How to Replace Old SSD with New SSD on Windows 11/10/8/7

If your laptop or PC is preinstalled with a small SSD, such as a 128G SSD, you might find that your computer is running increasingly slowly, especially when it is your Windows installation drive or full of data and apps. Buying a new PC will be costly, and you must reinstall all necessary programs. Fortunately, you have another way out: you can upgrade your old SSD to a larger one via cloning. This post from EaseUS will describe how to replace old SSD with new SSD without losing data or reinstalling Windows.

What You'll Use to Upgrade from Old SSD to New One

As mentioned above, cloning can help you change your SSD from an old one, but you have to make some preparations to help you achieve that. The following is what you will need to do to replace your old SSD with a new one.

🔣An SSD with the right interface, form factor, and storage space.

• SSDs have different form factors (2.5-inch, M.2, U.2) and interfaces (SATA, NVMe). Since the NVMe SSD read speed is 6 times faster than SATA SSD, it is worth purchasing an M.2 PCIe or NVMe SSD, such as Samsung T9, Intel SSD 670p, Lexar NM790, Kingston KC3000, etc.
• SSD's storage capacity ranges from 125GB to 4TB. Among them, the 250GB SSD is the most cost-effective if you want to use SSD only for OS installation. However, if you are a gamer, content creator, or professional, an SSD with a capacity of 500GB - 1TB is preferable.

⚒️SSD connector

To transfer SSD to new SSD without losing data or clone SSD to new SSD, you need to connect the new SSD to your laptop/PC, so you should have a USB-to-SATA cable, adapter, or hard drive enclosure.

🧰Screwdriver

It can help open the PC's or laptop's removable panel, remove the old SSD, and install a new SSD after cloning the old SSD to the new SSD on Windows 11/10/8/7.

🏆Best SSD cloning software

Since Windows has no preinstalled cloning settings, unlike backup, you need to turn to third-party disk cloning software for help, which is the core of replacing an old SSD with a new SSD. To this end, EaseUS Disk Copy, a professional and versatile hard drive cloning tool, comes to help. You need to download it to your laptop/PC and then use it to clone an SSD to a larger SSD or upgrade from a smaller SSD to a larger one.

How to Replace Old SSD with New One Without Data Loss

Replacing an old SSD with a new one includes 3 parts. You'd better follow the following instructions carefully in case something goes wrong. Let's come to the details.

Part 1. Initialize SSD

Generally speaking, for a new SSD, you need to initialize it. A new SSD/HDD must be initialized, or it might not work if you don't initialize it. The steps to initialize an SSD are the following:

Step 1. Put the new SSD into a hard drive enclosure or connect it to a SATA-to-USB adapter, then connect the enclosure or adapter to your laptop/PC via a USB port.

Step 2. Go to This PC and check whether the new SSD appears as a new volume.

Step 3. Launch Disk Management tool. Typically, an Initialize Disk box will show up immediately. To initialize the new SSD, choose Disk 1 and tap OK.

Step 4. Right click on the unallocated space behind the new SSD and choose New Simple Volume.

Then, follow the on-screen guide to make a partition and give the new SSD a drive letter. Once you're done, the new SSD will show up on This PC as a new drive letter.

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Part 2. Transfer Data from the Old SSD to New One

Here is a video about how to transfer SSD to new SSD:

To change SSD to a larger/new one without data loss or OS reinstallation, you must use third-party disk cloning software, such as EaseUS Disk Copy, as Windows has no built-in cloning tools. Such a tool can let you clone a hard drive and replace a laptop's hard drive without losing data.

Unlike the Samsung Data Migration Tool, it is a practical disk cloning program for Windows computers and can help you clone an HDD/SSD from different manufacturers. It lets you transfer your Windows from SSD to a new SSD and migrate data from one computer to another without trouble.

EaseUS disk clone software can suit you well if you want to replace your SSD with a new and it can also help you upgrade it to a larger disk. Ensure you download it to your computer and then use it for swapping Windows from old SSD to new SSD.

Before cloning:

• If your computer has only one slot, connect the target disk to your machine via a USB-to-SATA/NVMe adapter.
• If your computer has an extra slot, install the target disk into the empty slot properly, and make sure it is compatible.

