Apricorn SSD Cloning Software: Full Guide & Best Alternative

What is Apricorn EZ Upgrade?

Apricorn EZ Upgrade is a hard drive upgrade kit. It enables you to transfer everything you need from the old hard drive in your notebook to a new SATA hard drive or SSD. You are allowed to transfer all files, e-mail, settings, applications and the operating system, whether you have a Windows or Mac operating system. Apricorn EZ Upgrade 3.0 contains:

• EZ Upgrade Enclosure for SATA Hard Drives or SSDs
• USB 3.0 Cable for Data and Power (Backwards Compatible with USB 2.0)
• Upgrade Suite CD: Apricorn EZ Gig IV with Data Select and ShirtPocket SuperDuper! Lite
• Quick Start Guide

👉 How to use Apricorn SSD cloning software step by step
👉 Limitations of using Apricorn EZ Upgrade
👉 Best alternative to Apricorn cloning kit🔥

How to use Apricorn SSD cloning software step by step

If you want to upgrade your laptop hard drive to SSD with Apricorn EZ Upgrade, follow the steps below:

Preparations

• Install the new SSD into the EZ Upgrade enclosure. Then, connect the enclose with your notebook using the USB 3.0 cable.
• Insert the Upgrade Suite CD into the disc drive on your notebook. Make sure the CD is placed with label-side up. You may need an external disc drive if your notebook doesn’t have one.
• Attach the AC adapter to your laptop to ensure there is enough power during cloning.
• Backup files on the destination SSD if it is not empty.

Steps to clone your hard drive with EZ Gig

To make your laptop work better after cloning, it is suggested to:

• Run the CHKDSK command to clean up any file-system errors on your internal hard drive.
• Defragment your old hard drive using the Windows Disk Defragment Utility.

Then, use the instructions below to clone your laptop hard drive to SATA SSD:

1. Double click the EXE file of EZ Gig. On the Startup Options page, click Start EZ Gig IV.
2. When EZ Gig IV loads up, click Let’s Get Started. EZ Gig will then scan for connected drives. This may take a few moments.

3. Select the original hard drive on your laptop as the source drive and click Next.

Note: Your computer’s internal drive will usually be denoted by the prefix AHCI or IDE.

4. Select the SSD connected through the EZ Upgrade enclosure as the destination drive and click Next.

Note: Your external drive will be denoted by the prefix USB.

5. EZ Gig will ask you to verify that the chosen drives are correct. After confirmation, click Next > Start Clone to start Apricorn SSD clone.

Other clone options you may need

👉 Data Select: it can help you deselect files from the cloning process. If the destination drive is smaller than the source drive, EZ Gig will prompt you to use the Data Select feature.

👉 Advanced Options: you can choose to verify copy, copy free areas, and resize partitions on the destination drive, etc.

After cloning

Once the transfer is complete, you can boot your laptop from the new hard drive:

1. Turn off the laptop, disconnect its AC adapter, and remove the battery to reduce the risk of damage or electrical shock.
2. Remove the original drive and replace it with the new one. If the laptop drive is mounted inside a caddy, install the new drive into the caddy and then insert the assembled caddy back into the computer.
3. Put back the battery and turn on your laptop. The new hard drive should boot up as though it was the old drive.

When you are certain that your new hard drive is working properly, you can use the EZ Upgrade enclosure as an external USB backup drive. Here is the guide:

1. Install the old hard drive into the EZ Upgrade Universal.
2. Connect the EZ Upgrade to your system.
3. Reformat the old hard drive and use it as a backup drive or a secondary storage drive.

Limitations of using Apricorn EZ Upgrade

Although EZ Upgrade is a good assistant to upgrade your laptop hard drive, it has some limitations that cannot be ignored:

• EZ Upgrade 3.0 is only compatible with SATA HDDs or SSDs.
• The destination drive must be connected through the EZ Upgrade enclosure, or you’ll encounter the EZ Gig IV not recognizing drive issue.
• You need a disc drive to run the Upgrade Suite CD.
• EZ Gig IV clone failed sometimes.
• …

Best alternative to Apricorn cloning kit

If Apricorn cloning kit disappoints you, you can turn to another tool to help you upgrade HDD to SSD. AOMEI Backupper Professional can be the best alternative to Apricorn cloning kit.

• It allows you to clone all sorts of storage devices, including HDDs, SSDs, USB sticks, SD cards and CompactFlash cards, etc.
• It supports different disk interfaces, like IDE, SATA, SCSI, and SAS.
• You can choose to clone an entire disk or clone only OS.
• The default “Intelligent Clone” method makes it possible to clone a larger drive to a smaller drive.
• The cloning process will run in the background thanks to the “Hot Clone” technology.

Download AOMEI Backupper and learn how to upgrade laptop hard drive to an SSD as follows.

Step 1. Connect the SSD to your laptop via an adapter or enclosure. If it contains any important data, backup it now.

Step 2. Install and open AOMEI Backupper. Then click Clone and Disk Clone.

Step 3. Select the laptop hard drive as Source Disk and the new SSD as Destination Disk in order.

Step 4. Remember to check SSD Alignment to accelerate the read/write speed of your SSD. Then click Start Clone to launch the cloning process.

>> Edit Partitions: you can adjust partition size on the destination disk automatically or manually.
>> Sector By Sector Clone: it clones both the used and unused space on the source disk. Make sure the destination disk has at least the same capacity as the source disk if you’d like to use this option.

Step 5. Replace laptop hard drive with the cloned SSD to make your laptop boot from the new drive. Your laptop should boot successfully. If not, refer to cloned SSD won’t boot for quick fixes.

Conclusion

To upgrade your laptop hard drive to SSD without reinstalling OS, both Apricorn SSD cloning software and AOMEI Backupper can give you a hand. However, EZ Upgrade 3.0 only supports SATA HDDs/SSDs and you need a disc drive to run the Upgrade Suite CD.

If you want to clone HDD to M.2 SSD/NVMe SSD, or there isn’t a disc drive built into your laptop, you can perform SSD clone via AOMEI Backupper. Besides, AOMEI Backupper is powerful backup software that enables you to backup Windows 10 to NAS, backup external hard drive, etc. Why not try it out by yourself?