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This is also the time to uninstall programs you aren’t using anymore and delete unnecessary files that you don’t want to be carried over to your SSD. Clean up your drive for additional space. If this is the case, move larger folders–such as those containing your photos, videos, games, and personal documents–to an external drive or other location to make enough space on your drive for cloning to the smaller SSD.ģ. Move large folders that don’t need to be kept on the SSD. Chances are your hard drive is larger than the SSD you are transferring to (for example, moving from a 500GB HDD with lots of media files to a 120GB SSD). In the left menu, go to “System Image Backup” to create a system image on an external drive or network location.Ģ. #Free hard drive cloning software pc gamer windows 10Create a system image backup in Windows 10 by going to the Control Panel (hit the Win+X keyboard shortcut and select Control Panel), then go to “Save backup copies of your files with File History” (under System and Security). Prepare Your Current Drive for Cloningįirst, we need to do a little prep work on your current drive.ġ. #Free hard drive cloning software pc gamer fullSeparate external hard drive (optional). You might need this if you have large folders, such as photos and videos, that might not fit on your SSD, and also to create a full system backup at the start. ![]() Either way, the enclosure comes in handy not just for connecting the SSD for the cloning process, but also afterward to turn your current drive, once it’s replaced by the SSD, into an external one for backups and other storage. ![]() For this how-to, we used a StarTech SATA external hard drive enclosure, although there’s an updated USB 3.0 version you might prefer ($24 on Amazon). For most people, the 250GB drive should be fine, but the 500GB one offers more flexibility, for only a little more investment.Īn external enclosure or adapter to connect that SSD to your laptop. A 250GB Samsung SSD is currently about $89 on Amazon and a 500GB version is about $120. What You’ll NeedĪn SSD, of course. In addition to getting a drive with the right form factor and interface, you’ll want to get an SSD with at least enough room for the Windows partition and any system recovery partitions. Generally, 7mm, 2.5-inch SATA SSDs will fit even in the 9.5mm slots and some come with spacers for a tighter fit. Alternatively, you may be able to find this information by visiting Crucial’s Advisor Tool or looking at your current drive’s label: Open the access panel and look on the drive itself to see if it says 2.5-inch and SATA and what thickness you need. #Free hard drive cloning software pc gamer manualLaptops most widely use 2.5-inch SATA drives, but you should check your laptop manual or specifications to make sure you buy the right size SSD with the proper interface. Also, even 2.5-inch drives can have different thicknesses– 7 mm or 9.5 mm–and different interfaces (SATA or IDE, usually in laptops from 2008 or before). Most laptops have 2.5-inch drives, but ultraportable notebooks may use the 1.8-inch disk size. The other thing you’ll want to check before you go out and buy a replacement SSD is your drive’s form factor you need to make sure the drive will fit in the laptop.
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