How to Upgrade Laptop Hard Drive to SSD without Reinstalling Windows

How to Upgrade Laptop Hard Drive to SSD without Reinstalling Windows
Got a old Laptop? Want to make it faster? Don't want to reinstall Windows? Well replacing the Hard Drive with a SSD Solid State Drive is a great way to give a new lease of life to a old Laptop. You will need a SATA to USB cable, Small screw drive, a SDD and Minitool Partition Wizard FREE Edition.
I will show you the step by step process to successfully migrating / clone you operating system from Hard Drive to SSD without reinstalling Windows.
Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB 2.5 inch Solid State Drive - Black
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Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB 2.5 inch Solid State Drive
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Stanley 1-66-039 Precision Screwdriver Set (6 Pieces)
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Sabrent USB 3.0 to SSD / 2.5-Inch SATA Hard Drive Adapter [Optimized For SSD, Support UASP SATA III] (EC-SSHD)
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MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition 10.0
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[@geeuk]

Anyone trying this in 2020, please make sure its the version 10 of the partition tool as the current version (12) does not allow os migration in the free version. Good luck all and thanks for the tutorial.

[@muhdzaidani2134]

Thank you, just a question, do I have to backup my files/documents before swapping them? Or can I just transfer them into the SSD after swapped?

[@miniweeddeerz1820]

@@muhdzaidani2134 no everything from the hdd(or SSD in my case) clones to the new SSD. So all files and everything. And then the drive you are replacing becomes your backup

[@Jokersmoke106]

How do you get V 10 then? I only see V 12

[@miniweeddeerz1820]

@mykilL Ay-naku yeah I cloned an SSD to another SSD yesterday. It all works as shown in the video.

[@Jokersmoke106]

@@miniweeddeerz1820 thanks man will need to try it.

[@eloquentlyspoken1525]

Thank you for taking the time to create this video. Changing anything on a computer can be a frightening task, but after watching this, I feel more confident than ever.

[@peteranderson9881]

I want to thank you for your clear and concise instructions in how to do this. I followed your tutorial step by step and replaced the hard drive on my Dell Latitude D630 laptop to an SSD (which cost $35 at Amazon for a 250 gig drive!) It boots up quicker and works like a champ. Much faster at loading web pages and starting up programs. Thanks again! ~from a fan in Pennsylvania, on the east coast of the United States

[@normanpettit]

Excellent tutorial for even those with very limited PC experience. I especially liked the part where things went a little sideways because a couple of apps were left open during the process. I'm looking to do this to my laptop and this video is certainly helpful and clear.

[@RedskullPro]

Ive done this exact thing about a year ago on a windows laptop. SSDs make a huge performance difference

[@catchaser52]

And they are updating PCs with ssds Very Slowly, with very Small ones,, Greedy !

[@catsbyondrepair]

Yep it gets real slow.

[@nawazwaseem2219]

Redskull RAM does too but not as much as an SSD upgrade :)

[@dwightstewart7181]

Trinitrophenylnitramine .. I found no difference whatsoever with 16g on my laptop, so went back to 8g (less power, less heat, less wear & tear on the fan).

[@dwightstewart7181]

I had to replace a dead fan in my HP laptop, so used the opportunity to install a 1TB SSD, upgrade to a faster processor, install more RAM, and add bluetooth. Used Acronis True Image instead of his MiniTool Partition Wizard. Everything went smoothly, mainly because I was very careful in selecting the correct processor and bluetooth board. RAM did nothing, so went back to original 8g.

[@latin625]

You sir are exceptional! You made a task that I struggled with for 3 days into a simple, FREE 1 hour masterpiece. My boot times are off the wall! SSD is a HUGE difference and I can not thank you enough. SUBSCRIBED!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@jennercalubiglesias4198]

Still working in Febraury 1,2021. Thanks to this I become like a “1 day technician” 😂

[@vijeyyyy431]

does it work. is there any new differences in the software..

[@paulebineshar9238]

Bro if I use this method on Cloning my orginal os it work or not?????

[@acer_triplex]

Followed instructions worked like a charm 3/3/2019. My laptop no longer crawls when starting up or opening files. Thanks!