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Disk Copy and choose Disk Mode.

Install EaseUS Disk Copy cloning software on your Windows computer, then launch it and select Disk Mode from the left panel.

Step 2. Select the source drive.

Select the drive you want to copy, then click Select.

Step 3. Choose the target disk.

Choose the disk that you want to clone data to, and click Select. Note that the used space of the source disk should be less than the target disk capacity.

*At this step, you can also click the option "Save as an image file" to store your disk as a compressed image file, which can be restored without any data loss.

Step 4. Adjust disk layout.

Specify the target disk layout as your preference. You can choose among:

• Autofit the disk: makes some changes by default on the destination disk layout so that it can work at its best.
• Copy as the source: create a 1-to-1 copy of your source disk; the layout is the same as the source disk.
• Edit disk layout: allows you to manually resize/move the partition layout on this destination disk.

*If the target disk is an SSD, the option "Auto-alignment to 4K" will be checked automatically to optimize the performance of your SSD.

Step 5. Start cloning.

Click Proceed, and a message will appear, warning you that data will be lost. Confirm the message by clicking Continue.

Now, it will start executing the cloning task.

*The time it takes to clone a hard drive depends on how much data is on the source disk, and it will also be affected by the disk types, USB connection, etc.

Part 3. Remove Old SSD and Install New SSD

After cloning, you need to replace the old SSD on your desktop or laptop with the new one. Here are the detailed steps.

On a Desktop PC

Stage 1. Remove old SSD from your desktop PC

Step 1. Backup data with a free backup program - EaseUS Todo Backup. You can skip this step if you have already backed up your data.

Step 2. Power off your desktop PC and pull out cables.

Step 3. Open the PC's case.

Step 4. Find and remove the SSD.

Stage 2. Install the new SSD on your desktop PC

Step 1. Insert the new SSD into your PC and plug in all cables or connectors.

Step 2. Ensure you have plugged all cables correctly and mount and screw the new SSD in meticulously.

Step 3. After installing the new SSD, you can boot your desktop computer.

On a Laptop

Step 1. Use the screwdriver to remove all screws for opening the laptop's back cover.

Step 2. Find the old SSD and unplug its power cables and other data wires.

Step 3. Remove the old SSD from the drive tray after unplugging the screws.

Step 4. Reverse the above steps to install the new SSD. Insert the SSD into its original place, connect all cables, screw the new SSD, and close the laptop's back cover.

When all is done, you just need to boot your laptop or desktop PC from the cloned SSD. You can refer to the following articles for help.

To Wrap Things Up

How to replace old SSD with new SSD? Have you got your answer now? If you carefully follow the steps in this article, replacing an SSD with a new or larger SSD will be a breeze. It is worth noting that you must use a professional disk cloning program to help you transfer data from your old SSD to a new one.

EaseUS Disk Copy is the exact one to help you migrate everything from one hard drive to another without losing data or reinstalling Windows. It lets you clone your boot drive to a new SSD or transfer the operating system from one SSD to another without trouble and clone a drive in several simple clicks. More practical functionalities are waiting for you to explore! Download and try it!

FAQs on How to Replace Old with New SSD

1. How do I transfer data from old SSD to new SSD?

To transfer your data from an old SSD to a new one, the best and easiest method is to use a professional disk clone tool, such as EaseUS Disk Copy, to help you transfer everything from one hard drive to another, including the installed OS and saved data.

2. Can I upgrade my SSD without reinstalling Windows?

Yes, you can upgrade your SSD without OS reinstallation. To this end, you must use a third-party disk cloning program to help you upgrade your SSD to a new/larger one. Cloning can help replace a hard drive without reinstalling Windows or losing data.

3. Will I lose Windows if I replace my SSD?

Generally, you will lose your Windows if you replace your SSD with a new one. However, if you choose to clone your OS to the new hard drive before replacing the old one, everything will remain intact, including your Windows and files.

4. How to move files from HDD to SSD Windows 10

You can manually copy and paste files from HDD to SSD, or you can use a cloning tool (such as EaseUS Disk Copy, Clonezilla, and so on) to copy everything from the hard drive to the SSD.