2 Easy Ways to Transfer Disk Image to a New Hard Drive

Why to transfer disk image to a new hard drive?

Each computer has a hard drive installed in it, which is used to store files for the operating system, software programs, and a user’s personal files. Those files are not only indispensable for the computer to function properly but also of great importance for you. However, hard disk errors like hard drive error code 0142, hard disk error 301 happen now and then. How to ensure the safety of the crucial data on the hard drive?

Hard drive image transfer is the answer. After creating a disk image when the drive works fine, you can restore the disk image to another drive to retrieve all your data anytime you need. What’s more, you can transfer disk image by disk clone, creating an exact copy that you can swap in and boot up right away when serious problems occur. To make the image transfer process smooth and easy, you need powerful hard drive image software.

Best hard drive image software for Windows PC

AOMEI Backupper Standard is the best free hard drive image software you are looking for. To copy disk image to another drive, you can use the two functions below:

• Disk Restore: it requires you to backup the original disk and generate an image file first, because you can’t restore something that hasn’t been backed up before.

• Disk Clone: it copies all data from the source drive to the destination drive directly. You can use the destination drive without the restoration process.

If you transfer disk image to an SSD, the built-in SSD Alignment feature will make the destination drive 4K-aligned automatically, which greatly improves the reading/writing speed on the SSD. All Windows PC operating systems including Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP are supported. 

Just download AOMEI Backupper and learn how to transfer OS and data to a new hard drive in detail below. If you are a Server user, you may try AOMEI Backupper Server.

How to transfer disk image to an SSD easily

Preparations:
▶ Connect the target SSD to your computer and make sure it is detected.
▶ Backup the original disk in advance if you choose Method 1.
▶ Backup files on the destination SSD if you choose Method 2, because the target drive will be overwritten during the cloning process.

Method 1: Restore the disk image to the SSD

1. Install and run AOMEI Backupper. Click “Home” on the left pane, find the disk backup task, and select “Restore” from the expanded menu.

2. Select “Restore the entire disk”, click on the disk and click “Next”.

3. Select the SSD as the restoration destination and click “Next”.

4. Tick “SSD Alignment” to improve the performance of the target SSD. Confirm the operation and click “Start Restore”.

>> Edit Partitions: you can edit partitions on the destination SSD as per your need. It offers you three options: Copy without resizing partitions, Add unused space to all partitions, Manually adjust partition size.
>> Universal Restore: tick this option if you transfer the disk image to a new computer, thus ensuring the system is bootable after recovery. It is available in AOMEI Backupper Professional and higher editions.

Method 2: Clone HDD/SSD to new SSD directly

1. Launch SSD cloning freeware - AOMEI Backupper. Click “Clone” on the left pane and select “Disk Clone”.

Note: The Standard edition only supports cloning MBR disk to MBR disk if it contains OS. To clone a disk with OS installed from MBR to GPT, GPT to MBR or GPT to GPT, please try higher editions.

2. Select the current disk as the source disk and the SSD as the destination disk successively.

3. Tick “SSD Alignment”. Confirm the operation and click “Start Clone”.

>> Sector by sector clone: it will clone every sector on the source drive no matter it is used or not, which will take more time and occupy more storage space.

To sum up

AOMEI Backupper offers you two effective solutions to transfer disk image to a new hard drive. Besides, to protect the operating system or a specific partition, you can perform System Backup or Partition Backup via AOMEI Backupper. It allows you to create automatic backups to save you from repetitive work. Moreover, the Recovery Environment feature in higher versions enables you to restore your computer from a boot failure. Go for this tool right now!