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The license isn't free. It comes free with a computer but other than that you have to pay for it.
And the installation software is no good without a license so distributing it probably isn't real high on Microsofts radar.
 
Best Buy said that I should have backed up the W8 that came with the laptop. I could either buy a new W8 CD or ask HP for a recovery disk.
 
So where do I get the .iso for W8?
Would the torrented one be fine?
Also would I have to use the Virtual Box Windows to get W8 iso into the USB?

Don't torrent an ISO of Windows 8; you could end up with copy with preinstalled viruses and trojans. It's a free download from Microsoft. Use Google/Bing to search for the official links.

Then use BootCamp Utility on your Mac to create the bootable USB drive.
 
Don't torrent an ISO of Windows 8; you could end up with copy with preinstalled viruses and trojans. It's a free download from Microsoft. Use Google/Bing to search for the official links.

Then use BootCamp Utility on your Mac to create the bootable USB drive.

I thought you can only use W7 for BootCamp?
 
Don't torrent an ISO of Windows 8; you could end up with copy with preinstalled viruses and trojans. It's a free download from Microsoft. Use Google/Bing to search for the official links.

Then use BootCamp Utility on your Mac to create the bootable USB drive.

Is it really a free download? I thought you had to buy one???
 
Is it really a free download? I thought you had to buy one???

The download is free, but the license to activate it is not free!

You will be able to operate it for anything up to 30 days without activation. Sometimes only three days...not sure of factors which affect how long.
 
License? What if I bought a laptop with windows 8 on it but the hard drive died?
 
License? What if I bought a laptop with windows 8 on it but the hard drive died?

You would already have a license then. Activation server would detect new hardware and it might require a phone call if it didn't reactivate automatically.

I have only ever reinstalled retail copies of Windows OSes so I am reading across to your question which might be better answered on a Windows forum, or you may get more Windows knowledgable people here in the Windows on Mac section.
 
Thanks. Can you use the license for installing Windows 8 on BootCamp for my MacBook Pro as well? That way I could have W8 on both my HP and Mac?
 
You would already have a license then. Activation server would detect new hardware and it might require a phone call if it didn't reactivate automatically.

I have only ever reinstalled retail copies of Windows OSes so I am reading across to your question which might be better answered on a Windows forum, or you may get more Windows knowledgable people here in the Windows on Mac section.

Does this mean that if I install the free OS on a new hard drive and insert it in my HP laptop, it will reactivate it automatically?
 
Does this mean that if I install the free OS on a new hard drive and insert it in my HP laptop, it will reactivate it automatically?

Don't know. The "free" OS is not a retail one, and the activation rules are different. Retail activation is more lenient. You can but try. You may have to do the automatic telephone activation which usually works for me but is a bit daunting.

Edit. Putting back in same laptop is more likely to activate straight away, but as I said earlier this is nothing to do with Macs and you will get better answers on Windows forums
 
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Does this mean that if I install the free OS on a new hard drive and insert it in my HP laptop, it will reactivate it automatically?

If you install from HP recovery disks, then yes. Unbranded OEM disks may also work, retail disks most likely not.

Your best bet is to call HP customer support. At least a couple of years ago it was possible to get a recovery disk set for ~$30, most likely this is still possible.

If you want to install Windows 8 on your Mac, according to Microsoft licensing terms you'll need to purchase a separate license.
 
I tried to connecting USB into parallels after changing it into exFAT but it still doesn't detect it.
 
It's not simple to install Windows on an external disk.
Windows installation relies on the drive being installed internally on the hardware that it will be booting from.
It's not as easy as "pick your drive, then run install", like it can be on a Mac with OS X.
You need to search out a guide to help you with that, such as: http://superuser.com/questions/5896...nto-an-external-hdd-without-affecting-the-mbr

I didn't mean that I wanted to install it on the USB drive. I wanted to burn the iso file into the USB drive so that I could burn it into a new hard drive in my Windows laptop.
 
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