How to Clone GPT Disk to SSD or MBR Safely in Windows 10

Overview of  GPT disk

GPT (GUID Partition Table) is a new standard to store the partition information on a physical computer storage device, such as, a hard drive or solid-state drive, which provides a more flexible disk partitioning mechanism. And because of the information in it, the operating system knows which sectors belong to each partition and which partition is bootable. 

Besides, there is an older partition scheme, it's MBR disk, which does the same thing as the GPT disk. But there are differences between both disk.

Differences between GPT and MBR:

Boot modes: GPT boot from UEFI while MBR from Legacy BIOS firmware.  

Partition numbers: GPT disk allows you to create 128 primary partitions while MBR disks only sup[ports 4 primary partitions or 3 primary partitions and 1 extended partition.

Disk capacity: The maximum hard drive size of a GPT disk is more than 9 ZB (Zettabytes) while the MBR disk only has a 2TB maximum size.

Processor: GPT disk can only be installed on 64 bits systems while MBR disk supports both 32-bit and 64-bit.

Can I clone a GPT disk as an MBR?

Like MBR disk, you may need to clone GPT disk in some situations, for example, the original disk is fulfilled with programs and data, so your computer is slow to respond and it requires more addressing time. However, since they are different partition schemes, I was wondering if I can clone a GPT disk as an MBR?

The answer is both Yes and No. Whether you clone MBR or GPT disk, you all need disk cloning software. If the target disk is a GPT disk (HDD or SSD), you just need to be sure it has the same or larger capacity. If not, you can choose to delete some unnecessary files, uninstalled useless programs, or use software that supports cloning only used sectors. 

If the target disk is MBR, it becomes more difficult. You need to convert the MBR to GPT, since MBR and GPT disk uses different boot mode. And in this process, it requires you to delete all the data on the target disk if you use the built-in Disk Management. Besides, you can only clone 4 primary partitions to MBR disk, which may result in data loss or boot failure, depending on the partition types or boot files like winload.efi missing.

Best software to clone GPT disk in Windows 10 

Since Windows itself does not have a disk cloning feature, how can you clone a GPT HDD to SSD or MBR? Try  AOMEI Backupper Professional, it's powerful, compatible and easy to use disk cloning software and capable of cloning HDD/SSD or MBR/GPT of different brands or interfaces, etc. And you can enjoy the following features during the process:

Intelligent Clone:  It clones only used sectors of selected partition or disk, and because of this, you can easily clone a GPT disk to a smaller SSD.

Convert the destination disk from MBR to GPT: It allows you to convert the disk partition style if the target disk is an MBR. After converting, both disks are GPT and you can boot from it successfully after cloning. 

Edit Partitions: It is to adjust partition size on the destination disk manually or automatically, especially useful for larger drive. 

SSD Alignment: It is able to further improve the reading and writing speed for SSD as well as prolong its lifespan.

To get started, please download and install the free trial. For server users, try AOMEI Backupper Server. 

How to clone GPT HDD to SSD or MBR in Windows 10 safely 

Before cloning, you need to make some preparations in the following:

• Backup all your important data before cloning. The target SSD or MBR will be overwritten after cloning and all of the data on it will be deleted as well. 
• Prepare a connector for cloning, depending on disk interface, such as, SATA, NVMe, PCIe, M.2 etc.
• Free up disk space if the target disk is a smaller SSD.

Step 1. Connect via SATA-to-USB cable or install the SSD to your machine. Then, Open AOMEI Backupper Professional, click Clone and select Disk Clone.

Step 2. Select the UEFI GPT disk you want to clone as the source disk and then click Next.

Step 3. Click on the destination disk (GPT or MBR SSD) and Next.

Step 4. Check SSD Alignment to improve SSD performance. Optionally, click Edit Partitions to resize partition and convert the partition disk type on the destination disk. Then, click Start Clone to clone GPT HDD to SSD or MBR.

The cloning method is the most effective hard drive upgrade method. However, you cannot use it to migrate Windows 10 from one computer to another, since most computers have different hardware.

In this case, it's suggested to create disk backup in Windows 10 and then restore image to new computer. Please be sure the Universal Restore feature is checked, otherwise the restore process will fail.

For multiple computers, try image deployment software in AOMEI Backupper Technician or TechPlus edition. It not only allows yous to deploy system image to multiple computers, but also use it on unlimited PCs or servers without installing. And it offers billable service to unlimited clients.

Tips on how to boot from cloned SSD:

After cloning, please reboot your computer, tap a specific key (Del or F2) during the boot-up process to enter the BIOS and set boot priority for SSD disk. 

Besides, if your target SSD is still MBR after cloning, please change boot mode as well. In the Boot mode, find Legacy/UEFI boot option, disable UEFI and enable Legacy, then press F10 to save changes and restart your computer.

If your computer is not bootable, learn more in this article:  make cloned drive bootable in Windows 10.

Summary

You can easily clone GPT disk in Windows 10 with the help of the best disk cloning software - AOMEI Backupper Professional. Although GPT disks and MBR disks has some differences, this software can take care of them.

For example, it allows you to convert the destination disk from MBR disk to GPT, so you don't need to worry about boot failure due to different disk partition tyles. In a simple word, it's worth trying software you want a safer way to upgrade hard drive!