Clone OS to M.2 SSD in Windows 10/8/7 - the Easiest Way

User Case

What is an M.2 SSD?

M.2, formerly known as the Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF), is a form factor for SSDs (solid-state drives) that’s shaped like a stick of gum. These SSDs are typically faster, but more expensive than traditional 2.5-inch SSDs. They are smaller than regular SSDs. Because it is very small, users can also add M.2 SSDs to laptops that do not have room for a regular SSD.

In order to use M.2 SSD in your PC or laptop, you need a motherboard with an M.2 slot. Some motherboards have two or more M.2 slots that allow you to run SSDs in RAID. M.2 SSD can be SATA-based, PCIe-based with or without NVMe support.

The M.2 SSD with NVMe support provides five times the bandwidth of the SATA M.2 model, delivering better performance in critical tasks, such as file transfer, video or photo editing, transcoding, compression, and decompression. As a result, more and more users are now choosing to clone OS to  M.2 SSD.

The Most Reliable M.2 SSD Cloner—AOMEI Backupper

As the hard disk slows down, it will take more time to start your computer or open files and programs on your PC. In this case, you might consider upgrading your hard drive to M.2 SSD for faster reading and better computer performance. Finding reliable cloning software can help you avoid a lot of unnecessary hassles.

AOMEI Backupper Professional is powerful and safe M.2 SSD cloner which allows you to transfer OS and data to SSD without reinstalling. It supports Windows 11/10/8/7/XP/Vista, etc. Its multiple features can meet all your needs.

♨ It supports various disk types including SATA SSDs, NVMe SSDs, M.2 SSDs, etc.
♨ As a migration tool, it supports all brands of SSDs. For instance, you can use it to transfer data to WD Blue SSD, Kingston SSD, Samsung SSD, etc. In addition to SSDs, other hard drives are supported, including USB flash drives and SD cards.
♨ Although the target SSD is smaller than the original hard drive, you can still perform the cloning process through its “Intelligent Sector Clone” method (default method). It allows you to clone only used sectors from one hard drive to another while skipping bad sectors. In contrast, its Sector by Sector Clone method will clone every sector from the source to the destination.
♨ It provides SSD Alignment option, which improves SSD’s performance and prolong its lifespan if you clone to an SSD.
♨ After replacing your old hard drive, you can also use it for disk wipe to protect your private data.

How to Migrate OS to M.2 SSD Step by Step

Here I will give introductions of moving Windows 10 from HDD to NVMe M.2 SSD. This professional third-party tool—AOMEI Backupper Pro can help you do this easily. Before cloning, we need to do some preparations:

◑ Backup files. If your target SSD is not brand new and it contains some important files, it is recommended that you back up files in advance. Because the destination disk will be overwritten or deleted after cloning.
◑ Clean up your old hard drive. Delete unwanted files, uninstall unnecessary apps, perform a disk cleanup, etc.
◑ Install M.2 SSD properly. Turn off your device and disconnect the power cord and any other connected cables. Unscrew the back panel and install the new SSD properly into the M.2 slot on the motherboard.

When all preparations are complete, download AOMEI Backupper Professional and install it. If you are a Windows Server user, please turn to AOMEI Backupper Server.

Step 1. After installation, start AOMEI Backupper. You will then go to the main interface. Click Clone in the left panel. Choose System Clone to transfer Windows 10 from HDD to M.2 SSD.

Step 2. This program automatically selects the System drive and related drives by default. Select M.2 SSD as the destination disk and click Next to continue.

Step 3. Confirm all your settings. Because your target location is M.2 SSD, you can check SSD Alignment to improve its reading and writing speed. Once confirmed, click Start Clone to clone OS to NVMe M.2 SSD.

Step 4. Wait until the operation is complete, click Finish.

After moving windows 10 from HDD to M.2 SSD, you can go to BIOS and change the boot device to boot computer from the cloned M.2 SSD. If you are a laptop, just replace the old hard drive with the new one.

Conclusion

As you can see from the graphical tutorial, AOMEI Backupper Professional makes it extremely easy to clone OS to M.2 SSD. It can not only help you transfer the operating system, but also transfer all data without reinstalling, saving you time and energy.

Besides, you can use this reliable software to backup, restore, and synchronize files and folders. Each feature supports files or data from different locations. For instance, you can backup Windows 10 to NAS, restore deleted files from Synology, perform bidirectional folder syncing in different cloud storages, etc. Download it and experience more powerful features by yourself right now.