[Bootable] How to Clone Laptop Disk to GPT SSD in Windows 8/8.1/10/11

About cloning laptop disk to GPT SSD in Windows 8

Why clone laptop hard drive to SSD?

Does it take a long time for your laptop to boot up after using it for a long time? Compared with changing a new computer, it is more cost-effective to transfer data to a more advanced hard drive. To avoid the arduous task of reinstalling Windows and applications, many users prefer to clone their laptops' disks to save valuable time and energy.

For optimal experience, people often replace HDD with SSD (solid state drive). This can significantly improve boot times, application launch, data transfers, gaming experience, and overall system responsiveness.

Why clone a disk to GPT instead of MBR?

When choosing the proper partition style for the target SSD, many users may be suggested to use GPT (GUID Partition Table) but they don't know why. Actually, this is because GPT has obvious advantages over MBR (Master Boot Record) :

☛ GPT allows disks to be larger than 2 TB, while MBR cannot.

☛ GPT supports volumes up to 18 EB and allows 128 partitions per disk, while MBR is capped at 2 TB and up to 4 primary partitions (or three primary partitions with extended partitions and unlimited logical drives).

☛ GPT supports UEFI firmware interface, while MBR supports BIOS firmware interface

☛ GPT is compatible with newer versions of Windows.

Therefore, to maximize your user experience, the combination of GPT and SSD is strongly recommended.

The best cloning software for Windows 7/8/8.1/10/11: AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional

If you want to clone HDD to SSD Windows 8, 8.1, 10, 11, or even 7, you will need reliable third-party software as Windows lacks built-in cloning tools. You are suggested to pick AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, a trusted and user-friendly solution for disk cloning tasks, especially able to directly clone MBR to GPT SSD without conversion and make the cloned drive bootable.

The software offers a comprehensive set of features tailored for optimized disk cloning:

✍ Clone Disk: Seamlessly clone laptop HDD to smaller SDD or larger HDD, ensuring complete data integrity.
✍ Clone Partition: Selectively copy specific partitions from the original disk to the new SSD/HDD, providing flexibility in data migration.
✍ Clone System: Easily migrate the operating system individually to another SSD/HDD without a complete reinstall.
✍ Secure Boot: Ensures successful booting from cloned drives and maintains system stability.
✍ Clone Disk Quickly: Transfer only used sectors from the source disk to clone a larger drive to a smaller drive, provided the destination disk can accommodate the used sectors.
✍ Sector by Sector Clone: Performs a sector-to-sector clone, copies used and unused sectors from the source disk, and requires a larger destination drive.

How to clone laptop drive to GPT SSD in Windows 8/8.1/10/11

After downloading AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, read this part and get step-by-step instructions on how to clone laptop hard drive to SSD Windows 8 GPT.

Before you begin:

1. Connect the new SSD to your computer to ensure it is detected.

2. Back up important files on the target SSD as the cloning process will erase all existing data.

Step 1: Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional Edition.

Step 2: Navigate to Clone > Clone Disk in the toolbar.

Step 3: Choose your preferred cloning method: select Clone Disk Quickly to clone only the used space for faster cloning.

Step 4: Select the source disk and click Next to continue.

Step 5: Select the target disk and click Next. Check Optimize the performance of SSD to make partition alignment for SSD to improve its performance.

Step 6: Resize the partitions on the target disk (if using Clone Disk Quickly). Customize the partition size or leave the default value (Clone without resizing the partition) and click Next to continue.

Step 7: Learn how to boot from a cloned disk. Click Finish, then click Apply.

Once completed, your old laptop drive will be successfully cloned from MBR to the new GPT SSD. This "Clone Disk" feature also allows users to clone GPT disk to SSD.

How to successfully boot from the cloned hard drive

To successfully boot your laptop from a cloned GPT SSD drive in Windows 8 after the cloning process, follow these steps to set the SSD as the boot disk:

Step 1: Restart your computer and press the designated key (usually Del, F2, F12, or Esc) to enter the BIOS setup.

Step 2: Use the arrow keys in the BIOS setup to navigate and find the Boot or Boot Sequence section.

Step 3: Adjust the boot order settings to prioritize the newly cloned GPT SSD as the first boot device.

Step 4: Follow the prompts or instructions in the BIOS utility to navigate to the Exit tab.

Step 5: Find the Exit Saving Changes option.

After completing these steps and saving the changes in the BIOS settings, restart the laptop. Your Windows 8 system should now boot successfully from the newly cloned GPT SSD drive as the primary boot disk.

Conclusion

This article discusses how to clone laptop hard drive to SSD Windows 8 GPT using the best disk cloning software AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional Edition. Following these steps, you can either replace the laptop hard drive with an SSD or transfer files to a new drive easily and safely.

Apart from cloning GPT disk to SSD, this pragmatic program also enables you to migrate only OS partition to SSD/HDD, safely convert disks to GPT or MBR style, move installed programs to D or other drives to free up space, etc.

Whenever you want to clone disks, download AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional and it won't let you down.