Question from Mike: Hi, Rick. I need some advice on the best way to clone a hard drive to a larger SSD.
I was able to get the 2TB Samsung SSD installed inside my computer but I don’t know how to clone the contents of the 1TB hard drive onto it and still use all the available space on the new drive.
Can you give me some simple instructions? Thanks.
Rick’s answer: Mike, since you already have the SSD installed in your PC, you’re off to a great start!
The most efficient method to clone a 1TB hard drive to a 2TB Samsung SSD, with both drives already installed in the system, is to use a reliable disk clone software such as AOMEI Cloner.
AOMEI Cloner enables you to clone everything from the old hard drive to the new drive, including the operating system, applications, and personal files. It offers the SSD Alignment feature to help improve the reading and writing speed of the target SSD. What’s more, you can edit partition size on the target disk to avoid unallocated space left after cloning to a larger drive.
Note: Please refer to how to clone hard drive to SSD via powerful cloning software below:
Step 1 – Download AOMEI Cloner from the official website. Install and launch it.
Step 2 – Click “Clone” in the left-hand menu, and then select “Disk Clone”.
Step 3 – Choose the 1TB hard drive you want to clone. Click Next.
Step 4 – Choose the 2TB Samsung SSD as the target. Click Next.
⚠️ Note: The target disk will be overwritten. Ensure you’ve backed up any important data.
Step 5 – Click “Edit Partitions” and choose “Add unused space to all partitions” or “Manually adjust partition size”. This ensures the full 2TB is usable after cloning.
Step 6 – Be sure to check “SSD Alignment”—it helps your SSD run faster and last longer. Finally, click “Start Clone” to begin copying everything from the old hard drive to Samsung SSD.
Step 7 – When cloning finishes, set the Samsung SSD as boot drive.
Step 8 – Shut down the PC.
Step 9 – Remove the old 1TB drive (optional but recommended) or keep both drives installed and enter BIOS → Boot Order.
Step 10 – Set the Samsung SSD as the first boot device.
Step 11 – Boot into Windows to confirm everything works normally.
You’re done! The greatest part is that AOMEI Cloner supports all branded SSDs – not only Samsung SSDs, but also Kingston/Crucial/WD SSD, etc. So you can use it to clone HDD to SSD of different brands.
I hope this makes things easier for you, Mike. Good luck!