(By the way, SSDs should not be defragmented. Physically connect the SSD. Place the SSD in the enclosure or connect it to the USB-to-SATA adapter, and then connect it to your laptop with the USB cable. Now we'll get the SSD set up for the cloning process.ġ. Make one last uncluttering sweep with freeware CCleaner, which deletes old temp files and other space hogs, or at the very least run Windows' disk cleanup (in Windows search - look for 'disk cleanup,' then choose 'Free up disk space on this PC'). Clean up your drive for additional space. This is also the time to uninstall programs you aren't using anymore and delete unnecessary files that you don't want carried over to your SSD. 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. Create 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). MORE: 12 Dumbest PC Default Settings (and How to Change Them) Prepare Your Current Drive for Cloningįirst we need to do a little prep work on your current drive.ġ. 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. 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.

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