How to Change Boot Drive on Windows 11/10 (Easy Guide)

What's A Boot Drive for Windows System

Generally speaking, a boot drive is a storage device that contains operating system required for a computer to start. Users can set to boot from a hard drive or SSD in your computer, as well as any device to locate the files necessary to start the computer, such as a floppy disc, a CD-ROM drive, a DVD drive, or a USB flash drive, etc. Most personal computers are configured to boot in the optical drive first and then the storage drive (HDD or SSD).

An operating system is pre-installed on the new Windows PC and users can boot successfully without changing any boot settings. Howerver, With the continuous use of PC, you may need to change the boot drive in the following 3 common situations:

• Upgrade boot drive to ssd for better performace and higher stability
• "The C drive is full and running out of disk space", and you want to change old boot drive to a larger one.
• if your old boot disk starts making clicking noise or any other indicators that signals the hard drive failing, you need to repalce with a new one in advance.

How to Change Boot Drive to Another SSD or HDD

If your are facing the problems to change the old boot drive to SSD or hdd on Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista, we can help. During this process, you'll need both your new drive and your old boot drive connected to your computer at the same time. The following is the full tutorial on how to change the boot drive without reinstalling OS in 2 Steps:

• 1. Install New SSD or HDD
• 2. Migrate OS from old boot drive to new SSD or hdd

Step 1: Install New SSD or HDD

You need to connect the new boot device to computer and make sure it can be recongnized by the computer before changing boot drive. To install the new drive the following devices are needed to be prepared in advanced:

• A new SSD or HDD (It should be big enough to fit the data stored on the old boot drive)
• A SATA cable
• A screwdriver

You can start to install the new ssd or hdd as following:

Unscrew and open the case cover from your PC > Plug the SSD or hdd into your system > Connect the SSD or hdd to a spare SATA connector on the motherboard with the SATA cable > Reassemble your PC and then the new drive is installed.

Step 2: Migrate Windows OS from old boot drive to new SSD or hdd

After installing the new drive, you can start to migrate Windows OS to the new drive in an easy and safe way with a prfessional disk clong software. Donemax Disk Clone for Windows is highly recommended for users to migrate Windows OS to new ssd or hdd without reinstalling Windows OS and programs. It works with any brand of hard drive and SSD.

To clone the boot drive to another ssd or hdd with Donemax Disk Clone for Windows:

• 1. Install Donemax Disk Clone for Windows on your PC and Launch the software.
• 2. Select Disk Clone. Select the boot drive as source to clone. Select the newly installed ssd or hdd as target disk.

• 5. Preview the disk layout of the cloned drive. You can keep the disk layout the same as the old boot disk or customize it to meet your need.

• 6. confirm Clone to start migrating the boot drive.

The system migration will take some time, please waite patiently. After the cloning process is completed, you need to set to boot from new ssd or hdd successfully.

How to Change Boot Order in BIOS or UEFI

After the new boot drive on Windows is prepared, you need to change the boot order in your System Configuration and set to boot from it by default. The system can be configured to boot in Legacy BIOS Boot Mode or UEFI Boot Mode. Here is the ways to change boot order by going to the BIOS Boot Mode or UEFI Boot Mode.

Change the boot order in the BIOS settings

• Turn on or restart the computer.
• Press and hold the function key (usually F2, F8, F12, or Del) to enter the BIOS settings When powering on.
• Switch to [Boot] tab with the arrow keys
• Set the new boot drive as the first boot item. To move the hard drive up, press the "+" key, or to move it down, press the "-" key.
• Press F10 to save your setting once the boot order is changed, and restart the computer.

Change the boot order in the UEFI firmware

• Turn on or restart the computer.
• Press and hold the function key (usually F2, F8, F12, or Del) to enter the BIOS settings When powering on.
• Select the [Boot] tab > [UEFI/BIOS Boot Mode] and press Enter.
• Set to UEFI if you are using GPT partition. If it is MBR disk, select Legacy.
• Move the hard drive up by pressing the "+" key to set the new boot drive as the first boot item. Or move it down by pressing the "-" key.
• Press F10 to save and restart the computer.

Conclusion

Changing the boot drive on Windows 11, 10, 8, or 7 is a straightforward process once you know how to navigate your PC's BIOS or UEFI settings. Whether you are upgrading from an older HDD to a high-speed NVMe SSD, migrating your operating system, or setting up a secondary drive, configuring the correct startup order in BIOS ensures your computer boots up smoothly every time.

To save time and prevent system boot failures or manual OS reinstallations, using a reliable tool like Donemax Disk Clone is the easiest route. It allows you to create an exact 1:1 replica of your system drive in just a few clicks—ensuring all your Windows files, apps, and boot partitions transfer seamlessly over to your new drive.

Donemax Disk Clone

An award-winning disk cloning program to help Windows users and Mac users clone HDD/SSD/external device. It also can create full bootable clone backup for Windows PCs and Macs.

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Change Boot Drive on Windows FAQs