How Do I Upgrade My Hard Drive to SSD Without Reinstalling Windows?
So I looked around this sub for ways to upgrade from an HDD to an SSD, but every single article basically instructed me to reinstall Windows. However, I am unable to do so since I have meticulously personalized my operating system over time and have enormous apps and files on it that I do not want to re-download due to my extremely sluggish internet connection. So, is it possible to simply maintain every file the same but on a different drive?
Best Answered by
Larissa· Answered on Jan 21, 2026
Upgrading the hard drive to SSD will improve your computer's performance and boot speed. If you want to migraine and transfer all data from HDD to SSD without reinstalling the Windows operating system, then you can clone the hard drive t SSD, which will create an exact copy of your hard drive, including operating system, settings, configuration, installed programs. Follow the steps below to upgrade the hard drive to SSD.
Step 1. Connect SSD to Windows computer.
Connect or insert the new SSD to your Windows computer with a SATA to USB cable, and make sure it is recognized correctly. make sure your SSD has enough storage space to save the operating system.
Step 2. Download and install disk cloning software
EaseUS Disk Copy is an excellent HDD/SSD cloning program with the easiest cloning process. You can utilize it to clone HDD to SSD with several simple clicks. suitable for both beginners and experts.
Free Download
Windows 11/10/8/7
Step 3. Clone hard drive with EaseUS Disk Copy
- Launch EaseUS Disk Copy, and choose "Disk Mode".
- Select your hard drive as the source disk, and click Next.
- Choose the SSD as the target disk and click Next.
- Confirm the warning that the data on the target disk/partition will be erased.
- Edit the SSD layout, and click Proceed.
Step 4. Boot Windows computer from SSD
- If you replace HDD with SSD, shut down, and restart your computer, it will boot from SSD now.
- If you keep both HDD and SSD in your computer, restart your computer and press F2/F8 to access the BIOS settings, choose the cloned SSD as the boot device and restart your machine, and it will now boot from the cloned SSD.
- Refer to this guide if you encounter the issue of 'cloned drive won't boot'.
Cloning HDD to SSD is a great way to increase system reliability, shorten boot time and launch time, and improve system responsiveness. EaseUS Disk Copy will help you to make the process easier and faster.
Related Article: Replace Hard Drive with SSD Without Reinstalling Windows
Download the smartest and easiest Disk Cloning Software
Use EaseUS Disk Copy to upgrade small HDD, replace old/failed hard drive, migrate OS, clone HDD to SSD without reinstalling data.
Free Download
Windows 11/10/8/7
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