2) Do a full system backup using e.g. one of [2]. (I am old-fashioned, so I still like [3]).
Step #2 is the really important one. Even without #1, you can always download a Windows install disk image (to another PC if your laptop is dead), use it to create a bootable USB drive, install Windows, then restore everything from your backup.
I also like to follow #3 for a full system backup. Additionally, I take this onto a drive that I can just drop into the laptop and be running again instantly. Some pros and cons of the approach:
Pros:
A. I do not have to trust the restore process. That is an issue specially with #1, where testing whether a restore will actually work is hard [1]. I have had cases when I had successful backups but when needed, the restore gave an instant non-helpful error message and the support staff was equally non-helpful. They already have the EULA set to save themselves under such scenarios.
B. I use two hard disks ideally bought at two years offset wrt each other. Hard disks have a life of typically four years. When the laptop drive fails, I swap it with the backup drive and go buy a new drive to use as backup from that point on.
Cons:
A. Process is time-consuming. It is also error-prone, so presents a large cognitive load. As a result, I always use #1 as the regular backup method, on local drives or cloud.
B. The system would sometimes fail to "boot" from the backup, but this has always been just a matter of fixing the master boot record using Windows disks, stressful and time-consuming nevertheless. Theoretically, Windows piracy prrotection can also trigger from the hardware change, but it never has since there is some allowance for exactly these type of fair situations.
[1] Even with #1, the local backup method I use is uncompressed copies of the files, so that the restore process is plain file copying also. There are many free tools to manage this incrementally like FreeFileSync, Syncback Freeware, etc.
Even with a Windows install disk image, if the manufacturer requires drivers and the install disk image doesn't have those (I'm looking at you Acer), than your restore experience is going to be bad.
Pros:
A. I do not have to trust the restore process. That is an issue specially with #1, where testing whether a restore will actually work is hard [1]. I have had cases when I had successful backups but when needed, the restore gave an instant non-helpful error message and the support staff was equally non-helpful. They already have the EULA set to save themselves under such scenarios.
B. I use two hard disks ideally bought at two years offset wrt each other. Hard disks have a life of typically four years. When the laptop drive fails, I swap it with the backup drive and go buy a new drive to use as backup from that point on.
Cons:
A. Process is time-consuming. It is also error-prone, so presents a large cognitive load. As a result, I always use #1 as the regular backup method, on local drives or cloud.
B. The system would sometimes fail to "boot" from the backup, but this has always been just a matter of fixing the master boot record using Windows disks, stressful and time-consuming nevertheless. Theoretically, Windows piracy prrotection can also trigger from the hardware change, but it never has since there is some allowance for exactly these type of fair situations.
[1] Even with #1, the local backup method I use is uncompressed copies of the files, so that the restore process is plain file copying also. There are many free tools to manage this incrementally like FreeFileSync, Syncback Freeware, etc.