FREE & EASY Way to Migrate Windows to Another Drive! (Tutorial)

 

If you're planning to migrate your operating system from one drive to another, whether it's from a hard drive or an SSD, this guide is for you. Today, I'll walk you through how I successfully migrated the Windows 11 operating system from a 480GB SSD to a 120GB SanDisk SSD.

I also have a video version of this guide if you're interested:

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Prepare Your Drives: 

Ensure both the original drive (in my case, a 480GB SSD) and the target drive (120GB SanDisk SSD) are connected to your computer.

2. Download Disk Genius:

- Open a browser and search for "Disk Genius."

- Visit the official website [diskgenius.com]

- Click on 'free download' to download the installation file.

3. Install Disk Genius:

- Locate the downloaded file in your downloads folder and double-click to run the setup.

- Follow the simple installation process, selecting your preferred language and proceeding through the setup screens.

- Once installed, uncheck any start-up options and launch Disk Genius.

4. Start the Migration Process:

- In Disk Genius, you'll see all connected drives. Locate your current operating system drive (usually C:) which is my 480GB SSD.

- Navigate to 'Tools' > 'System Migration.'

- Select the system partition (your current OS installed drive) and confirm.

- Choose the target disk (120GB SanDisk SSD in my case) for the OS migration and confirm. You will be warned that the target disk will be formatted and all data will be deleted. Click 'OK' to proceed.

5. Configure Migration Settings:

- You may adjust the partition sizes on the target disk if necessary.

- Ensure the option 'when finished change computer boot sequence' is checked. This will set your computer to boot from the new drive after migration.

6. Select Migration Type:

- Disk Genius offers two types of migration: hot migration and migration via reboot to the Windows PE environment.

- Hot Migration: Performs the cloning while Windows is still running. Recommended by Disk Genius. (Make sure all other programs are closed on the computer before using Hot Migration)

- Windows PE Environment: For a more reliable & safe cloning process, especially if hot migration doesn’t work. Requires a reboot and uses the Windows PE environment for cloning.

7. Execute the Migration:

- For this demonstration, I’ll select hot migration as suggested by Disk Genius. Click 'start' and proceed with the on-screen prompts to format the target disk.

- Once the process is complete, you'll be prompted to restart your computer. Click 'yes' to reboot.

8. Verify the Migration:

- After restarting, your computer should boot from the new drive. Open 'File Explorer' and navigate to 'This PC' to check if the C drive is now operating from the target disk (SanDisk 120GB SSD in my case).

- You should see your operating system successfully migrated and running from the new SSD.

If Migration Fails:

If the hot migration doesn’t succeed, you can retry the process using the Windows PE environment:

- Repeat the steps above but select 'reboot to Win PE' when choosing the migration type. Your PC will reboot into the Disk Genius Windows PE environment and automatically start the migration.

- Once complete, your PC will reboot again and should start from the target drive.

Conclusion:

Disk Genius is a powerful tool for migrating your operating system to a different drive, providing both flexibility and ease of use. If you found this guide helpful, please give the video a like, and don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions. 

Talk soon!

Memory