[@vindobonaawstriae3692]

Perfect clear step by step tutorial. Laconic instructions, good sound and visibility. Damn good no nonsense stuff, as usual. Thank you very much. It was very helpful.

[@dmferrey]

Thanks

[@MrOhgoodgolly]

Thanks for doing such a great job on this article. I hate the geeks and gamer kids that have mastered the computer languages and try to give directions while assuming that everyone can understand what they are trying to tell us. I constantly see people who attempt to tell me to do this and that but don't bother telling me how. Even worse is how some use a ton of acronyms that are meaningless to most people.

[@devilnagamagic]

Agreed alright & thanks.

[@zerothehero7840]

The Pope has saved us!

[@user-sx9rz2yf2b]

Thank you very much

[@ndwelch427]

Great video. I'm about to try this with a spare HDD just to make sure that it works. If it does, I'll get the SSD to breath new life into my old computer. Thank you for the concise video!

[@Egbert_Souse]

I just about gave up trying to swap out my old HDD to an SSD. Tried multiple cloning software and watched dizzying videos of how easy it was. It wasn't (error, error everywhere)...until I happened upon your rock solid tutorial. Thank you! My thank you thanks you!!

[@TJAMES19831]

One the easiest to follow yet most comprehensive tutorials for this subject. Thank you and keep up the good work!

[@vimaengineers1418]

Fantastic brilliant way to do this. I was extremely worried about installing the entire system again but this was such a life saver finished in maybe an hr or so and nothings changed in my laptop other than the speed which is fantastic..

[@Chhayachitre]

Thanks boss! You've made the SSD migration procedure so easy and hassle free with this extremely crystal clear tutorial! Top notch work! Thanks once again!

[@CrazyKennyBear]

Such a great tutorial, everything planed and explained quickly and really smooth. Thank you so much for your help!

[@machelvet9594]

Thanks a lot. This is exactly what I was looking for. Demoted my laptop just for traveling. So I didn't need a big SSD anymore. Transferred what I wanted to a smaller older SSD which I didn't use anymore (including the settings and the OS) and it worked like a charm. I have been trying other programs for cloning before but they would only allow you same size or bigger ones as the destination drive. Which makes sense in most cases but not in mine. Sometimes you want to use your old stuff because it's still good enough for the things you need it for.

[@KhenzKnight]

Very nice tutorial straight to the point! No annoying introduction

[@TheMocholoco]

Just bought a SSD drive and updated my laptop....thank you for this helpful video...

[@ivjay5741]

i find it baffling you are the clearest tutorial i could find on the entire interwebs. Good job! thanks alot.

[@amarub]

Followed your steps exactly and it worked a charm, thank you! For $157 ($150 for a 1tb SSD EVO and $7 for the Sabrent cable) my six year old laptop is humming again.

[@sawekb8102]

If you are looking for the best program and guide you're in good place. I tried various approaches and only this one worked.

[@AlexErika]

Great explanation! It's rare that I take my laptop apart and have it work again but it's up and running so much better with this new SSD hard drive!

[@realangelo]

S.S.D Solid State Drive. not Solid State Drive Hard Drive

[@itrueman7]

Just want to say thank you so much for this guidance. I got a Western Digital Blue SSD 1TB and cloned the old 1TB SATA 5400rpm drive. I had never used cloning software before but gave this a go because I didn’t want the faff of installing Windows 10 from scratch. I found the version 10 download easily thanks to recent comments and guidance. Very happy.

[@scotthsmith8635]

You made this so easy that between you and my brother (computer geek pro) I’ve got the confidence to do this. Thanks mate. I’ve been putting this off although I have everything to do it. Got the important work out of my way so that if anything goes wrong I’m not pressed for time pulling back ups. Blessings to you and yours

[@duonis112]

I’ve just done it. Perfect video. I just had to change boot order to launch windows from ssd for the first time.

[@RobertStebbins]

Used this to add new drive to my old desktop & worked great. Turned an old slow system into something usable again for under $70.00.

[@CnCDune]

What system was that?

