New 2015Alienware 17-R2: Moving OS from HDD to SSD

I have a Dell Inspiron 17" (5770) which cam with Windows 10 Pro and a 1TB HDD.

It is sooooooo slow.  I figured it must be the hard disk as I can hear it constantly clicking away. 

Anyway, I decided I wanted a M.2.SSD NVMe and purchased a Samsung 970 EVO (500GB).  I want to use this as the primary startup drive for the OS and apps.  I will either keep the 1TB drive or put in an older Samsung 850 1 TB drive I have (probably the latter).

So I effectively want to replicate the contents of the internal HDD to the new M.2. SSD.  Can I do that by just installing the M.2. SSD and copy the files directly.  What tool would I use?

I think I read that cloning would be bad for SSDs and backup/restore might be the better option?  But want about formatting of various partitions, etc?

If I can't do that directly, is best to copy/clone/backup the files from the internal HDD the an external 850 SATA SSD, then install the M.2. SSD and somehow copy/clone/restore the information.  Presumably by booting off the external drive?

This must be a common procedure.  I just want to know what the recommended way is so nothing goes wrong :)

Thanks, Brendan.