HDD cloneing/Windows 8 disc

[roachieuk]

Hi Guys,

To cut the story short basically my old HDD died it wasn't even a year old so didn't think it would be that as i had trouble with it since last sept,Anyway it finall died in October not completley but just kept crashing.Anyway i finally got an SSD which i was glad i did.

So anyway im waiting for a new HDD of the company which they put windows 8 on.My first bit of help i wanna know is

obv now days you don't get discs with windows 8 with a pre brought system and what the company does (zoostorm) is slipstream the Product key into the bios so how do i make a windows 8 disc so if at anytime i wanna refresh/restore windows i can?

Second of all whats the best HDD clone tool as i wanna use my sdd for my os and when i get my HDD back for storage. Ive been looking at easeus todo free as this seems the more gui friendly one. Im quiet tech savvy but its the first time i have ever come across wanting to clone a hdd

If i haven't explained things properly let me know lol and i will try and explain best i can im more of a doer than a talker lol.

Many thanks in advance

 

[leemoo]

Do the company not provide a recovery drive for you? Normally they partition the drive with it.
I know with the tablets the Win8 key is actually on the chips now.
I think if you run a Win8 disk on the device it may pick up the key from the chip. Can't remember for sure though.

Not to sure if you need your product key but you could use one of these tools 14 Free Product Key Finder Programs

I always use Jelly bean myself

 

[ZooLA]

Why dont you contact your system manufacturer (Dell, HP, Lenovo etc) and ask them to send you the recovery DVDs? These are exactly the same as they were created on the hard disk, but it wont consume space. Of course the reinstall / recovery is a bit slower than from hard disk to hard disk but you are not gonna do it daily...
Anyways if you would like to clone it i recommened Ghost, nowadays its called Norton Ghost (by Symantec).

 

[leemoo]

Most manufacturers if not all charge for the recovery media now so there will be a cost involved ordering them. Just something to bear in mind.

 

[ZooLA]

Most manufacturers if not all charge for the recovery media now so there will be a cost involved ordering them. Just something to bear in mind.

If its in the warranty period they will send you for free. At least I didnt got charged by Dell and Lenovo when I have requested them.
Call the local support team within your area so the freight cost wont take much.