SSD Imminent failure: need advice how to properly Clone and migrate

Ack, the more research i'm doing, now people on Acronis forums (DiskWizard) are screaming for newbs (like myself) to not clone cuz it'll render the old SSD inoperable with no guarantee that it'll work.

Good lord... what a mess

I guess i'll first back up my SSD on a large USB stick i have on hand. Then figure out the cloning business, which i want to do ASAP since who knows how long my poor PC can last.

Cool, much obliged, hopefully this will answer all my questions.

Ack, the more research i'm doing, now people on Acronis forums (DiskWizard) are screaming for newbs (like myself) to not clone cuz it'll render the old SSD inoperable with no guarantee that it'll work.

Good lord... what a mess

I guess i'll first back up my SSD on a large USB stick i have on hand. Then figure out the cloning business, which i want to do ASAP since who knows how long my poor PC can last.

Edit: Ok having gone through that thread, it didnt quite exactly answer the questions i had orginally in mind. Basically it outlines to use Macrium to clone/migrate to the replacement SSD, whereas i want to first send it to the available external HDD i have on hand to attempt to fix first, then clone to a new SSD if i cant fix it.

Also its asking me to turn off and on the PC a bunch of times and i kinda want to avoid that as im afraid the additionally wear and tear of that is gonna suddenly give my SSD a heart attack and just outright fail like my HDD.

At least since im not moving my SSD data to a newbuild i dont need to bother with licensing issues, since i'm going to have whatever replacement SSD be stuck on the same mobo/shell.

Ok so far i've made a backup image of my 250gb SSD onto a 250 gb USB stick. So i guess i'm at least in the clear if i somehow botch my cloning attempt.

I found an old 500gb WD passport that i'm now gonna use for the cloning attempt. From my research it seems like, if somehow my SSD craps out, i cant use that HDD as a bootable drive. One of my main objectives is to not have to buy another copy of Windows (i intend to make a new build next year and saving up), but i'm willing to buy a 500 gb SSD to use for now and then eventually use on the new build (after i clone it onto a spare HDD i have on hand to put into the old gaming rig). However i've a coupla questions that seem to be giving me different answers from my research.

1) Do i have to use an internal SSD/HDD in order to do a successful clone that is bootable? Externals are no go if i want it bootable?

2) Can i use the cloned copy on my external HDD to repair my suspected to be failing SSD? Or perhaps there are just bad clusters on it making its own self repair ineffective and it just needs an external fixdisk to do the trick? I remember fixing a friends laptop HDD doing just that, popping it out, chucking it into an enclosure, and fixdisking it while on a separate PC.

3) Can i clone the SSD with OS on it, to an external HDD, then clone it later onto a new internal SSD after my current SSD goes splat? Thereby preserving my Win8.1 license?

4) Bonus Round: Any recommendations of SSD/HDD health checking tools? I used Hard Disk Sentinal and it says Excellent condition 100% performance 68% health... i'm a bit... skeptical. However all i was able to do was the trial version quick test, so i was wondering if I can some more recommendations? Currently DLing the Samsung, WD, and PassMark tools for another set of tests.

Man... stupid internal HDD dying so fast/first, the simplest solution woulda been to just clone/transfer my OS there and save money now, til my new build

Edit: Samsung's Magician app says everything is a-ok

Hmm... i wonder if its a software issue instead of SSD issue...

A good thing as it means i dont need to buy a new SSD for now, but annoying since software issues are a pain in the ass to diagnose. I wonder if i restore point a coupla weeks ago and things will be ok.

Yup my SSD I think has gone splat. PC won’t boot up, now getting stuck at the spinning dots with Microsoft icon screen.

I was able to use macrium reflect to make a backup image and cloned the SSD to separate external HDDs the day before but I forgot to make a Windows Recovery Media.

When I hit the troubleshooting screen when it says windows boot failed and fix disc didn’t seem to have worked so I Then tried to restore point it says I’m missing a file from a game that I deleted the day (was opening up spare space in hopes of prolonging SSD life)before so basically restore won’t won’t.

I tried to do reset but it says it needs me to put in Windows Recovery Media. Can I make a recovery disk on a different pc?

Is there any way I can use my clones on external HDD to fix this problem?