[@cameronbrown9858]

Thank you very much for this tutorial. Other videos were not very clear but this one was easy to follow. I used this on a desktop rather than a laptop and the performance difference is insane!!!

[@12ealDealOfficial]

Simple, plain, easy to follow guide here. Helped me upgrade my SSD in my desktop. Thank you so much for sharing.

[@howardsidlow1678]

The cloning to SSD worked exactly as per your video, thanks again. I struggled with Acronis and EasyUS but this worked well. The cloning took 3 hours plus by the way.

[@mfuller1093]

Great concise tutorial without naff music, thank you.

[@doncharles9298]

Echoing the other comments - thanks for taking the time to post and explain clearly what needed to be done. Enjoyed the experiences of doing it myself and it all starting up as you outlined.

[@antonios4926]

Thanks for the video. Gave my HP mini laptop to the computer guy. He phones me saying can't upgrade it. Seeing you i will do it myself. From Cyprus

[@KNHSynths]

Version 11 of the tool that is now available is slightly different but it works the same way. Thanks for the video !

[@johnschuett176]

Extremely well done. I was about to look for a PC shop to perform the swap but your video has explained the process very well. So easy a caveman could do it. Great use of the camera btw. Thanks.

[@tvs3497]

Yes, this is a smart trick and well worth the effort. Keep in mind not all laptop hard drives are that easy to remove. Newer laptops require removing the entire bottom cover. And a brand new SSD will need to be formatted either in Windows Disk Management or Minitool Partition Wizard.

[@Theurgicnick]

Great vid! I’ve just brought an SSD for my old Dell XPS L501x and was thinking I’d have to do a fresh install. Clearly explained in easy to understand speech with no jargon! 👍🏽

[@oldsarge8608]

Thanks Brian. I am going to swap out my old laptop drive for an SSD drive. This will make it much easier. I have seen a lot of your videos and have learned quite a bit from them.

[@Britec09]

Thanks.

[@porterbennett7041]

@@Britec09 could it be posible that you do a update on how to clone the files over to a ssd

[@roythomasbaker]

Nice app! Just installed. The most recent edition 11 adds the option to install Shadowmaker (backup & restore) and oddly removes the option to delete partitions as shown at 3:30. Still quite a handy little tool.

[@bishop7534]

Hello Britec09, I have to thank you for this video (though over a year old), it saved me from having a mini-meltdown. Downloaded Acronis and followed the instructions step-by-step only to restart the laptop to no OS...saddeden I found your video, now after adding Partition Wizard, the laptop is now functional. Didn't see the prompt on installing WebDiscover but uninstalling it through the control panel was easy enough (for those who get stuck with it too).

[@Jadisons]

About to do this on my brother's PC because he's been complaining about it being slow. Thanks a bunch!

[@madebykame]

Extremely useful, changed by SSD today with no issue following this guide!

[@kranosdainese423]

Can you transfer the files with the operation system ?

[@fergalkennedy8334]

@@kranosdainese423 make sure you have version 10, not the most recent version 12.

[@kieranfitz]

Went looking for a tutorial on how to do this, the first one that shows up features my exact laptop. Winning.

[@gijshaze7379]

This method worked for me it was so well explained, and I never changed software or hardware ever before in my life! Now I can enjoy my fast laptop again!

[@breggsu569]

congrats man. im planning to do it soon. im just waiting for my ssd. are there really no other stuffs not explained in the video??

[@drbsr1948]

Thanks a lot, very good video. I followed your video to the T. Works great. It took about 4 hours to complete because I had a ton of data to migrate over.

[@antonmacarthur]

Thank you for such a simple set of instructions. Much appreciated.

[@55whiplash]

Nice, I never heard of this program, I've just been using full cloning applications. Thanks!

[@johnathondaniels4186]

Hey man just wanna give a huge thanks to you! You saved me a lot of money as compared to sending it in to be done for me and is working perfectly now! Absolute new laptop!

[@Desertduleler_88]

Top tip, been interested in converting my laptop over to a SSD without buying another version of windows.

