By Teresa / Last update March 14, 2023

Choose the right SSD for your computer

Compared to traditional HDDs you get an excellent user experience when running Windows or gaming on solid-state drives (SSDs). Then, how to choose an SSD for your computer? There are three practical suggestions for you:

  • Check your computer motherboard. Find out if there are M.2 slots on your motherboard. If not, you may choose a 2.5-inch SSD instead.
  • 500GB to 1TB capacity. Don't buy an SSD smaller than 256GB, and 500GB offers a good balance between price and capacity.
  • Faster transfer speed. SATA is cheaper but slower. If your computer supports NVMe/PCIe or Optane drives, consider buying a drive with one of these technologies.

Choose SSD

Why do you need SSD cloning software?

After getting a new SSD, the next step is to transfer all data from the old disk to SSD. Specialist disk clone software can save your time by copying everything from the old drive to the new one. Typically, you will need SSD cloning software in the following two situations:

● Specialist HDD to SSD cloning software. In order to take advantage of a new SSD and enjoy the speed it can offer you, you may clone a large HDD to a smaller SSD with the cloning software. 
● Specialist SSD to SSD cloning software. Your old SSD now has no more space to store new files, so you buy a new larger one. In this case, you may clone SSD to a larger SSD to transfer all your data. 

Whether you want to migrate your HDD to an SSD or transfer an old SSD to a new one, you will always prefer to save time by using a quick and easy method that ensures your new SSD functions correctly.

Is there SSD cloning software for free?

In this part, I'll show you 3 best free SSD cloning software - AOMEI Backupper Standard, Samsung Data Migration and Clonezilla. Please get details below.

1. AOMEI Backupper Standard

AOMEI Backupper Standard Edition, developed for Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP, is the best SSD cloning software for free. With many professional functions, it is perfect for transferring data from one disk to another.

  • Disk Clone: it allows you to clone the entire hard drive including all the volumes on it. With it, you can easily migrate HDDs to smaller SSDs or clone SSDs to larger ones.
  • Partition Clone: it enables you to copy a selected partition, such as clone NTFS drive.
  • Intelligent clone: by default, this software only copies used sectors, which is also the key to clone larger drive to smaller drive.
  • SSD Alignment: it can help to improve the performance of the destination SSD and prolong its lifespan.
  • VSS technology: the cloning process will run in the background so you can continue to use the computer during the process.

🌟 Key Takeaways
√ Clone entire disk or a specific partition
√ Clone only used sectors to save disk space
√ 4K partition alignment for SSD
√ Support all-branded SSDs (Samsung, WD, Crucial, Seagate, etc.)
× The Standard edition cannot clone a system disk

AOMEI Backupper

2. Samsung Data Migration

Samsung Data Migration is a disk cloning tool offered by Samsung. It can help you migrate all of your data from the current system disk to a new Samsung SSD, including the operating system, application software, user data, and so on. However, it only supports cloning to Samsung SSD disk. That's to say, you cannot use it to migrate data to other branded SSD disks. 

🌟 Key Takeaways
√ Migrate OS, apps and files together
√ Support excluding data when cloning to a smaller drive
× Only clone to Samsung disks
× Cannot clone a data disk

Samsung Data Migration

3. Clonezilla

Clonezilla is a free and open source partition and disk imaging/cloning program. It supports system deployment, bare metal backup and recovery, and single drive/partition clone in various systems, such as Linux, Mac OS, Windows, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and more. There are three versions of Clonezilla available: Clonezilla live, Clonezilla lite server and Clonezilla SE (server edition).

🌟 Key Takeaways
√ Clone entire disk or a specific partition
√ Compatible with various systems
× Cannot clone to a smaller drive
× No user-friendly GUI

Clonezilla

Clone HDD to SSD for free with AOMEI Backupper

AOMEI Backupper supports all popular brands of solid-state drives, including Samsung, SanDisk, Kingston, PNY, WD, etc. And it supports different disk interfaces, such as SATA, IDE and PCIe. For example, you can easily clone Windows 10 to NVMe SSD with this tool.

Preparations:

  • Make sure your new SSD has been correctly connected to the computer. If your computer has only one drive bay, use a USB-to-SATA adapter.

  • The target disk will be overwritten. Back up important files if necessary.

  • Download this free SSD migration software and install it. 

    Download Freeware Win 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
    Secure Download

1. Click on the Clone button and select Disk Clone in the next window.

Disk Clone

💡 Note: The free edition only supports cloning non-system disks. To clone a system disk, please upgrade to higher editions.

2. Select the original hard drive as the source disk and then choose the SSD as the destination disk. 

Select Disk

3. Check the SSD Alignment option to optimize the performance of the destination SSD. Then, click on Start Clone to begin the HDD to SSD cloning.

Start Clone

Sector By Sector Clone - If you want to clone every sector (including unused sectors) on the old hard drive to your SSD, tick this option.
Edit Partitions - If you are upgrading your SSD to a larger one, you can use the "Add unused space to all partitions" of this option to avoid unallocated space after cloning. 

4. Now leave the process to complete. While you are waiting you can continue to use the PC as normal. Once the process completes, click Finish.

Finish

 

◉ Replace the old hard drive with SSD correctly

Shut down your PC and remove all external devices and connections first. Then, open the case cover, take out the old hard drive and install the new SSD in the same place. You'll need screwdrivers in practical operations. It is suggested to take a picture in advance to help you revert cable connections if you're not familiar with such things.

Remove Hard Drive

FAQs about SSD cloning software

1. Can you clone an SSD for free?

Yes, you can do free SSD clone with the best 3 SSD cloning software mentioned on this page.

2. Is cloning to SSD a good idea?

Yes, there are several advantages of cloning to SSD: improve computer performance by replacing HDD with SSD, enlarge storage space by cloning SSD to larger SSD, and enjoy the same system configuration without reinstalling OS.

3. Does Windows 10 have a cloning tool?

No. Windows 10 only has built-in backup tools, no cloning tools. If you need to perform disk clone, try reliable third-party software such as AOMEI Backupper.

Conclusion

What is the best free SSD cloning software for Windows? You may pick a suitable tool according to your specific situation:

  •  If you plan to clone old hard drive to a Samsung SSD, Samsung Data Migration is a good choice.
  • If you want an SSD migration tool compatible with various systems like Linux, Mac OS, and Windows, you may pick Clonezilla.
  • If you need a data migration tool with flexible clone options and supporting all-branded SSDs, try AOMEI Backupper Standard.

 AOMEI Backupper enables you to easily transfer data to your SSD (eg: clone NVMe to NVMe SSD). It also brings you backup features including file and system backups. Its amazing restoration features allow you to recover your unbootable PC either by creating rescue media or by using the AOMEI PXE boot tool.

If you're an IT technician or want to use portable cloning software anywhere and anytime, you may try AOMEI Backupper Technician or Technician Plus edition to create portable version.