Cloning Hard Drive or SSD Taking Forever [5 Ways]

How Long Does It Take to Clone HDD to SSD?

You and many users may have this question, but before answering it, it’s necessary to learn why cloning hard drive or SSD takes forever and what factors affect the timing the most. We will offer time estimates at the end. Please note if:

• The progress bar stuck at the same position for over 1 hour.
• The HDD has unusual clicking sounds.
• You receive consistent error messages.
• The estimated time keeps increasing dramatically.

Why Cloning Hard Drive or SSD Takes Forever?

Here is a table about factors related to cloning hard drive or SSD taking forever:

Factor	Impact Level	Recommendation
Data Amount	The actual used space on the HDD is the primary driver.	Clean unnecessary files before cloning.
Connection	The biggest bottleneck. A slow connection cripples fast drives.	Use an internal SATA port (6 Gbps)or a USB 3.0+ connection (5-10 Gbps) instead of USB 2.0 (480 Mbps).
Drive Health	A failing or old HDD with bad sectors can dramatically slow down the read process (2-3x longer).	Check HDD health with a tool like CrystalDiskInfo before starting.
Computer Usage	Running other applications and background processes steals resources (30-50% slower).	Close all programs or clone hard drive or SSD using bootable USB.
Cloning Method	A "Sector-by-Sector" clone copies every sector, even empty ones, significantly increasing time.	Use this mode only for data recovery. Use the standard "intelligent" clone instead.

Time Estimates:

• 250GB HDD to SSD (USB 3.0) takes about 30-60 minutes;
• 500GB HDD to SSD (SATA internal) takes about 45-90 minutes;
• 1TB HDD to SSD (good conditions) takes about 1.5-3hours;
• 2TB+ HDD to SSD (large data amount) takes about 3-6+ hours.

5 Quick Fixes When Cloning Hard Drive Taking Forever

Here are 5 quick fixes when cloning hard drive taking forever, highly corresponding to its causes, just confirm yours and scroll down.

Fix 1: Wait Patiently - The Unexpected Solution

From above, the data amount, connection type, etc., affect the cloning time. Just wait patiently if it’s under the time estimates and the progress increases steadily, even slowly. Meanwhile, please pay attention to:

• Monitor the percentage completion rather than time elapsed.
• Don't interrupt - Canceling mid-process may corrupt data.
• Normal speed of HDD is ~80-160 MB/s, while SATA SSD is ~500-550 MB/s(most HDD to SSD upgrade) and NVMe SSD 1,500-10,000+ MB/s.

Fix 2: Connect Using SATA Cable - Eliminate the Bottleneck

USB connections (especially USB 2.0) create major bottlenecks. Connecting both drives directly to the motherboard SATA ports can increase speeds from ~30MB/s (USB 2.0) to ~500MB/s (SATA III). NVMe SSD will be much faster.

Fix 3: Check CPU & Memory Usage - Free Up Resources

Background apps, antivirus scans, cloud services, and any running programs consume resources, slowing down the cloning process. Closing unnecessary programs in Task Manager, or cloning hard drive with bootable USB (though this increases downtime) can significantly improve the situation.

Step 1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager. Then, switch to Processes and Sort by CPU and Memory usage.

Step 2. Identify resource-heavy apps, e.g., Google Chrome, Windows Defender, OneDrive, Dropbox, etc., right-click them and select End disk.

Fix 4: Replace the Failing Drive

An old, tired hard drive works more slowly. If it's making clicking sounds or has errors, it might be time to replace it before cloning. Signs of drive failure include:

• Unusual clicking or grinding sounds.
• The progress bar stuck at the same spot for hours.
• Multiple read errors in cloning software.
• SMART warnings in tools like CrystalDiskInfo.

Step 1. Stop the cloning process immediately. Then, press Win + R to open the Run window, type cmd, and press Enter.

Step 2. In the Command Prompt window, type chkdsk X: /f /r to check for errors. Please replace X: with the drive letter of the source drive.

Step 3. If errors are found, please replace the failing drive with a healthy one. Also, save your data to a safe location.

Fix 5: Switch to Powerful Cloning Software

Sometimes the tool you're using just isn't working well. Switching to popular disk cloning software like AOMEI Cloner can clone hard drive or SSD in Windows 7, 8/8.1, 10, 11, and Windows Server effectively. You can also create a bootable USB for cloning.

Step 1. Physically install the new SSD or connect it using a SATA adapter. Then, Open AOMEI Cloner after installing, and click Clone > Disk Clone.

Step 2. Then, select the current drive and new SSD, respectively. Click Next to continue.

Step 3 (IMPORTANT). Be sure to enable SSD Alignment to accelerate the reading and writing speed of SSD disk, and click Start Clone to clone hard drive to SSD. Whether the target drive is larger or smaller, it will take care of the cloning process.

⚠️Notes:
✅ Edit Partitions: It will auto-resize the larger drive to full capacity. You can click to confirm this, and optionally, convert disk types between MBR and GPT (e.g. cloning MBR to GPT).
🤔 Sector by Sector Clone: It clones all sectors and takes longer. Instead, this software will use intelligent cloning mode, copying only the used sectors, especially useful for cloning larger HDD to smaller SSD.

Conclusion

Always start with Fixes 1-3 before attempting more complex cloning hard drive taking forever solutions. Most cloning slowdowns are caused by connection bottlenecks or system resources, not actual hardware failures.

The cloning software should support intelligent cloning mode, which clones only the used sectors of a drive while skipping bad sectors, thereby accelerating the cloning process. AOMEI Cloner is a worth trying software!