You might need this if you have large folders, such as photos and videos, that might not fit on your SSD, and also to create a full system backup at the start. Either way, the enclosure comes in handy not just for connecting the SSD for the cloning process, but also afterward to turn your current drive, once it's replaced by the SSD, into an external one for backups and other storage. For this how-to, we used a StarTech SATA external hard drive enclosure, although there's an updated USB 3.0 version you might prefer ($24 on Amazon).

For most people, the 250GB drive should be fine, but the 500GB one offers more flexibility, for only a little more investment.Īn external enclosure or adapter to connect that SSD to your laptop. A 250GB Samsung SSD is currently about $89 on Amazon and a 500GB version is about $120. In addition to getting a drive with the right form factor and interface, you'll want to get an SSD with at least enough room for the Windows partition and any system recovery partitions.

How to backup acer laptop