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These days, most new PCs ship with an internal solid-state drive installed. If you're still using a traditional spinning hard disk, you're missing out. Swapping in an SSD is one of the best upgrades you can make to speed up your computer. It'll boot faster, programs will launch instantly, and games will load quickly. You could always reinstall Windows from scratch—in many cases that may even be preferable. However, if you have the right tools, you can get your Windows machine up and running much sooner by copying the entire drive over to your new SSD.
1. Buy the Right SSD
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)If you're looking to upgrade, we have recommendations for the best overall drives and worthwhile cheaper alternatives. Make sure to buy the right form factor for your computer (some laptops will use 2.5-inch drives, while others use the "gumstick" M.2 format). You also want one big enough to fit your data. If you have a 500GB drive now, you probably want a similarly sized (or larger) SSD.
The only exception is if you're on a desktop computer and have room for multiple hard drives. In that case, you could store Windows and your programs on the SSD, and put your music, movies, and other media on a second, larger hard disk—though this can be a bit more complicated, as we'll discuss below.
2. Back Up Your Data (and Free Up Space)
(Credit: PCMag / Microsoft)Before you start messing around with your drives, it's absolutely necessary to first back up your data. An accidental click can result in you erasing everything, so don't continue until you've backed it all up. If you don't have a backup solution yet, check out our favorite software for the job. Windows also has File History for backing up important documents, and an image file can save your entire system. Copying important data to an external hard drive will also do in a pinch.
If you're upgrading to an SSD that's smaller than your current hard drive, you'll want to take extra care here. This isn't as common as it once was, thanks to bigger, less expensive SSDs, but if that's the case for you, you'll need to delete some files and free up space on your hard drive before cloning it. Otherwise, your data won't fit on the new drive. Once your data is safe and secure, continue to the next step.
3. Plug In and Initialize Your SSD
During this process, you'll need both your SSD and old hard drive connected to your computer at the same time. If you're using a laptop with only one hard drive slot, that means you'll need an external adapter, dock, or enclosure that can connect your bare SSD to the computer over USB. If you're on a desktop PC with room for more than one drive, you can just install it internally alongside your old hard drive.
Plug your SSD into the adapter, then plug that into your computer. If it's a brand-new drive, you probably won't see the drive pop up in File Explorer, but don't worry; it just needs to be initialized first. Open the Start menu and type "partitions" in the search box. Click the Create and format hard disk partitions option, and Disk Management will open.
(Credit: PCMag / Windows )You'll be prompted to initialize the drive using either the GPT or MBR partition table. I'll be using GPT for my SSD, since I have a modern PC with a UEFI firmware. If you have an older PC with a traditional BIOS, you may need to use an MBR partition table. If you aren't sure, look up your specific PC model (or motherboard if you built the computer) to see which type of firmware it uses.
If you aren't prompted to initialize the drive, and don't see it in Disk Management, double-check that it's properly connected to your computer, and that the enclosure or dock is powered on (if necessary). See our guide to troubleshooting a hard drive that won't show up for more. Once the drive has been initialized, you should see it show up in the bottom pane of Disk Management as unallocated space. From there, you should be good to go.
4. Clone Your Drive
(Credit: PCMag / DiskGenius)There are many different drive-cloning tools on the market, and unfortunately, there are few free one-size-fits-all options anymore. If your drive manufacturer has its own migration program, that might be your best bet. For example, if you bought a Samsung SSD, we recommend downloading Samsung Magician Software and following the instructions in the user guide. Western Digital and SanDisk users can use WD's version of Acronis True Image to copy their data using these instructions.
If your drive manufacturer doesn't offer a migration tool, DiskGenius is your next best bet. It's a free drive-cloning tool that works with any brand of hard drive and SSD. Just download the installer for the free home version and run through the wizard to get it up and running on your PC. For step-by-step instructions, see our guide on cloning your hard drive.
5. Install Your SSD
(Credit: Whitson Gordon)Next, shut down your computer. It's time to install that SSD in your machine permanently. If you have a desktop PC with more than one hard drive slot, you can leave the old drive in as extra storage, and just install your SSD alongside it. If your machine has only one hard drive slot, you'll need to remove the old hard drive and replace it with the SSD. This process is a bit different on every machine, so check the documentation supplied by the manufacturer of your computer (or motherboard).
6. Reboot From Your New Drive
(Credit: Whitson Gordon)Now, you'll need to tell the computer to boot from the installed SSD. (This may not be necessary on laptops with just one drive, but if you experience problems booting, it can help.) Turn your computer on and enter its BIOS/UEFI setup. You can do this by pressing a specific key—such as Del or Esc; it'll say on the screen—as the computer boots. From there, look for the boot options in the BIOS menu. The exact location will differ depending on your computer's manufacturer.
Once you find the boot menu, select the option to change the boot sequence. Move your SSD to the top of the list, then head back to the main BIOS menu, save your settings, and exit. Your computer will reboot and should plop you back into Windows faster than ever before. Open File Explorer and check that your SSD is, in fact, the C: drive. If everything looks good, you're done. If your old drive is still installed, you can erase it and use it to store extra files or disconnect it entirely.