[@JosephatKennedy]

@Britec09 this is practically amazing rebranding laptop to higher performance. Cheers man

[@user-bf4du2cm5v]

thank you those who recommended version 10 and this video helps a lot, having an old notebook old bios couldn't disable secure boot or change UEIF but found this video that is even more convenient!

[@seriousminor]

Thanks Britec...couldn't get Samsungs app to do the job. Your process worked first time.

[@HISPOPINESS]

I've just done this on a Sony Vaio i5 and put in a 1Tb SSD. Had to look for Partition Wizard Edition 10 but that was easy. Followed the instructions and now have a better than new machine. Thanks for the article.

[@amirn1121]

Thank you very much for the video. Clear step by step tutorial. without distractions.

[@sundaresenb5702]

Worked as mentioned in the video!! Typing this comment from my updated ssd upon first boot. :)

[@redeyepirates4059]

Hi Every time I try to continue it pops up with a upgrade ad and won't allow me to continue did you have the same issue?

[@13crashbang]

Very helpful thanks. New drive is borderline magic in my old laptop!

[@japotstv9437]

it worked 100%..now my laptop is as good as new,maybe much faster now..thank you for the lesson..new subs here..👍👍👍

[@ThePa1nterhowto]

bloody awesome, you take so much time and pride doing your videos, it is appreciated

[@Britec09]

Thanks mate, glad you like them.

[@green6629]

thank you so much, I followed your instruction and got almost a new and fast laptop

[@zoyo968]

Just did this using your tutorial.. i have the same laptop as yours.. i upgraded to ssd and it worked like a dream! At first i dowloaded the version 12 of the partition app but realised its not free.. but i dowloaded the version10 and it worked perfectly! Laptop now is super fast!! Thank you so much mate!

[@zoyo968]

@@CB-kq3ui it should still do the job..

[@1958vintage]

Thanks for this. I'd never thought of using Partition Wizard to migrate the OS.

[@JB-xi5ek]

Thanks for posting this straightforward and well-explained tutorial, Brian.

[@darauwalaimran786]

Ya

Thank you for your

[@novisiblemeans]

Thanks for this video - incredibly useful and helpful. Just given my 7 year old Asus laptop a whole new lease on life.

[@MrGuamani]

Thanks for the video. This one was complete with all instructions. Sending for my SSD. Keep up the good work. From Puerto Rico.

[@michaelgamble296]

An excellent, easy to understand Tutorial. All I have to do now is follow my notes and upgrade my Dell 1745 Laptop.Thank you!

[@ImAlecPonce]

Thanks I’ll be needing this in a couple of weeks

[@jaysoares2797]

Thanks...I've tried other programs but this one finally worked on my first try...thanks again...

[@apeklegen5492]

I've seen a few videos before attempting to do this on my old HP. Works like a charm the first time round. Now I'm tempted to try to do it for my old Acer.

[@johnk4437]

Well done ! Clear and concise instructions. Paced to be heard clearly and distinctly. Thank you. Answered my question EXACTLY !

[@yosoydavid6429]

Best tutorial around. Very simple, step by step with a very detailed instructions step by step. Thanks a lot for this!

[@NgGavin]

Will it automatically configure the SSD or do I have to go into the bios and tell it which drive? , sorry I am a newbie. Great video thanks

[@DavidNitzscheBell]

THIS is the tool I've been looking for! Thanks so much for posting this video!

[@masvas1]

Best and clearest video on how to do this transition. Thank you for the encouragement to give it a try myself. I'm sure there wil be technical hiccups along the way. But it's fine. -- I've subscribed.

[@markathompson]

EXCELLENT VIDEO - YOUR STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS WERE VERY GOOD

[@breggsu569]

i also want to do it soon. may i ask if are there really no other stuffs not explained in the video??

[@luvsik]

You need version 10 of partition wizard to do this and it’s on a site called puma file one of the first results on google search. Just be careful navigating the ads, the actual file has to say mini tool partition wizard free 10. Don’t download anything else!

[@godfather7339]

why dont people just use linux? I landed here trying to find if I can upgrade to an ssd, all I can see are people crying in the comments, like its just a one liner in linux, sudo update-grub . why do people take the hard route?

