In this video, I’ll show you how to clone ANY Windows drive (Windows 11 or Windows 10) to a NEW SSD without using any third-party software. Prefer third-party software use "Use EaseUS Disk Copy — clone your drive in just a few simple steps with no data loss, beginner-friendly: https://bit.ly/45SR3jH"
But in this video we’ll use DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management)
— a powerful built-in Windows tool — to safely transfer your Windows installation to a new SSD.
This method is 100% free, works on Windows 10 & Windows 11, and is perfect if you want to upgrade to a faster or larger SSD without reinstalling Windows or risking your data.

✅ What You’ll Learn:
• How to clone Windows to a new SSD without software
• How to use DISM to capture and apply a Windows image
• How to make the new SSD bootable
• Works for MBR & GPT / BIOS & UEFI systems
• No data loss, no paid tools

🛠️ Commands Used in This Video:

dism /Capture-Image /ImageFile:D:\install.wim /CaptureDir:C:\ /Name:"Windows" /compress:max

dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:D:\install.wim /Index:1 /ApplyDir:W:\

bcdboot W:\Windows /f UEFI /s S: 

(Commands may vary depending on your drive letters and system type)

Detailed outline of the video

1. Intro and overall plan (0:00–1:20)

- Explains that the goal is to clone an existing Windows drive (small C: system disk) to a larger SSD with no third‑party software, using only DISM and command prompt.​

- Shows current setup in Disk Management: a small C: Windows drive, a backup drive, and an unallocated larger SSD that will become the new system drive.​

2. Booting into Windows Recovery environment (Shift+Restart) (1:20–2:12)

- Instructs to hold Left Shift while clicking Restart to boot into the Windows Recovery / WinRE environment.​

- After reboot, selects “Troubleshoot” → “Advanced options” → “Command Prompt” from the “Choose an option” screen.​

3. Checking drive letters in WinRE with Notepad (2:12–3:10)

- Opens Command Prompt, runs notepad, then uses File → Open → This PC to inspect which drive letters correspond to which disks in the recovery environment.​

- Notes that drive letters may differ from normal Windows (e.g., backup drive appears as D: instead of E:, Windows drive is C:), and emphasizes remembering the correct letters for the capture command.​

4. Capturing the Windows image to the backup drive (DISM capture) (3:10–4:53)

- Types a DISM command in Command Prompt to capture the current Windows partition to a WIM image on the backup drive, adjusting letters as needed.​

- Example shown: capture C: (Windows) to D: (backup) as backup.wim (same idea as the description’s example with install.wim).​

- Waits for the capture to complete, then exits Command Prompt and chooses “Continue to Windows 11” to boot back into the existing C: system.​

5. Verifying the captured image back in Windows (4:53–5:30)

- Once back in the normal desktop, opens “This PC” and confirms the captured backup.wim file is present on the backup drive (now E: again).​

- Mentions this WIM contains an identical clone of the original system: apps, settings, programs, and data.​

6. Preparing the new SSD in Disk Management (system and Windows partitions) (5:30–7:01)

- Opens Disk Management and identifies: backup drive, current system drive (C:), and the unallocated new SSD.​

- On the new SSD, creates a small ~500 MB FAT32 partition to hold system/boot files, assigns letter S:, and labels it “System”.​

- Creates another partition using the remaining unallocated space, assigns letter W:, formats as NTFS, and names it “Windows”; this will hold the OS.​

7. Applying the captured image to the new SSD (DISM apply) (7:01–7:32)

- Opens an elevated Command Prompt (Run as administrator) in the normal OS.​

- Runs a DISM /Apply-Image command to apply backup.wim from the backup drive (e.g., E:) to the new Windows partition W:.​

- Waits for the apply process to complete; the new W: partition now contains the full Windows installation.​

8. Making the new drive bootable with BCDBOOT (7:32–7:59)

- Uses bcdboot (video text calls it BCDEdit but the description shows bcdboot) to write boot files from W:\Windows to the small S: system partition and configure UEFI boot.​

- Confirms that boot files are created successfully and opens Disk Management to verify partitions and Windows files on the new drive.​

9. Changing the boot order in BIOS to boot from new SSD (7:59–9:23)

- Restarts the PC and enters BIOS/UEFI (keys like F2, Delete, Esc, depending on the system).​

- In BIOS, sets the newly cloned SSD as the first boot device, then saves and exits.​

- System now boots from the new SSD; inside Windows, “This PC” shows the larger SSD as the new C: drive, with the old small drive and backup still attached.​

10. Cleaning up drive letters and hiding the system partition (9:23–10:40)

- In Disk Management, identifies the small system partition (S: earlier, now F: after reboot) and removes its drive letter so it is hidden from Explorer, but still functions as the system partition.​

- Checks that all other drives are visible and the system runs smoothly before deleting anything.​

11. Wiping the old system drive using Diskpart (10:40–12:10)

- Opens elevated Command Prompt, runs diskpart.​

- Uses list disk to see all disks, then select disk 2 (example) to pick the old 64 GB system drive.​

- Runs clean all to wipe all partitions and data from the old system disk, turning it into uninitialized, unallocated space.​

