The Best Way for Samsung Data Migration to Clone OS Only

User Case

“Hello, I bought Samsung EVO 250GB to install my OS on and I found Samsung Data Migration software. I'd like to ask whether does this just migrate my data or will it migrate my OS with no problems and boot up as the old HDD would? Is possible the Samsung Data Migration clone OS only? Also if I have to change something in BIOS like the main boot order? Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.”

The Samsung Data Migration transfers all existing files and programs including the operating system from an existing HDD or SSD to a new Samsung SSD. This software can’t clone OS only, but the whole disk. It'll automatically clone the first two partitions of the source disk, that is, the partition containing the operating system and the neighboring partition. After cloning, you should change the boot drive as the new Samsung SSD so that you can boot your computer from it.

Why Do People Want Samsung Data Migration OS Only?

Why do people want to clone their systems to SSD only? We have summarized the following reasons for you.

• Improve boot speed: SSDs have a faster boot speed. When you clone your operating system to an SSD and boot from it, you will be able to boot your system as fast as possible.
• Save drive space: Typically, SSDs have much less storage space than HDDs. When your SSD is much smaller than the old HDD, you can migrate only your operating system to the SSD, which will save lots of space on the SSD.
• Combine SSD and HDD: To fully utilize the advantages of SSD and HDD, many people will use the SSD as the boot drive and the HDD as the data storage device, which improves performance and allocates the disk storage space wisely.

How to Use Samsung Data Migration Tool to Clone OS

Samsung Data Migration is an application that allows you to transfer files and folders from old HDD to Samsung SSD. It can migrate operating system to new SSD such as Samsung 850 EVO SSD, Samsung 840 Pro SSD, etc. After cloning, you can boot your computer from the SSD. You can follow the steps below to clone your system to Samsung SSD.

Preparations:

• Connect Samsung SSD using the USB-to-SATA cable and ensure the SSD can be organized.
• Backup important files in advance, because the data on the destination disk will be wiped during the cloning process. And Samsung Data Migration doesn’t support backup features, so remember to make a backup using other software.
• Download Samsung Data Migration from its official website.

When you finish the preparation work, you can start using Samsung OS migration tool to clone system drive to your Samsung SSD.

Step 1. Open Samsung Data Migration and click Start.

Step 2. Select the source disk containing the OS and the target Samsung SSD, then click Start.

Step 3. Click Quite to exit the software.

Something Else You Should Know About Samsung Data Migration

In general, if your target disk is a Samsung SSD, this software can basically satisfy your need to clone your system to a new disk. But please pay attention to it doesn’t allow you to freely select which data partitions to clone and does not support cloning the OS separately.

And many users will encounter the situation  Samsung Data Migration Software cloning failed when using it. The most common situations that lead to cloning failure are below.

• The source disk has bad sectors.
• You don’t suspend all your computer activities during the cloning process.
• The source disk is converted into a dynamic disk.
• The source drive is encrypted with BitLocker or other encryption software.
• you choose a Samsung NVMe SSD as the target disk without installing the Samsung NVMe Driver.

The Best Way to Clone OS Only to Samsung SSD

To avoid Samsung Data Migration not working, you can choose a professional and reliable third-party cloning software. AOMEI Backupper Professional is your best choice. It supports multiple cloning types, namely, System Clone, Disk Clone, and Partition Clone. The System Clone can help you to clone only the operating system to the Samsung SSD easily. Besides, it has the following advantages.

✪ Secure Boot: You can securely boot the system from the cloned disk after cloning.
✪ Intelligent Clone: This feature will only clone the used sectors by default. If it has bad sectors, the software will skip them automatically.
✪ Live Clone: It supports the clone tasks in the background, so you don’t need to suspend your computer activities while cloning.
✪ Clone dynamic and encrypted disk: You can use AOMEI Backupper to clone dynamic disk and Bitlocker encrypted disk easily.
✪ SSD Alignment: This feature can help you to accelerate the reading and writing speed of the target SSD.
✪ Different SSD types and brands: It supports different SSD types such as SATA, M.2, PCI-E, etc, and many SSD brands like Samsung, Crucial, Intel, WD, etc.

You can follow the steps below to clone OS only to your Samsung SSD easily.

Preparations:

• Connect Samsung SSD and make sure the SSD can be detected.
• You can use AOMEI Backupper to backup important files before cloning, because your data on destination disk will be erased during cloning.
• Download AOMEI Backupper Professional and install it.

Step 1. Open AOMEI Backupper Professional. Select Clone > System Clone.

Step 2. Since the source drive is selected by default, you just need to choose the Samsung SSD as the destination disk.

Step 3. Tick SSD Alignment to make the reading and writing speed faster. Confirm your operations and click Start Clone.

Notes:

• Sector by sector clone: If your target disk is the same as or larger than the source disk, you can choose this option. It will clone all sectors whether used or not.
• If you are a Windows server user, you can turn to the AOMEI Backupper Server to enjoy the feature.

FAQs about Samsung Data Migration OS Only

1. How long does Samsung data migration take?

Some migrations can take up to three hours, although the average time to migrate is 30 minutes. While a migration is in progress, you're free to close the tab and carry on with whatever you need to do; the migration will complete independently.

2. Does Samsung Data Migration Work with other?

This software only supports cloning to Samsung SSD, so it can’t work with other SSD brand. When you find Samsung Data Migration not working on non Samsung SSD, you can turn to the best free alternative—AOMEI Backupper. It can clone to HDDs or SSDs of nearly all common makes, and it supports both system disk and non-system disk as the source drive.

3. Should I use Samsung Data Migration?

If you are a Samsung user, the answer is totally yes. Samsung Data Migration is a practical tool for those who have Samsung SSDs and wish to quickly create a backup of their operating system by cloning the OS drive to an external disk.

Summary

Samsung Data Migration can help you when you need to clone OS to Samsung SSD, however, it can't clone only the system to the target disk but the whole disk. And you may encounter cloning failure for various reasons we have mentioned above.

Thus, the popular cloning software - AOMEI Backupper Professional is a better choice. It can successfully solve all the problems mentioned before. More importantly, you can boot the disk directly after cloning. Besides, it also supports clone GPT to GPT, clone MBR to GPT or vice versa.