I see a lot of advice being given which I think is out-dated. So I have made this simple guide to help some of you out. There are many ways to migrate data. This is simply the method I prefer. I find it to be very simplistic and ultra-reliable. My usage is on Windows 7 but I am sure that the programs I utilize have Windows 10 variants, so your results should be identical. To migrate your data without any hiccups you will need 6 items. These are: 3 USB sticks 3 free programs available on the web. The free programs are: Rufus Parted Magic AOEMI Backupper (NOTE: If your SSD is brand new, then all you need is (2) USB sticks and AOMEI Backupper ! You can skip Step 3 and Step 6. However, if you tried an installation and failed, or if you have other partitions or data on the SSD, then I recommend following all steps and using all 3 programs.) As I said, there are alternatives to each program but these are the ones I prefer. 1.) Download the programs. On the OS that you want to save, install AOEMI Backupper. 2.) Open AOEMI Backupper and choose the option to make a bootable USB drive. Follow the instructions. > You now have a bootable USB for AOEMI Backupper. Get some tape and label it. Rufus is also used to make bootable USBs. 3.) Install Rufus. (There is a portable version of Rufus as well.) Open Rufus and and use it to make a bootable USB for Parted Magic. (Simply insert one of the USB sticks, run Rufus, and browse to the Parted Magic iso which you downloaded.) > You now have a bootable USB for Parted Magic. Get some tape and label it. 4.) You now need to make an image of the OS you want to migrate. Open the AOMEI program that you installed on your OS. The program is simple and intuitive. Create an image of the OS. Save this image to its own USB stick. > You now have a backup image of your OS. Get some tape and label it. 5.) Install your new SSD. If your SSD is virgin new, then skip Step 6 and go to Step 7. However, if your SSD has data on it, then erase that fully with Parted Magic first. == CLEANING AN SSD WITH PARTED MAGIC == 6A.) Insert the Parted Magic USB stick. 6B.) Turn on the computer and Go into the BIOS. (repeatedly tap DEL, or F12, or whatever your motherboard manufacturer recommends...just go find out). 6C.) Go to the "Boot" Menu and select as your first boot drive the Parted Magic USB drive. (It may have been re-named but you can identify it easily by its size.) 6D.) Save those changes and re-boot. Now the Parted Magic desktop is running. 6E.) Run the default 64-bit option (Option #2) if your computer is 64-bit. 6F.) Choose the "Erase Disk" program and run it. It will reset your SSD at the firmware level and erase absolutely everything. That's it! It takes all of 5 seconds at most. Turn off the PC and remove the Parted Magic USB drive. ==RESTORING THE OS WITH AOEMI == 7A.) Insert the AOEMI Backupper USB. 7B.) Also insert the USB that contains your backed up OS image. 7C.) Turn on the computer and Go into the BIOS. (repeatedly tap DEL, or F12, or whatever your motherboard manufacturer recommends...just go find out). 7D.) Go to the "Boot" Menu and select as your first boot drive the AOEMI Backupper USB drive. (It may have been re-named but you can identify it easily by its size.) 7E.) Save those changes and re-boot. Now AOEMI Backupper is running. 8.) Use AOEMI Backupper to restore your backed up OS. Just use all the AOEMI defaults. For the destination, select your new SSD drive. When it's done, turn the computer off, remove both USB sticks, then go inot the BIOS and make sure your SSD is the main boot drive again. Enjoy your OS on your new SSD! NOTES: 1.) I've been doing this process since the very first release of Norton Ghost, and I've tried just about every program out there, and I can tell that these 3 programs in combination make for the most simplistic and reliable methodology that I have ever used. 2.) AOMEI does not have to be installed on the target OS, per se, as long as you have the bootable USB disk. The target OS can be backed up from the boot environment instead. I find it easier to install the program for making the bootable USB stick; plus it is handy for subsequent backups. 3.) Alternatives to AOMEI are Macrium Reflect and Acronis True Image (not sure if there is a free version).