[@luvsik]

@@godfather7339 lol cuz newbies don’t know what linux even is

[@robertreagan5173]

Britec , you are such a great teacher and help. I followed your directions and perfect . I have a new faster Toshiba.I bought the parts at Amazon. Does SSD have a short life span . Should we make a back up drive for our SSD . Tech guru on you tube said the cells stop working after so many changes . Britec I am so thankful for all the help you give me

[@rolandgo6744]

Just converted my asus to ssd, performance improvement was very satisfying. Thank you for the guide!

[@Schellz]

Thanks it ended out working and loads much faster. How ever, it is reading the single hard drive I replaced as two hard drives..

[@laussrensen4541]

Thanks a lot - I've been struggling for some time with migrating my Desktop setup to a larger SSD - and your video helped me a lot.

[@JohnJones-cp4wh]

It`s cloning, which means that what is on your HDD will now be exactly what will be on the SSD.

[@laussrensen4541]

@@JohnJones-cp4wh yes, that's what I thanked for

[@TRUCKSAJ]

Awesome vid man! Thanks, my whole migration took less than 10mins, no dramas!

[@sparkles9868]

Didnt even search for this and its something i will have to do later on as need a bigger hard drive Thanks for the crystal clear instructions

[@mchan1007]

Nice video. But should one remove any partitions that's not 'needed' as the video shows that the original HDD multiple partitions which copied itself to the SDD? Also, the cloning software looks good but does it truly work in Resizing the contents of the drive when you move content from a Larger HDD to a smaller SDD? For example... PC comes with 1Tb but want to switch to a 500Gb SSD, considering the user will NOT be storing much files on the SSD.

[@johnhadlow1918]

Great tutorial. One question: the cloning software mentions possible need to change BIOS. Could you please tell me what needs changing in BIOS; is it the boot up order? Thanks

[@errolmcinnes7938]

yes, the reference is to the boot order. Using Partition magic, you always want to use USB boot first. at the start the usb drive is unbootable. At the point where you saw him get the error, the system reboots to the newly bootable usb drive to complete the clone. Failing to do so will result in the clone not completing.

[@MrAltheArtist]

errol mcinnes Could there be an issue if the laptop is configured for duel-boot? I am thinking of changing my SSD for a larger one, but my laptop can boot with both Windows and Linux. Might this cause problems or should the partition wizard sort it all out?

[@xxycom8963]

Alex L, though you asked your question a while back, and probably resolved the issue, let me answer your question if a new user is curious. The answer to your question is that the video applies to dual boot drives too. I have a Win 7, and Win 10 dual boot arrangement which I copied from a sluggish hard drive to the SSD. It made my laptop useable again.

[@ShadowSmelt]

i cant give you praise enough. it was a brilliant step by step video. and ive upgraded my 5 year old laptop and bootup is now almost instant. bravo.. and as Gokhan B said. search web for the version 10. and worked like a charm. i did use a hard drive caddy instead of the cable. so i can re use the old hd as an external drive..

[@normanpettit]

One difference I ran into was that my SSD was new from the manufacturer and came un-formatted. The PC wouldn't even recognize that there was a device attached via USB which gave me pause. I proceeded with the the manufacturer-provided disc-cloning software (rather than the one mentioned in this video) and it recognized the new SSD and formatted it before proceeding. Everything went smoothly from there. These directions are very helpful for those not quite sure of the process. My laptop is now unbelievably faster. Anyone struggling with a slow PC should really consider this upgrade.

[@adaw90]

Always happy to see a Fujitsu user

[@BURAKCINAR]

It worked like a charm! Thank you so much for this detailed, hence brief video. To the friends out there and need the same procedure here, I would like to inform that Mini Tool's newest free version (v. 12 in this case) does not allow any of this. So I had to install v.10.0 as shown in the video and it worked perfectly.

[@EnglishTurbines]

Thanks, I found a free download of version 10.1 also....

[@tysmiracle]

May I ask are you doing this in Windows 7?

[@jjnava7949]

EnglishTurbines can you provide the link to the free version

[@BURAKCINAR]

@@tysmiracle no, sorry I use win 10. However the website says that it supports win 7 and up.

