Well, I've had enough for today, and I suspect so has Bobby. I'm happy to pick up tomorrow - I like a challenge :-(
I've had a good think through the clean installation process, and have an (educational and wordy, in Mark's words) overview of my current thoughts ready, and a further, condensed task list largely prepared.
Bobby,
This isn't a working task list - I'll finish that (more concise and less daunting) document tomorrow, and then it can be further précised if necessary. Just take this as explanatory, and don't start anything tonight.
You loose very little opportunity by doing a clean install, as your HDD will remain untouched, but removed, and exchanging back would simply get you back to the current, albeit poor, position.
It would appear that you are well pre-positioned for a clean install of Windows10, having backed up the data, and with your licence associated with your Microsoft account.
Clean installation will give you a good starting point for a rebuild, and should cope with most (hopefully all) driver requirements during the process. Win 10 is good at that. There may be a requirement to find and install a small number after installation, however Lenovo drivers are readily accessible, but there are no Win10 drivers for that machine, so there is a very small chance you might have to try a previous release. I really don't expect big (or even any) issues though.
If you play Movie DVDs on the machine, we'll have to find a workaround, but there is an easy one (for later, if required)
Before you start, it is sensible to assess (with your current laptop) all the applications you currently have installed, decide which ones will still be required, and assess your means of re-installing them (especially paid-for ones - where hopefully you will still have installation media and product keys). I tend to make a working list which advises the process after the new installation of Windows is complete. Remember, for example, if you have Office it isn't a core part of Windows.
I would strongly recommend you use Windows installation media from the Microsoft website I've already mentioned. It is of known quality, up to date, safe, free and legal.
The creation of a Windows install USB might really be best carried out on another machine as yours has issues, but the final delivery is verified after creation, so you should be safe on the laptop if you have to.
You download the "Media Creation Tool" from the Microsoft website, which will subsequently ask you which version of Win10 you want, Home/Pro/X32/X64, etc (or a combination of these, the number of questions varies over the years). Make sure you select in accordance with the current laptop install, but also nominate that you want installation files "for a different PC" (not "this PC"), since this is what causes a USB install key to be created. You follow the prompts, give it a USB stick, and let it chug away downloading, creating the USB, and ultimately verifying the contents. You can safely eject the USB at the end of the process (it will tell you when it's finished).
I'd prefer to install to an unpartitioned and empty SSD, so, whilst it is still in the caddy, and your current Windows is still working we should use Diskmgt under Windows to check and remove any partitions the failed clone made on it. (I'm fairly sure you can do this during installation, but I can't picture the step).
Having done that, you remove the existing HDD, and install the SSD using the instructions in the user manual I linked to. (You will probably have to re-use any disk to cage screws if there are any - you patently do need to re-use cage to laptop screws).
That's the preparation phase.
With that complete and the laptop on mains power, you then want to insert the USB, and subsequently boot from it. To do this, you will probably need to either enter BIOS and change the boot priorities or, if you're lucky, hitting F12 whilst starting up will allow you to access the boot menu, and select the USB (and it won't show the USB as an option if not already inserted). It *may* show two boot options for the USB, one labelled with "UEFI" and one not. I think (given the SSD is now initialised as MBR (rather than GPT) in line with the HDD, you should choose the non-UEFI option if there is a choice.
It is then a matter of following all the prompts during the installation.
As I've said elsewhere, MS now make it very difficult to install Win10 without a Microsoft account. The only real downside of this if you already have one associated with the m/c is that it will create your "User" folder with the first 5 characters of your Microsoft account. Probably not too bad if you have an account "bobbyxxxxxxxx.yyyyyyy@hotmail.com" but rather less helpful if you chose "L___xxxxxx.yyyy@hotmail.co.uk" for your MS account name (people have done similar, and are complaining). That Win10 user folder name is not at all easy to change (safely) once set, so be careful.
(There is one remaining workaround for the above, which I have used within the last month, and can update you on if necessary - it allows you to install with a local account (say "bobby") and subsequently associate a MS account with it - allowing you to select your own username and folder name, and retaining the latter).
At some point in the installation process, it will ask for the product key. Ignore that and select the "I haven't got a product key" option. That allows for future activation, either automatically when it recognises the machine at final start up, or by troubleshooting activation via the MS account if that doesn't happen.
It will chug on through the installation process until it reboots a final time, and you have a clean, but base install. Best to do a quick check through device manager that it's found all the drivers (WIN10 is good, but sometimes fails with the odd one - Googling will usually find a way of fixing that). At that point it's also best to check the activation status, and if it isn't "activated with a digital key linked to your Microsoft account", go through activation troubleshooting to fix it.
Then, it's reinstall required apps, get the data back on and re-do all your customisations.
(Depending on how the BIOS works, you might have to make a slight change to the boot definitions if it hasn't automatically adjusted for the fact that it is now the SSD).
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