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NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — EaseUS, a leading provider of data recovery and management solutions, has released its Q3 2025 Windows OS Migration Case Study Report. This comprehensive OS migration report analyzes data from 69,984 users and 132,117 migration operations. It provides a clear, data-driven view of real Windows system migration trends, challenges, and performance.
Data-Driven Insights on OS Migration
OS Migration Path Trends
Users mostly migrate their systems from SSD to USB or SSD to SSD, primarily for backups or portability. HDD migrations to USB and SSD also play important roles. The following is the proportion of main OS migration paths.
- SSD to USB: 32.23% (mainly backups or portability)
- SSD to SSD: 28.09% (upgrades to faster or larger drives)
- HDD to USB: 13.59% (data extraction or backup)
- HDD to SSD: 10.56% (performance upgrades)
System Drive Capacity Shifts
There is a noticeable shift toward larger drives, with 500GB to 1TB emerging as the standard system drive size. Ultra-large drives near 2TB are gaining adoption, while smaller drives below 250GB remain in use mostly on older or budget systems.
Windows Version Adoption
Windows 11 and Windows 10 dominate the installed base. Migration activity correlates strongly with these versions, especially for performance and compatibility upgrades.
|
Windows OS |
Share of Analyzed PCs |
|
Windows 11 |
58.06 % |
|
Windows 10 |
40.31 % |
|
Windows 7/8 |
1.39 % |
|
Windows Server |
<1% |
Preferred Disk Brands in Migration
Samsung and WD lead both as source and target disk brands, confirming user trust in these established manufacturers. Crucial and Kingston maintain a strong presence among value-based options.
Migration Speed and Performance
SSD to SSD migration achieves the highest average speeds, at 356.33 MB/s, with over 40% of migrations exceeding 300 MB/s. USB-involved transfers suffer lower speeds and higher failure rates.
Causes of Migration Failures
Migration failures mainly result from disk errors, boot configuration issues, partition mistakes, and insufficient disk space.
|
Migration Failure Cause |
Proportion |
|
Disk Read/Write Errors |
30 % |
|
BCD File Exceptions |
30 % |
|
Partition Misconfigurations |
11 % |
|
Space Insufficiency |
14 % |
|
Other Causes (e.g., interruptions) |
15 % |
User System Migration Recommendations
- Check disk health before migration to avoid common read/write errors.
- The target drive has at least 20-30% more free space.
- Prefer SSD-to-SSD migration paths for faster speeds and higher success rates.
- Back up important data to safeguard against data loss.
- Verify hardware compatibility requirements for Windows 11, like TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot.
- Defragment large system partitions and test smaller migrations.
The report shares clear insights based on data. It shows the current situation of system migration and the best upgrade paths. It also reveals performance issues and risks. These insights help IT professionals and users plan better migrations. They promote the choice of reliable hardware and help avoid common mistakes.
EaseUS continues to support smooth and secure system migration. For more information about EaseUS IT solutions on data recovery, disk management, and data backup, please visit https://www.easeus.com.