new laptop, windows8 and changing hdd - help

encephalopathy · 25 Dec 2013 at 14:00

need some advice
just have been given a laptop with windows 8 on it. it has a hdd and i want to change this to a ssd that i have

what is the best way to go about this?

can i extract the windows 8 key for the existing install, fit ssd and fresh install windows 8 using that key or do i need to image the original disc, fir new drive and restore the image?

zoomee · 25 Dec 2013 at 15:50

yes you can do both - google for teh win

- extracting the key and then installing it into an OEM version can prove more difficult though.

Personally I just imaged everything across to the SSD and et voila

theheyes · 26 Dec 2013 at 13:04

I would backup/restore also. You may need to shrink the main partition of your original disk if your SSD is smaller.

demonix · 26 Dec 2013 at 15:24

If it originally came with windows 8 installed, then extracting the key would be an unnecessary process as that would be a part of the BIOS so you'd only need the correct version of windows 8 for the key and the rest should be childs play.