Re: [WIN8] Questions about the Win8 digital upgrade...
Well...
Try it and see what happens. If W8 balks on you, call Microsoft and ask their permission, which they will very likely grant if their present policy is similar to what it was back in the XP days.
If MSFT's rep says "NO", simply ask to speak to a supervisor and keep escalating until you get someone who says "YES".
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Don't know what software you are imaging and restoring with. I use the Seagate Acronis free version of what appears to be True Image. It has done a lot of successful imaging here from larger drives down to much smaller drives with no problem.
What seems to matter is the size of the used space on the drive more that the total drive size.
I also use at least two partitions on almost all drives. One (or now two) for the Operating System and a second much larger partition for data files.
Most of the time it is the OS partition(s) that are restored or moved from drive to drive by imaging. True Image has handled that very well, IMO.
That's it. I've used it for several years but had forgotten it's exact name. My version works with Seagate drives and with most other brands as well so long as at least one Seagate drive is present on the system.
I use that all the time when I need to restore the O/S. 