By AOMEI / Last Updated June 4, 2020

The need to clone only OS to SSD

I recently bought a new SSD drive and want it to be my Windows 7 system drive where i just save all my Windows installation and some programs & games, so that my boot speed and app running speed are faster. The SSD is 120 GB and the system partition is 150GB, but only 50GB are used, so there is plenty of space. I don't know if it's safe to clone this partitions to SSD, or if it's possible to clone only OS partition but not whole HDD?

Answer: as we all know, simple functions of copy and paste can not be used to transfer the operating system and some applications. Because the applications or programs may not work normally after transferring.

Some users may choose Windows built-in "Backup and Restore" to clone OS partition to SSD. It means that you need to first backup system and then restore it to new SSD. Between these two tasks, you need a place to temporarily save the system image file and this place should not be small in size, so this will be time-consuming and boring task. To make things easier, you can choose to clone only Windows to SSD with disk cloning software.

The best disk cloning software - AOMEI Backupper Professional

AOMEI Backupper Professional, a powerful SSD cloning software, has been regarded as the best strategy in resolving the problem of "clone only OS to SSD".

  • It can help you clone only OS to SSD without reinstalling and ensures secure boot. System customized settings, personal files and installed programs on the system drive will be copied to target new drive as well. You can enjoy the similar Windows operating environment on new SSD as usual.

  • It’s also possible to clone OS from larger hard drive to smaller SSD. If you want to copy every sector of the selected system drive, usually the C: drive, to the target, you can specify Sector by sector clone.

AOMEI Backupper Professional works well in Windows 10/7/8/8.1/Vista/XP. With its user-friendly interface, you can complete the cloning job within a few clicks. Check the next part to get the detailed steps on how to clone only Windows to SSD.

Example: how to clone only OS partition to SSD in Windows 10?

Download and install AOMEI Backupper Professional, and follow the steps to clone only Windows to SSD. Take how to clone only OS partition to SSD in Windows 10 as an example.

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Win 10/8.1/8/7/XP

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Step 1. Start AOMEI Backupper, and click Clone option in the left part of the main interface. Then, select System Clone to copy system.

Choose System Clone

Step 2. System drive and related drives have selected by default. Select the destination partition where you want to clone your OS partition on and the click the Next to continue.

Select A Destination Disk

Note: If the new selected location is a partition, AOMEI Backupper will automatically pop up a window, prompting you which partition(s) will be deleted or overwritten and inquiring that Are you sure to continue the operation? Click "OK" to go on. If there is important data on this partition, we suggest you click "Cancel" to quit current operation and backup firstly.

Step 3. Now you can see the follow interface, if you confirm this operation, please click Start Clone to go on.

Click Start Clone

Step 4. When the system clone progress reaches to 100%, click Finish to exit the interface. Now your system clone is competing.

System Clone Progress

Step 5. After cloning, you can enter into BIOS and set the new SSD as the first boot disk. Or just replace the old hard drive with the new one. Then boot from the cloned SSD.

Conclusion

That’s all for how to clone only OS to SSD in Windows 10/8/7. Besides cloning, AOMEI Backupper software is also the perfect way to protect and manage your system, disk, partition and any important data. Whether you have one home computer or a business with multiple computers, AOMEI software is the best solution for personal and business use. Do not forget to give it a try.