Windows 8 installation issues after hard drive failure

MARKakaJIM

New Member
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I recently suffered a hard drive failure on my laptop, which is about 18 months old give or take a few, and now i'm struggling to get Windows 8 reinstalled onto the new hard drive so can get my laptop back up and running properly.

Originally i tried using my mom's Windows 7 laptop, only other 64 bit machine available, to download a Windows 8 ISO and then create myself some boot media from there but didn't have a product key to get past the first step. So i abandoned that approach and got myself an ISO for Windows 8 Enterprise edition, created a boot disc for that and successfully installed that onto my laptop so i didn't have to keep borrowing my mom's to get this problem sorted.

Now though i'm unable to either re-activate the Enterprise edition with my original product key that i've extracted from the BIOS, as some websites suggested i could, or just install a bonafide version of Windows 8 over the top.

When i've tried to install the full version of Windows 8 from a downloaded installer i get one of two messages, depending on which product key i try to use. If i use my original OEM key then i get the message saying i can't use that key on a retail version of Windows 8, if i use a generic key from your website's guide then i get an error about not being able to connect to the internet, apparently because they blocked the generic codes.

So that leaves me in something of a bind, what other options do i have to try and get a full version of Windows 8 back onto my laptop? It seems neither product key i have access to are compatible with the only installer i can get my hands on.

Surely it should be easier than this to reinstall software that i already own?!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Sony Vaio SVE14AJ15M
    Browser
    Firefox
You currently have the option to install Windows 10. No one seems to know if that install will allow continuing to the Final version, so you may have to still find a Windows 8 Media to reset your system. Since your OEM License key is in your Bios, you may be allowed to keep the install.

You did not make a Recovery Drive for your system?

You did not create a System Image Backup of your system?

Is the old drive accessible for anything, such as recovering the Factory Image?

Have you considered ordering Recovery Media from the OEM?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
I didn't plan for this eventuality, no, so i have no recovery drive or system image to fall back on, not sure it would've helped anyway as the old hard drive seems completely ruined, i connected it up to my old desktop but it doesn't register just get a lot of clicking noises as it spins up.

I was hoping there was a free alternative to contacting the manufacturer, seems bizarre that you can sort this all out for free with a retail version but no OEM, it's still the same software so why don't both forms of purchase get the same treatment?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Sony Vaio SVE14AJ15M
    Browser
    Firefox
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