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How to Clone HDD to mSATA SSD in Windows 11/10/8/7 Easily
What is mSATA SSD? Why would people want to clone HDD to mSATA SSD? Get answers from this page, and extra step-by-step tutorial of cloning to mSATA SSD is provided.
By Delia Updated on December 17, 2024
“I have recently bought a 250GB mSata evo 850 SSD for my laptop. I am just wondering how I can migrate my data from the HDD to the SSD. How do I put the OS on the SSD and can I choose which programs go to the SSD. For example, I only want SOME games to go on my SSD from my steam folder. Is this possible?”
– OliTheMLGPRO
Many users have the same doubt, but don't worry, if you also want to replace your HDD with mSATA SSD and keep all the OS and data files intact, the easiest way is cloning HDD to mSATA SSD using data migration software. I will illustrate how to do it in the following article.
How to clone disk to mSATA SSD
To make it clear, you cannot “clone” anything with the help of a Windows tool, backup utility, or Disk Management. Thus, choosing one third-party software is unavoidable. But you need to consider a few things before you choose one.
- First of all, this software should support aligning partitions to optimize SSD, so that you can make the most of themSATA SSD.
- Second, it should provide options for you to choose whether to clone every sector on the HDD or not. Your mSATA SSD may be smaller than HDD, in that case, you have to clone only the used part instead of cloning the entire disk.
For this case, AOMEI Backupper Professional would be recommended, the powerful cloning software, takes care of all of that.
AOMEI Backupper-
Cloning Only the Used Part: The software typically clones only the used sectors of the source drive, ensuring that clones a larger drive to a smaller drive, as long as the used data fits within the capacity of the target drive.
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Sector-by-Sector Clone: It copies every single sector, including unused areas, ensuring that the destination drive is a replica of the source, preserving all data, partitions, and boot sectors in the same structure.
Aligning Partitions: To improve the performance and longevity of your SSD, you can align the partitions during the cloning process. Proper partition alignment ensures that data is written to the SSD in optimal blocks.
100% Secure*Clone features in the free trial can only be demonstrated. Please upgrade for full functionality.
Download this software and follow the steps below to clone the disk to the mSATA drive now.
Steps to Clone HDD to mSATA with AOMEI Backupper
Backup files that matter a lot in case you lose it by inappropriate operations. Connect mSATA SSD with your computer via SATA to USB cable or SATA case.
Step 1. Install and start SSD cloning software - AOMEI Backupper. Click Clone, and select Disk Clone.
✎Note: AOMEI Backupper supports cloning data disks and system disks of all brands and partition styles, such as cloning MBR to MBR/MBR to GPT or GPT to GPT/GPT to MBR directly. But you still need to ensure the partition style of the target disk is compatible with your boot mode (MBR for legacy BIOS and GPT for UEFI).
Step 2. Select HDD as the source disk.
Step 3. Select mSATA SSD as the destination path.
Step 4. Check Align partition to optimize for SSD box, and click Start Clone.
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If you need to clone every aspect of the old HDD, make sure to check the Sector By Sector Clone box.
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You are allowed to fit all partitions to the entire disk by clicking Edit partitions on the destination disk.
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If you cannot boot from the cloned SSD, try changing the boot sequence in BIOS or disconnecting the HDD and boot again.
Learn more to make the process smoother
About mSATA SSD
SATA stands for "mini-SATA," which refers to a small form factor of solid-state drives (SSDs).mSATA SSDs support data transfer rates of 1.5 GB/s and 3.0 GB/s for high performance while enabling compact integration with a physical connector different from standard SATA drives.
Now mSATA SSDs, Crucial MX200, and Crucial M550/M4 are available from a variety of manufacturers, including Toshiba, Samsung, HP, Intel, SanDisk, and Dell.
💡As technology advances, the mSATA form factor is being gradually phased out in favor of the M.2 form factor, which offers even smaller sizes and faster data transfer rates. Therefore, you may also consider cloning mSATA to M.2 SSD or cloning SATA to NVMe.
Why clone HDD to mSATA SSD
Cloning HDD to SSD has several advantages due to the merits of SSD compared to traditional hard drives. The most significant improvements of cloning HDD to mSATA SSD are as below:
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Faster performance: SSDs have much faster read and write speeds compared to traditional HDDs.This means that data access and transfer will be much quicker, resulting in reduced load times for applications and faster file transfers.
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Reduced Boot Times: SSDs can drastically reduce the time it takes for your operating system to boot up. This can be especially noticeable if you're upgrading from an older HDD.
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Space and Form Factor: mSATA SSDs are compact and designed for smaller form factors, which can be advantageous if you're working with a laptop or other device with limited space for storage.
On top of that, as is usually the case with SSDs, mSATA SSDs are more durable, quieter, and consume less power. But whichever reason you want to upgrade your HDD to mSATA, a handy cloning tool like AOMEI Backupper Professional is what you need.
Summary
Clone HDD to mSATA SSD is as easy as clone HDD to other brands of SSD. If your mSATA SSD is larger than HDD, then you are likely to get unallocated space after cloning. Make sure to make good use of it.
AOMEI Backupper can clone SSD to SSD. It is also all-around Backup & Restore software that allows you to backup the system and restore the system, backup/restore disk, backup/restore partition, and synchronize files. Command line clone takes up less PC RAM and allows you to perform unattended tasks.
For advanced users, AOMEI Backupper Professional and AOMEI Backupper Server are better choices. Both of them support command line backup, restore, and clone. The second one is a dedicated backup solution for Server users.
