Acer-Aspire V3 laptop hard-drive died, no recovery disk

Viriality

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Soo, I own an Acer Aspire V3-771G-9456 laptop, before the crash it was running windows 8, which came preinstalled.

The other day I had gotten a USB in order to make a recovery disk for my laptop. A few days before the hd corrupted and I had to completely reformat using its recovery partition, but then before I could make said recovery disk, the HD started 'buzzing' and needless to say...it's dead now :[

So I ordered an erecovery disk from Acer the other day, and purchased a decent looking SS hard-drive.

I have the new hard-drive installed, but who knows when the recovery disk will arrive!!

So here's where you geniuses come in:

So I'd rather not wait for the disk to arrive as it might take up to 2 weeks!

My brother informed me that I should be able to download windows 8 online and use the product key that's usually listed on the back of the laptop. However, there is no win 8 product key on the back :-/
So I'm at a loss... his laptop has a windows product key, but mine doesn't? Is it located somewhere else that I'm not looking?
I checked the bios but at first glance it didn't appear to be there, and that's as far as I've gotten.

Any advice on how to get win 8 onto my system legally without any more purchases, so that I can be using my new SS-hd laptop preferably tonight?

Also possibly useful info:
  • I own a student copy of Win7 (Ultimate?) upgrade that i'm not using, which I would be fine using on my laptop, but it is not a copy, it is the upgrade...so it requires a previous OS to be installed

  • I own a student copy of Windows Vista upgrade, that does not say it requires a previous OS to be installed. (I think the store sold me both so that I could have win7 at the time.
  • I've tried booting with both disks, the vista loads and then freezes after the loading bar hits completion, the win7 upgrade disk makes it a step further, taking me to a windows loading screen, and then freezes there!

Ok go!
p.s.: I will love you forever if you help me!! TY! :D
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspir V3 771G-9456
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3632QM CPU @ 2.20GHz
    Motherboard
    dunno?
    Memory
    DDR3 (i believe) 6144mb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Geforce GT 640M - 2gb
    Browser
    n/a
    Antivirus
    n/a
The Windows 8 key is embedded in the BIOS, there is no COA sticker.

I believe you will have to wait for the recovery disk if you want Windows 8 as you will not be able to download a Windows 8 ISO without a retail key. Microsoft really screwed this up and has made no attempts to fix it.

You can do a clean install of a Windows 7 upgrade disc, see here: Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version - Windows 7 Help Forums
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
Sorry, you will have to wait for the recovery disks. Only the recovery will retrieve your OEM key. Upgrade versions of Windows will not work as you do not a prior OS installed. You cannot download an ISO OEM version of Windows.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 Update 1 Pro 64bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pavillion H8-1202
    CPU
    I7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz
    Motherboard
    PEGATRON
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NIVDIA GeForce GT 520
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC656GR CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster S22B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080 32 bit color
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB
    Keyboard
    Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
Thanks for the input Ztrucker!
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspir V3 771G-9456
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3632QM CPU @ 2.20GHz
    Motherboard
    dunno?
    Memory
    DDR3 (i believe) 6144mb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Geforce GT 640M - 2gb
    Browser
    n/a
    Antivirus
    n/a
My TechNet ISO's will read and use the embedded OEM BIOS key on my ASUS laptop. When I run the 8.0 install it reads my BIOS key and installs the matching 8.0 Core automatically. I don't get prompted to enter a key and it automatically activates online with no issues. I do not believe there is a separate OEM and Retail ISO. My TechNet keys are listed as Retail and my ISO will use them and also can use the embedded OEM key. If I install 8.0 Core on my ASUS laptop I do not need to use any of my Microsoft keys. It activates just like it did from the factory. As a bonus all the boat ware is history as a result of my nice new clean install.

If your laptop came with Windows 8.0 factory installed all you need is an 8.0 ISO/DVD. A Retail DVD should work. The only wrinkle is if your current install is the Single Language version, that's a special ISO that can be hard to find.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G580
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3230M
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, standard user account
    Other Info
    UEFI firmware (BIOS) embedded Windows 8 product key.
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