Can I make a copy of my windows OS on DVD and reformat the drive prior to reinstalling from said DVD without having a key?

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RKV2016

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Oct 7, 2016
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I don't understand how ISO works.
My computer is preinstalled with win 8.1.
I want to back up my OS because my recovery drives have been overwritten by microsoft update.
Somehow, they ate my rescue partitions after the last update.
I have the OS running but there are no more rescue partitions.
What I have now is called "windows to go".
Basically, my C drive is booting off of a rescue partition I wrote onto outboard USB drive.
Without the USB drive, it won't boot at all.
CHKDSK reportss all drives healthy with no disk errors.
Disk management reports 3 partitions as 100% empty with my C partition only containing the working OS.
I didn't break it but they expect me to buy it again.
I'd rather not keep buying something I already have so I want to make a copy of it.
 
Solution
maikutech
Your question seems abit too complicated then what your trying to make it out to be.
I suggest you pick a hdd you want to install windows 8 on, next make a list of what programs you want installed.
After you install windows, install your drivers and then your programs, configure the system the way you want it, last save the windows update for later.
Depending on how big your windows installation might be, doing it by dvd-rw or dvd-r dual layer discs doesn't sound like a great idea.
DVD discs do wear out over time even in good protection with no direct lighting, or if you get a scratch on one of your dvds.
There goes your data and half the day of backing up the system.
https://www.winhelp.us/system-image-backup-in-windows-8-1.html...
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maikutech

maikutech

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Nov 1, 2012
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Your question seems abit too complicated then what your trying to make it out to be.
I suggest you pick a hdd you want to install windows 8 on, next make a list of what programs you want installed.
After you install windows, install your drivers and then your programs, configure the system the way you want it, last save the windows update for later.
Depending on how big your windows installation might be, doing it by dvd-rw or dvd-r dual layer discs doesn't sound like a great idea.
DVD discs do wear out over time even in good protection with no direct lighting, or if you get a scratch on one of your dvds.
There goes your data and half the day of backing up the system.
https://www.winhelp.us/system-image-backup-in-windows-8-1.html

http://www.windowscentral.com/how-make-full-backup-windows-pc

Also since your c drive is booting off a rescue partition, backup whatever files you made on it.
Delete the partition, reformat the hard drive using windows installation and start over brand new.
 
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Solution
R

RKV2016

Commendable
Oct 7, 2016
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I've already wiped the drive clean.
Thanks though.
I wish I'd known about the product key viewer before, that might have helped during the time I spent on the phone with the manufacturer and Microsoft.
Yesterday I went ahead and cleaned the drive out so I have a working machine ready for a new install.
I'll need to get an OS now.
For the sake of anyone reading this, here is the timeline that led me to post the question...

1. Microsoft forcibly upgraded me to win 10.
2. Windows 10 caused me hardware issues so I had to restore my laptop to the original win 8.1 OS.
3. Win 8 ran fine for 3 days while microsoft update did 240 updates to my system.
4. On the 4th day, the last update from microsoft crashed my machine and corrupted the partitions on my drive after the restart.
5. I then spent 2 days on the phone trying to get info from microsoft who continually disconnected my calls. Microsoft washed their hands of it all and sent me to the manufacturer for support.
6. I spent another day on the phone with the manufacturer who's only concern was that my machine was 3 months out of warranty. They offered to send me a reinstall disk for $40.
7. After that, on my own, I got into the cmd prompt and began the process of figuring out the extent of the damage. The recovery partitions were gone as reported by disk management as well as DISKPART in cmd. The C drive with the working installation was suffering badly and was overwriting itself somehow so that the performance continually got worse.
8. Finally, I used a bootable disk and cleaned the drive out completely.
Now I need to decide on what OS I can run and what drivers I need to find in order to make everything tangible be as functional as it should be. It's just over a year old so that shouldn't be too hard.
Thanks for the replies.
I have a new hatred for the entire computer industry at this point but I need a working machine so I'm still in the game. If I can avoid microsoft from now on, I will.
 
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maikutech

maikutech

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Computers can be a blessing and a curse so its a give and take when you deal with them.
If your hardware isn't that old and you know the drivers worked all through w7 and w8 it will work on w10.
You will need to look up the hardware and see what will work and won't work out.

If you want bring me your laptop model name and serial number if you can do that.
I'll be able to verify what will work on the laptop, as for choosing the os.
Chose one that you feel most comfortable with, then learn about windows 10 and warm up to it over time.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Microsoft-Windows-7-Genuine-Professional-32-64bit-Full-Version-License-COA-Key-/161907838658?hash=item25b2758ec2:g:sIcAAOSwNphWYXJ5

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00F3ZN2W0/ref=sr_1_2_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1476554976&sr=8-2&keywords=windows+8+professional+64+bit+product+key
 
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