[@BURAKCINAR]

@@jjnava7949 just google it, I'm sure you will find it easily.

[@midwestlizardman1149]

Very helpful, was able to get everything copied over with your tips. My laptop was a little more complicated getting to the hard drive but overall was a success. Thank You for the upload

[@erneststef2823]

This is a very good presentation. Have watched a few before this one. They were not especially good meaning complete. The person in this video seems to have his act together to make it easier for us novices to complete the task. My hat off to you! Thank you.

[@Elijah-wo8bm]

Ok I will followyour tutorial. I already upgrade my 10yr old dual core laptop into windows10. It slow, have delays everytime and sometimes its hanging when doing multi tab search on chrome or ms edge. So I upgraded the ram to its maximum , from 2gb to 8gb, what can i say its very fast now no delay no freeze or hanging. But because my 320gb hard drive is nearly full, well i need to upgrade now and I found this steps so instead of hard drive, I will buying SSD instead. I do research which is better to. Sorry for my bad english.

[@matthew3p]

i love how you always comment back!

[@Britec09]

I like to let my fans know I see them and read all the comments, good or bad.

[@yosoydavid6429]

Just done! Worked like a charm! Instead of minutes, starting up takes only seconds! By upgrading memory to 8GB and SSD, this laptop has never been this fast not even when brand new. Toshiba Satellite C670 from 2011. Great for the environment and my pocket :) Thanks a lot! PS I used the Samsung DATA MIGRATION free software. Very simple and stress free :)

[@puffinbird2725]

thanks for saying this cus my mother didnt think the software in the video as safe (ik it is safe) but she said samsung is fine.

[@israelosilva]

thanks very much , I did it without any sort of trouble and it took me around 4 hours to do all the procedure , thanks for the great video and the great help. I am now a subscriber and recommending to all my mates your channel .

[@mukaofssn]

Mine is 30 minutes in and processing % hasn't moved up from 0%. Fingers crossed! 🤞

[@carolmiller6659]

When I went to transfer the files I got a pop up that said essentially you had to buy an upgrade I uninstalled it and went to cnet and downloaded lazy soft disk image and clone and it worked fine

[@olegariomoralesi8038]

How did it go?

[@XEyedN00b]

I love it. I was unable to migrate OS to SSD because I forgot that if you alocate the space it won't actually count as boot drive so I got error: "Invalid partition table" and was pulling my hair out until I came across this and then I self facepalmed.

[@kurtr1181]

What did you do after getting the "invalid partition table" error?

[@paulmunro3175]

A good and easy to follow tutorial. One tip: maximize the programs you are using, because it makes it much easier to follow. Thanks.

[@Cinderkin]

Appreciate the video, while the whole thing is pretty simple it's nice to have clear step by step instructions. Exactly what I was looking for. THANKS!

[@MukeshKumar-tx7rs]

3 good

[@chrisb8772]

FYI The latest verion of MiniTool Partition Wizard (12) no longer gives free OS migration

[@Britec09]

Lot of these types of software end up putting these features behind a paywall

[@bunny52879]

Have you found a free version that works?

[@chrisb8772]

My solution was to use the trial version of a paid one. Not all offer it but some do. Only needed it once so would be awful to fork out for one use

[@bunny52879]

@@chrisb8772 Finally got mine figured out, I got my brother to use his old MS-DOS Tricks on Command Prompt

[@LevyOliver]

Indeed, but you can use Macrium Reflect instead.

[@williampollard4759]

I just realized that you can also use this technique to setup a new drive. Setup essentially a GHOST drive with the activated operating system, and all the programs in a "fresh" state, free of viruses.

[@ComputerHelpHawaii]

Would you mind sharing a bit more detail on this method?

[@albertchung7641]

Good idea :o. Then install back into the drive without total reset

[@sandipswebmail]

Thank you so much!!! I have made a very slow laptop super fast today using your steps! Thanks again!

[@coffeekhan]

Thank you very much for this video! Helped a great deal fixing a migration that I couldn’t seem to make work otherwise.