When cloning is the right choice

A healthy, readable source drive and a compatible destination make cloning attractive. We check the amount of used data and the new SSD capacity. After migration, we verify that the laptop starts from the SSD and that the expected files are present. The customer should still retain a separate backup of important material.

When cloning may not work

Bad sectors, file system damage, encryption, and an unstable old drive can interrupt the copy. A clone can also carry software problems to the new drive. In those cases we discuss options before changing the scope. Data recovery from a failing drive is a different service and is not included in the $99 SSD upgrade labor.

If you want a fresh Windows installation instead, say so when requesting a quote. That changes the plan for programs, settings, and file transfer; do not assume a clean installation preserves everything automatically.