The issue of Windows 10 slowing down after cloning is a popular topic frequently discussed by users in forums. If you're grappling with this troublesome problem, how can you resolve the issue of Windows 10 taking longer to start after cloning? This guide provides several methods to help you tackle it effortlessly.

Windows 10 Booting and Running Slowly After Cloning

Solid-state drives (SSDs) are highly favored by many users due to their excellent reading and writing capabilities. After purchasing an SSD, many people opt to clone their old hard drives (HDDs) onto the new SSD for an upgrade, bypassing the need to reinstall Windows 10. However, a common issue arises—Windows 10 slows down after cloning. Specifically, when booting Windows 10 from the cloned SSD, the startup time becomes prolonged. Additionally, the computer runs slowly when loading programs and handling multiple tasks. From then on, the overall performance of the computer significantly declines.

Why does Windows 10 slow down after cloning or experience lag after cloning to an SSD? This might be due to outdated graphics card drivers, insufficient storage space on the Windows drive, incorrect SSD settings, and so on. Fortunately, you have a good opportunity to resolve the sluggish issue on your PC. Without further delay, let's get started.

Tip 1: Accelerate Windows 10

When dealing with a sluggish PC, the first step you should take is to accelerate it using some methods. Here, we strongly recommend using the PC optimizer, MiniTool System Booster, to enhance the PC's performance.

This tool is specifically designed to optimize the system for peak performance across multiple aspects, such as uninstalling unnecessary applications, cleaning up the PC, speeding up RAM/CPU, disabling startup items and resource-heavy processes, and more. Through these tasks, many system resources will be freed up, including disk space, RAM, and CPU, making Windows faster.

To address the issue of Windows 10 slowing down after cloning, give this PC tuning software a try.

Step 1: Launch MiniTool System Booster to its main interface.

Step 2: Click Deepclean > START CLEAN, which performs a deep scan to remove unnecessary clutter from your computer. Follow the prompts accordingly. In the case of Windows 10 slowing down after cloning, using this feature to run some cleanup tasks will free up significant disk space and release your RAM to speed it up.

Step 3: When faced with Windows 10 slowing down after cloning, consider going to Toolbox > Startup Optimizer to disable some startup items to reduce the startup time. Additionally, click Process Scanner to identify and terminate memory-intensive background tasks to alleviate stress, and select Advanced Uninstaller to uninstall unnecessary programs to free up some disk space and make Windows 10 faster.

Tip 2: Enable AHCI in BIOS

If Windows is sluggish after cloning an HDD to an SSD, you should enable AHCI in BIOS to achieve optimal SSD performance.

Step 1: Run Command Prompt with administrative privileges.

Step 2: Enter bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal and press Enter.

Step 3: Restart the machine and press a boot key like F2 or Del to enter BIOS and enable AHCI.

Step 4: Save the changes and exit BIOS, then reopen Command Prompt as an administrator again.

Step 5: Execute the command bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot, restart the computer, and Windows will install the AHCI driver automatically.

Tip 3: Enable Trim for SSD

Trim is a command that allows the Windows operating system to inform an SSD which data blocks are no longer used, enabling them to be erased to enhance SSD performance.

To do this:

Step 1: Open Command Prompt with administrative rights.

Step 2: Type fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify and press Enter. If you see DisableDeleteNotify = 0, it indicates that Trim is already enabled for your SSD. If not, run fsutil behavior set DisableDeleteNotify 0 to enable it.

Tip 4: Disable Disk Indexing

Indexing aids in speeding up Windows searches on a storage device. However, for SSDs, this feature is unnecessary. Therefore, you can disable disk indexing to prevent Windows 10 from taking longer to boot after cloning or experiencing lag after cloning an HDD to an SSD.

Step 1: In File Explorer, right-click on the system drive and select Properties.

Step 2: In General, uncheck Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties.

Step 3: Save the changes.

Tip 5: Avoid Defragmenting Your SSD

It’s a good practice to perform defragmentation tasks for HDDs. However, for an SSD, defragmentation can damage the disk and degrade performance. Thus, remember to disable SSD defragmentation if Windows is sluggish after cloning an HDD to an SSD.

Also read: Should You Defrag SSDs? The Truth about Disk Defragmentation Tools

Step 1: Type defragment and press Defragment and Optimize Drives.

Step 2: Click Change settings, uncheck Run on a schedule (recommended), and click OK.

Tip 6: Use Another Cloning Software

Windows 10 slowing down after cloning might occur due to unaligned partitions, leading to reduced performance. Therefore, we recommend using another cloning software, MiniTool Partition Wizard, to re-clone your HDD to an SSD. With it, you can select the option of Align partitions to 1 MB when choosing the cloning option.

Get this partition manager and click Copy Disk Wizard, then proceed.

Final Thoughts

These are common solutions to resolve Windows 10 slowing down after cloning on your PC. We believe you should overcome the issue of cloned SSD slow boot and slow load using these methods.

By the way, MiniTool System Booster plays a crucial role in speeding up the computer. Hence, we highly suggest you regularly use it to optimize your machine for optimal performance.

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