Upgrade Your Windows 10 Boot Drive with an SSD
Some Things to Consider Before You Start
Prepare Your SSD
Clone Your Current Drive
And a quick heads-up: you can also use Windows’ built-in Backup and Restore feature, but if you prefer command-line tools, get comfortable with diskpart for disk setup. Usually, you won’t need to do this for cloning, but here’s an example of the steps involved:
diskpart
list disk
select disk X
clean
convert gpt
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick
assign
exitInstall the SSD into Your PC
Once cloning’s done, it’s time to physically install your shiny new SSD. Turn off your PC and open the case – this part can make the nerves kick in. Ensure it fits snugly into its slot and take care to prevent static shocks. Remember to disconnect the power supply before handling hardware. After everything’s connected securely, close up the case, and you’re ready to go.
Boot from the SSD – Time to Enter BIOS/UEFI
Reboot your PC and immediately press the key to enter BIOS or UEFI (this is usually F2, F12, Delete, or Esc at startup). Head over to the Boot Order menu – this is where you tell your system which drive to start from first.
You want your new SSD at the top of that list. It might be recognised as “Samsung SSD” or something similar. If you’ve gone the NVMe route, ensure UEFI mode is enabled and configured correctly, or your PC may not recognise it properly.
Reboot and Check – Let’s Make Sure It Works!
Save your changes and restart your PC. If all went well, Windows 10 should now boot from your SSD. Notice the speed? Everything should open faster and run smoother.
Once Windows is loaded, open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and head to the Performance tab. If you see your SSD listed there, you’re all set. For a quick tech check, you can run wmic diskdrive get model, deviceID, serialNumber /format:csv in Command Prompt to confirm details.
If everything looks good, consider running Defragment and Optimize Drives to optimise your SSD. Plus, you can verify TRIM support by entering fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify — a response of DisableDeleteNotify = 0 indicates TRIM is active, which helps your SSD last longer.
And there you have it! Enjoy the speed boost of your upgraded system.