12. Re‑initializing and re‑formatting old disks for storage (12:10–13:30)

- Returns to Disk Management, initializes the wiped disk as GPT and creates a new simple volume, formatting it as NTFS and naming it e.g. “Storage”.​

- Formats the backup drive (that held the WIM image) to remove the old image and reclaim its space.​

- Ends up with: one new larger Windows system drive, a cleaned and repurposed former system drive as storage, and a cleared backup drive.​

13. Closing remarks and cautions (13:30–end)

- Emphasizes checking that the cloned system is stable before deleting old drives or the WIM image.​

- Notes there are easier GUI tools for cloning, but this DISM + command‑prompt method is free, keeps all settings/programs, and works on Windows 10/11.​

Step‑by‑step tutorial: clone Windows to new SSD and make it the system drive

This tutorial abstracts the video’s process into a reusable workflow using DISM and BCDBOOT. Adjust drive letters carefully for your own system.​

1. Prepare hardware and backup

2. Boot into Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE)

  1. In Windows, hold the Left Shift key and click Restart from the Start menu or login screen. Keep Shift held until you see “Please wait…”.​

  2. On the blue “Choose an option” screen, select Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Command Prompt.​

3. Identify drive letters in WinRE

  1. In Command Prompt, type notepad and press Enter.​

  2. In Notepad, go to File → Open, click This PC, and note:

    • Which drive is your current Windows partition (normally C: in WinRE).​

    • Which drive is your backup/storage drive where you’ll save the WIM (e.g., D:).​

  3. Close Notepad when done.

4. Capture your Windows partition to a WIM image

In Command Prompt (still in WinRE):

5. Verify the image in Windows

6. Initialize and partition the new SSD

  1. Open Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc).​

  2. Find the new SSD (unallocated). Then:

    • Right‑click the unallocated space and choose New Simple Volume.​

    • For the first small system partition:

      • Size: about 500 MB.​

      • Assign a letter like S:.​

      • File system: FAT32.​

      • Volume label: something like System.​

    • Then, right‑click the remaining unallocated space → New Simple Volume:

      • Use all remaining space.​

      • Assign letter W: (or any unused letter you prefer for Windows).​

      • File system: NTFS.

      • Volume label: e.g., Windows.​

  3. After the wizard finishes, you should see two partitions on the new SSD: small FAT32 S: (system) and large NTFS W: (Windows).​

7. Apply the captured image to the new SSD

  1. Open Command Prompt (Admin): search “cmd”, right‑click, Run as administrator, and accept UAC.​

  2. Run the DISM apply command (adjust letters and filename):​

    dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:E:\backup.wim /Index:1 /ApplyDir:W:\text{dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:E:\textbackslash backup.wim /Index:1 /ApplyDir:W:\textbackslash}dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:E:\backup.wim /Index:1 /ApplyDir:W:\

    • E:\backup.wim should be your backup drive and image file.​

    • W:\ is the Windows partition on the new SSD.​

  3. Wait for the process to complete; DISM will report success when done.​

8. Make the new SSD bootable (BCDBOOT)

Still in elevated Command Prompt:

9. Change boot order in BIOS/UEFI to the new SSD

  1. Restart your PC. While it is booting, press your motherboard’s BIOS key (often F2, Delete, Esc, or a function key) repeatedly.​

  2. In the BIOS/UEFI interface, find the Boot settings.​

  3. Set the new SSD (the one with W:/System S:) as the first boot device.​

  4. Save changes and exit BIOS. The system should now boot from the new SSD’s Windows installation.​

After booting:

10. Hide the system partition

  1. Open Disk Management again.​

  2. Identify the small system partition created earlier (it may now have a different letter like F: after reboot).​

  3. Right‑click that partition → Change Drive Letter and Paths… → Remove the drive letter.​

  4. This hides the system partition from Explorer while keeping it functional for boot.​

11. Clean and reuse the old system drive

Only do this after you’re sure the new SSD boots reliably and everything works.

A. Wipe the old system disk with Diskpart

  1. Open Command Prompt (Admin).​

  2. Start Diskpart:

    diskpart\text{diskpart}diskpart

  3. List disks:

    list disk\text{list disk}list disk

    Identify the old system disk by its capacity (e.g., 64 GB).​

  4. Select that disk (example uses disk 2):

    select disk 2\text{select disk 2}select disk 2

  5. Wipe it completely:

    clean all\text{clean all}clean all

    This removes all partitions and data; it may take some time.​

  6. When Diskpart finishes, type exit to close Diskpart.​

B. Initialize and format the cleaned disk in Disk Management

  1. Open Disk Management; Windows will prompt to initialize the cleaned disk. Choose GPT (for UEFI systems) unless you have a specific reason for MBR.​

  2. Right‑click the unallocated space on that disk → New Simple Volume.​

  3. Assign a drive letter, format as NTFS, and name it something like Storage.​

12. Remove the WIM backup image and reclaim space

After these steps, your new SSD is the system drive, the PC boots from it, and the old system disk and backup space are cleaned and available as general storage.​

Would you like a command‑only “cheat sheet” version (no narrative, just ordered commands and which environment to run them in)?