What is NVMe?
NVMe is the abbreviation for Non Volatile Memory express, which is a new interface standard compared to solid-state drives (SSDs) with SATA interfaces. It was introduced in 2011 and now has an M.2 interface that supports NVME disks built-in in many computers. Due to its high performance and low latency, many users hope to clone their bootable hard drives to NVMe SSDs to improve their computer performance.
This article will demonstrate how to clone the Windows 10 operating system to an NVMe SSD, as Microsoft has optimized Windows to fully utilize this new technology, booting Windows 10 from an NVMe SSD is very fast. NVMe is not limited to Windows 10, and you can also choose to use NVMe SSDs on Windows 7, 8, 8.1, as well as Windows Server 2008 (R2), 2012, 2012 (R2), and 2016
All system theories support it. All system theories, such as Windows, are supported. Newer systems such as Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 have built-in NVMe drivers, but if you want to use NVMe disks in Windows 7 or other older OS, you need to first download the NVMe driver from the SSD manufacturer.
Requirements for booting the system from NVMe SSD
If you want to use NVMe SSD as a boot disk, you need to check that your computer meets the following requirements:
At least one M.2 PCI-E x4 slot.
UEFI firmware
UEFI boot mode. If your computer is booted in traditional boot mode (MBR disk) but supports UEFI boot, it is recommended to use the Aomei Partition Assistant to convert it to GPT and change the boot mode to UEFI mode in BIOS.
Professional and free NVMe SSD cloning software
When cloning HDDs to NVMe SSDs, choosing the correct expert hard disk cloning software will save a lot of time and effort. We recommend using Aomei for easy backup, as it has a range of excellent features that allow for a smooth inspection process without compromising SSD performance.
As long as the new SSD capacity is greater than the amount of space to be cloned, Aomei Easy Backup can help you clone larger HDDs to smaller SSDs. If you want to migrate the operating system to NVMe SSD, you can use the “System Clone” feature.
Aomei Easy Backup can easily clone from MBR system disks to GPT disks. The NVMe hard drive operates in UEFI boot mode, so if you want to boot a computer using NVMe SSD, it needs to be initialized in GPT partition style. If the current system disk is located in the MBR partition structure, Aomei Easy Backup will clone the hard disk and check that the SSD can still boot.
Aomei Easy Backup also has multiple powerful backup and restore functions, which can be used as a backup manager. When you want to clone SSDs to NVMe SSDs, they are convenient, but your computer only has one M.2 slot (for booting PCs). Aomei Easy Backup can help you backup the original SSD to an external hard drive (via USB connection), and then restore the system to the new NVMe hard drive by creating Aomei Easy Backup that can start USB.
How to clone Windows 10 to an NVMe hard drive?
You can still use your computer normally during the cloning process in the background of Windows. You should remember that during the cloning process, all data on the NVMe SSD will be deleted – therefore, you should first back up all important data. You can migrate Windows 10 to NVMe SSD by following these steps
Step 1. Connect the NVMe SSD to the M.2 PCI-E x4 slot and start the computer.
Step 2. Click here to download the Aomei Easy Backup software, install and run it. Click on “Disk Clone” under the “Clone” tab.
Step 3. Click on the current boot hard drive to select it as the source disk, and then select NVMe SSD as the target disk.
Step 4. Select the “SSD Alignment” option, which will resolve any SSD alignment issues you may encounter, and then click “Start Cloning” to begin the process.
Check the SSD alignment option
After the process is completed, restart the computer, enter BIOS, and set the NVMe hard drive as the boot device – now you will be able to enjoy the fast and high performance it provides! If you don’t want to clone a hard drive in Windows, you can create a bootable USB to clone the operating system to an NVMe SSD without executing it in Window.
If you want to upgrade your Windows 10 disk to an NVME disk, then Easy Backup is a professional cloning software.
