Help to replace HDD for SSD in Acer Laptop

[haaammit]

Hi - I have an old Acer Aspire E1-571 laptop that I would like to replace the HDD with a SSD. I think the form factor is 2.5" sata. The current drive is 450Gb in size, but only 75Gb is currently used, so I was going to put in a ~250Gb one. It's really only used for browsing/watching YouTube etc but is getting a bit long in the tooth!

What I want to do is essentially copy the current harddrive. What's the easiest, most basic way to do it? I'm happy to restore documents etc as they are also stored on cloud storage - what I really want is a way to copy across all the FireFox login details for my on-line accounts and driver details etc.

Is there a way to just copy/mirror the entire drive? I do have an external usb drive if that will help.

Any guidance gratefully received!

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Use the free version of macrium reflect
I have definitely cloned to an external USB drive before
Same thing as you to upgrade a laptop drive
There are plenty other free cloning softwares too like Easeus but I like macrium personally
Cloning will make a 100% the same copy as your original drive so everything will be there as it was before

 

[Trig]

Get a Samsung SSD, download their SSD clone tool, buy a USB to SATA adapter, follow instructions.

Can you take the external drive out of the caddy you have, if so use that, if not buy an adapter for less than a tenner from the south American rainforest.
Plug new SSD into adapter and plug into USB port, run the software, turn off pc, take old drive out, put SSD in, prepare for SSD awesomeness,