Easiest way to replace preinstalled Windows 8 with new hard drive with Windows 7

There are all kinds of questions and answers relevant moving Windows 8 to a new hard drive. I'm not seeing anything quite applicable to my situation.

I have a new, unopened, unbooted notebook with pre-installed Windows 8. I will be replacing the hard drive before ever booting, unless that is not possible for some reason. I want to "downgrade" to Windows 7 Pro, and I want a clean installation. To do so legitimately, I apparently either need to:

1. Upgrade Windows 8 to Windows 8 Pro using Windows 8 Pro Pack, then downgrade; or


2. Just install a newly-licensed copy of Windows 7 Pro.

(Let me know if I've missed an option.)

Installation media is likely not a problem, though if I need something vendor-specific that I cannot otherwise download, that could present an issue (Asus notebook, if that matters). If I could, I would just buy the Pro Pack upgrade, swap the hard drive (without ever booting), then install Windows 7 Pro directly on the new hard drive, using the Pro Pack key for activation. Will this work? Are there any activation issues?

Edited to clarify, as some comments and answers indicate confusion:

Here is, ideally, what I want to do:

1. Before ever powering on the notebook, remove the current hard drive.


2. Replace this hard drive with a new, blank hard drive.


3. Install a clean copy of Windows 7 Pro on this new, blank hard drive.

Unless I have no choice to accomplish the end result (a clean install of Win7 Pro on the newly-installed, previously-blank hard drive), I am not wanting to:

1. Install Windows 7 "over" the current Windows 8 install (after upgrading to Win8 Pro). That would involve using the currenly-installed hard drive. I want to use a new, different hard drive.


2. Copy the Win8 install to the new hard drive, then install Windows 7 "over" that installation.


3. Install Windows 7 "over" the current Windows 8 install (after upgrading to Win8 Pro), then copy the installation to the new hard drive.

If I have to use one of those three options, I will, but only if there is no other choice. Please note that this question is not about licensing: I will purchase the necessary license(s) to accomplish this procedure legally (apparently either Win8 Pro Pack or Win7 Pro -- the former currently appears less expensive).

Answer

After following some links, I believe I have found my answer.

From Microsoft's "Downgrade Rights FAQ" near the bottom of this page:

Q. Will the downgraded software require product activation? If so, what product key should be used to activate the software?

A. Once the downgraded software is installed, the PC will prompt for a product key in order to activate the software. The product key associated with the original Windows software should be used for activation. If the product key has been previously activated, which is likely if the media came from a prior legally licensed version that has been activated in the past, the software may be unable to activate over the Internet, due to the hardware configuration change when installing this media onto the Windows 8 or Windows 7 system. When this happens, the appropriate local Activation Support phone number will be displayed, and the person performing the downgrade will need to call the Activation Support Line and explain the circumstances to a customer service representative.

Once it is determined that the end user has a valid Windows 8 Pro, Windows 7 Professional, or Windows 7 Ultimate license, the customer service representative will provide a single-use activation code that can be used to activate the software.

This answer strongly suggests that, no matter what, I will end up having to call Activation Support if I want to use my first option, which is to buy Windows 8 Pro Pack but install Windows 7 Pro. While I happen to have a volume licensing agreement, new Windows license keys are not part of my specific agreement, so I will probably just reuse one from a prior installation, get the error, and call the hotline.

The volume licensing agreement does confirm the downgrade rights I am describing, though it appears that any consumer with a valid Win8 Pro license could downgrade to Win7 Pro at this time.

I have MSDN, but I believe use of one of my Win7 keys from MSDN for this purpose may violate my MSDN license, so I'm not going to go that route.

Of course, just buying a new Win7 Pro license would appear also to work, but right now, Win8 Pro Pack appears cheaper. Since I don't mind the activation hassle this time to save a few bucks, I think that is the route I will go. Plus, I will have Win8 Pro available (for that machine only, since the original Win8 is an OEM install) in case I ever decide to go back to that OS or upgrade to a later one that requires a Win8 Pro license.

To summarize, I plan to:

1. Determine whether Windows 7 drivers are available for the machine, and obtain those drivers.


2. Purchase a Windows 8 Pro Pack license.


3. Swap the pre-installed hard drive for a new, blank one. This is because the new drive will be faster and have greater capacity (new drive: hybrid 7200RPM 750GB; old drive: 5400RPM 500GB with unwanted, OEM-installed software).


4. Turn off Secure Boot.


5. Install Windows 7 using a USB key specifically set up for a UEFI install (I already have this USB key available). If UEFI does not work, I will simply perform a legacy-mode install from DVD.


6. Use the activation key from my last Win7 install.


7. Get the activation error and call Activation Support to get a valid activation code.