jobs needed to be done in advance. 
 
1. A computer which runs with IDE disk;
2. A SATA hard drive or SSD;
3. The computer motherboard shall support SATA;
4. If the computer motherboard supports SATA, you'll need a SATA cable and power cable to connect SATA HDD/SSD with PC;
5. If the computer motherboard doesn't support SATA, you'll need to buy an IDE-to-SATA adapter to connect PC with SATA HDD/SSD;
Once all these preparation jobs are done, you can now start to clone IDE to SATA hard drive or SSD now. 

How to Clone IDE disk to SATA HDD/SSD without booting issue

To clone IDE disk to SATA HDD/SSD without booting issue, all you need are two steps. Just follow below 3 steps and clone IDE disk data to SATA HDD/SSD without reinstalling system now:

1. Connect SATA HDD/SSD with PC and set the SATA drive to IDE mode

• Connect SATA HDD/SSD with PC via the SATA cable and power cable or IDE-to-SATA adapter. 
• Then set the SATA drive to IDE mode. If you don't know how to set SATA drive to IDE mode, you can Google to find detail guidelines online.

2. Clone IDE disk to SATA HDD/SSD, upgrade IDE to SATA HDD or SSD

Now you can start the process to clone IDE disk data to SATA HDD/SSD. Professional disk clone software - EaseUS Disk Copy can do the job for you. And you can directly download it and follow below tutorial steps to clone IDE disk to SATA HDD/SSD for free now:

PLUS: We'd also like to recommend you to activate this software before you starting upgrade IDE to SATA HDD/SSD for a smoothy cloning process without any data loss or problems:

Let's see how to upgrade and clone the IDE disk to SATA HDD/SSD without data loss on your own now:

Step 1: In "Disk Mode", select the HDD that you want to clone.

Step 2: Select the SSD as your destination.

A warning message tells you that the data on the SSD will be erased. Click "OK" to continue if you do not have important data on the destination disk.

Step 3: Edit the disk layout and then click “Proceed” to continue.

As the destination is an SSD, you are suggested to tick "Check the option if the target is SSD".

Step 4: Wait for the process to complete.

3. Set PC to boot from the SATA HDD/SSD and restart PC

After the cloning process, don't rush to restart PC. Another more step is needed to be done: set PC to boot from SATA HDD/SSD via BIOS and then restart PC.

How to migrate OS from IDE to SATA HDD/SSD

If you don't want to clone the whole disk data from IDE to SATA, but just want to migrate OS from IDE drive to SATA HDD or SSD, you are at the right place. Here we'll guide you to migrate OS or transfer Windows system only from IDE disk to SATA HDD or SSD.

Of course, you shall also make sure that your computer motherboard also supports SATA. Here are the detail steps to migrate OS from IDE to SATA HDD/SSD:

Let's see how to clone your current Windows OS to a new HDD/SSD without reinstallation Windows OS now:

Step 1. Connect the new HDD/SSD to your PC

Step 2. Run EaseUS Todo Backup to start system cloning

Select "System Clone" on the left tool panel by clicking the icon at the left top corner.

Step 3. Choose the destination disk - HDD/SSD to save Windows system

Choose the new HDD or SSD as your target disk for saving the cloned Windows system. 
Then click "Proceed" to start cloning Windows system to HDD/SSD now.

After this, insert your new HDD or SSD into your computer and reboot PC, change the boot order to set computer boot from new HDD/SSD with cloned Windows 10 system:

• Restart PC and press F2 or F8 to enter BIOS settings.
• In the Boot option, select new HDD/SSD as the new boot drive and save all the changes.
• Exit BIOS and restart the computer, you should be able to see the Windows system running on your new disk without any problems.

3. Finally, you are at the last step which is to set PC to boot from new SATA HDD/SSD via BIOS and restart PC.
After this, you'll successfully upgrade and clone IDE disk to SATA HDD or SSD then. No data loss issue or error would happen.