[SOLVED] Can I load Win8.1 on hard drive using a 2nd running hard drive

[BoboTWG]

I hope this is the correct forum. I did not see a Win8 forum.
I have a laptop that I have somehow wiped the hard drive while working on it. When I try to boot it I get "No Operating System Found". I checked that the hard drive was still connected. Removed hard drive and connected it to 2nd laptop via USB. It brings up the hard drive but shows it empty. 1st laptop is (was) running Win8.1, the 2nd laptop is running Win7. Put laptop back together and tried to get into BIOS and have not been able to. The only thing I get is the No Operating System message. It is an Acer and I have tried tapping, holding, and cussing the F2 button while powering on. I have tried to get to the boot menu and the Windows repair menu. I have tried F2, F8, F12, DEL, plus others that I have seen mentioned in way too many forums.
I want to know if I can load Win8.1 on the 1st laptop's hard drive when it is connected to the 2nd laptop via USB. I have a bootable ISO of Win8.1 loaded on a thumb drive via Windows USB/DVD download tool. Is this possible.
Thank you in advance for helping me on this.
Aaron

 

[ClapTrapper]

Yes, the official Update window closed long ago.
With a valid Win 8.1/8/7 license, it still works to activate a new Win 10 install.

I've done this recently.

Great. There's an option for me. Maybe when Win8.1 is End Of Lifed I'll like Win 10 better. Thanks for the info!

 

[Darkbreeze]

If we're being honest here, I was (Seemingly) one of the few people who actually LIKED Windows 8.1, aside from the start menu usability and tile issues. And Windows 10 makes me wonder why, because it's superior in every way. At least, and especially, behind the scenes. I still don't like the stupid start menu tiles. My desktop isn't some futuristic urban plaza where I want to see flashing video screens and holograms from every marketing presence with a bank account, it's a launch pad for a specific set of applications and shortcuts that I want there for easy access. It's my only qualm about Windows 10 and it's easily solved with shell tweaks like Classic shell, Start is back, Open shell, etc.

Keep one thing in mind as well. Officially Microsoft was supposed to have killed off the free upgrade years ago, but didn't. The reason they didn't is because there were still so many users out there on Windows 7 and 8.1 that didn't take advantage of the free upgrade. Microsoft wants everybody on Windows 10, but they realize people are slow or hesistant, or outright resistant to having to make changes to things they are accustomed to, so for now they are happy to leave things as they are because it means that some of the people who have a choice in the matter may still willingly decide to make the switch. As we begin to get closer to the EOL date for Windows 8.1, and therefore Microsoft's ability to legally stop supporting that OS for consumers, I think you will see a shift in policy from Microsoft because they will know that once it goes EOL there will no longer BE any other realistic options and you will HAVE to use Windows 10, so they can at that point (Which is going to likely come BEFORE it goes EOL) in actuality end the free upgrade and begin charging people to license the product or upgrade.

If you haven't done it before then, you may be out of luck. They could at ANY time between now and January of 2023, without any warning, stop the ability to upgrade these deprecated Windows versions, and likely they will at some point.

Plus there are many benefits to making the switch sooner rather than later. For one, Windows 10 has a MUCH improved driver support framework. For another, MOST hardware that has been released over the last year or so, and largely all hardware going forward, will lack drivers for anything older than Windows 10. So that new keyboard and mouse. Yep, no drivers. Brand new motherboard? Yes, it has only Windows 10 drivers available for the chipset and onboard hardware. And so on.