Solved W8 Rebuild Problem -- Disk Failure

So, My desktop has been running Windows 8.1 for awhile now, happily chugging along and serving up Netflix. Recently I'd noticed the hard drive was getting loud (searching a lot, loud spin up/spin down noises), and figured it was time to do the SSD upgrade I'd asked about on here ages ago.

I've had the SSD for a few weeks, and today the disk failed. I meant to do my upgrade before now, but, well, life. I have blank dvd's and blank cd's, but no reinstall disks. The desktop was a prebuilt system from Asus, and came with only a 'gpu tuning and tweaks!' disk. Is there any way I can actually, truly, legally download a W8 iso? The other hard disk is done, so I think my only hope is the belief that the Activation Key is cached in the bios, and can be read from during the install process.

oh, and I've 30 days max to figure this out: I'm currently running an unlicensed copy of W7, since I found an old install disk for that.

Order the recovery disc from ASUS.

If you fill out your System Specs we can help you find a link to do so:

How to fill out System Specs for eightforums.
See here: How to See Your System Specs with "System Info"

The deskop in question is an Asus CM1745. After starting this thread I contacted Asus Support, and they want $50 for the recovery disks (and won't just provide me with an ISO).

A different thought/tactic: can I rebuild my system with just a Volume License disk, but use my home license? I know we have one at work, and I bet I can borrow it. I just need to figure out how to extract my license key so that I can rebuild...

I got the failed disk to boot, and am now attempting to clone the partitions. Figured I'd mark it solved since I'm going with a completely different approach.

What OS did the computer come with originally? If Windows 8 then most likely the key is embedded in BIOS and will be picked up and used during install.

If you upgraded from XP, Vista ow Windows 7 to Windows 8 then the key is not embedded.

In either case, run this VB Script to get the current key.

View attachment ShowKey v1.3.vbs.zip

Download and unzip it then run Showkey V.1.3.vbs. Output will look like this:



Installed Key is the key used for the current install.
OEM Key is the embedded key.

Thank you. I've been working on following the 'disk migration guide' on the forums, but keep running into boot errors. I think I need to dig a bit more into W8 design, it seems (differences between MBR/GPT and UEFI). I haven't done any desktop support since W7 was new, and a surprisingly large amount seems to have changed in just a few years.