failing HDD and changing win boot to SSD

Hi All,
I purchased a refurbished Alienware 17 about 2 weeks ago, nothing but dramas with it so far... Just lucky I guess.

Once I'd installed everything and got everything running I noticed shortly after that I was getting intermittent freezes that lasted between 5 and 30 seconds every few minutes, The mouse would still ove but nothing would work for a while.
Now just the other day I turned on my laptop and was greeted with a 'no bootable drive' error.
After doing some reading I found it most commonly occurs when the HDD has failed or is not being detected, I checked my BIOS settings though and the HDD and the SSD are both being 'seen', also ran the AW diagnostics and again, both drives are being detected and are returning no errors.
Left it overnight, booted this morning and it worked again. As soon as I restarted however, I am now met with a "Check cable connection: PXE - MOF" error telling me to reboot and select proper boot device.
I have not actually changed anything in the BIOS menus (always discarded an exited) but have checked the boot options, the boot order is the same as it was at the start:
Boot list option = UEFI (which I believe is correct for windows 8)
boot option #1 = windows boot manager
boot option #2 = windows boot manager
boot option #3 = Onboard NIC (IPV4)
boot option #4 = Onboard NIC (IPV6)

This is all how it was at the start. My HDD and SSD are still being 'seen' in the main BIOS menu but I cant seem to load windows. My mate seems to think it may be a problem with the headers on the HDD screwing up the MBR, though to be honest, I have no idea what hes talking about, hardware is not my forte.

So that is where I am at.
So far dell support has been useless, as I bought this refurbished, the service tag is still in the previous owners name, I was not informed of any transfer paperwork but I was told today that I would have to get that organised before can receive full support (after already getting transferred to 3 different departments).
Since its the weekend itll be another few days before I can get that sorted and I really would prefer to get this sorted sooner as I have a LOT of work to do and need a suitable laptop to do it.

I figured if I could reinstall windows but this time load it to the SSD, that way I can just ignore the HDD until DELL can get their **** together and oorganise a replacement. And Id prefer to boot off the SSD anyway.
The problem is, I have no installation discs, the laptop does not have an optical drive and the only installation software I have is on the hidden partition of the HDD, cant seem to find a way to launch it without actually getting into windows first.
Next option was to use a bootable USB, disconnect the HDD (or comepletely remove it) and reinstall to the SSD that way, however using the windows media tool thing, it required me to input my windows key to determine what edition etc of windows to install to the USB... This brings around another problem, The windows key I was given is somewhat buggered up, it keeps saying it is not a valid key. When I had first activated windows (when everything was working) it didnt work so I had to call windows and they gave me an override number of sorts, that doesnt help me with this though as the only input is for a key (different number format all together).
I did manage to get a link to the DELL windows install OEM thing, but this requires me to put in the specifics of the windows version, which Im not 100% sure on, and cant check without getting in to windows (Not sure what the difference is between windows 8.1, windows 8.1 (n), windows 8.1 pro, etc) and not even 100% sure if it was windows 8.1 at all or just win 8.

SO...
Im at the end of my tether here, would really appreciate ANY help I can get, I dont care about the data on the HDD as I was smart enough to copy to an external when I did manage to get into windows,
But yeah, Im basically looking for soe troubleshooting tips that I havent covered and if anyone has any ideas on installing windows to the SSD. Does the exact edition matter too much? I know its a 64bit platform, language I am assuming was english (US) but could have been english (uk), im in australia and dont have our own selection but most programs work off (us). Am i better off just using the standrad windows 8.1 and hoping for the best? and should I disconnect the HDD or remove it or just leave it?
greatly appreciate any help, sorry for the long read just didnt want to double up on anything that id already tried.

 

How about in bios ACHI boot instead of Intel or ATA.

 

Mate, if you can still return that laptop maybe you should and save yourself some hassle. It's likely the person who had it before you returned it because of the issues you are seeing!

That being said, if you wanna try and fix it, you can go to the Dell website and click on support. There you can enter your service tag number and you can download the service manual and you can also see what version of windows your laptop originally shipped with.

I would try and disconnect the HDD and maybe reseat the SSD. Take out the SSD and put it back again. It's easy to do, you only need a Philips screwdriver and the service manual shows you how to remove the SSD and HDD step by step.

With the HDD disconnected and the SSD in place you can press F12 during boot and select backup and recovery and do reinstall the OS/restore to factory settings.

Hopefully that works for you. If it does and you can boot into the OS and get set up, try shutting down the laptop and reconnecting the HDD to see if it will boot! If not, shutdown and disconnect it, get the warranty changed over and request a new HDD!!

Good luck!