can I use recovery disks created from another computer to restore a system that was wiped clean?

[jeffohio]

So my h8-1419 is running fine with windows 10 but came with windows 8.  Just got a h8-1437c that originally came with windows 8 but was wiped clean and I have no install discs.  I read that the windows 8.1 ISO won't work to load it since it came with windows 8 and not 8.1. 

Can I create a recovery USB from my h8-1419 to load onto the h8-1437c?  Don't really want to spend $50 to buy recovery discs from HP.  What options do I have?

[mdklassen]

> Can I create a recovery USB from my h8-1419 to load onto the h8-1437c?

Hmm. That USB will contain Windows 10, but your other computer is only licensed for Windows 8.  Correct?

Either pay $50 to HP, or pay $100+ to Microsoft for a "retail" copy of Windows 10.  Your choice.

[jeffohio]

I only need windows 8 and the motherboard has a product key embedded in it.  There should be a way to install windows 8.1 using the embedded key?

[mdklassen]

> There should be a way to install windows 8.1 using the embedded key?

Upgrading from Windows 8.0 to 8.1 does not change the 25-character product-key.

So, if you have an ISO for 8.1, try using it -- you have nothing to lose!

[Verki1]

Absolutely you can! You can try to use some software to help you to create a recovery USB from h8-1419c and restore it to your h8-1437c. It just do a unoversal restore that you can restore system image to another computer.

[mdklassen]

>  create a recovery USB from h8-1419c

This computer is running Windows 10.

> and restore it to your h8-1437c.

This computer was running Windows 8, and never has been running Windows 10.

So, if you make a "recovery USB" from the Windows 10 system, will it install Windows 8 or Windows 10 on the other system?

[jeffohio]

I would assume it would try to install Windows 10 but not sure?  If it does try to install windows 10, I don't think the current product key will work on the 1437c model and it won't load.  

My understanding is that when you upgrade from windows 8 to windows 10, it creates a new 25 digit product key.  So, it has the original "OEM key" for windows 8 which stays embedded, and a new "product key" for windows 10.

[mdklassen]

> My understanding is that when you upgrade from windows 8 to windows 10, it creates a new 25 digit product key.  

> So, it has the original "OEM key" for windows 8 which stays embedded, and a new "product key" for windows 10.

Installing Windows 10 takes a "fingerprint" of the hardware, and stores this information as a "digital entitlement".

With that entitlement, one can re-install Windows 10 on that hardware, without needing to enter the 25-character (not all characters are digits) product-key.

[jeffohio]

So, the solution was simple.  All I did was download the 8.1 ISO from the microsoft site, burn a disc, and it installed perfectly on the 1437c computer that originally came with windows 8.

I saw a youtube video from late 2015 where it said that microsoft changed the 8.1 version to load on computers that originally came with windows 8.  They were right and it never even asked for the product key since it was embedded.

The interesting part is that it did create a new product key for 8.1.  It now has the OEM key that came with the computer embedded and a new product key that it created during install of 8.1.