You could simply clone the old drive and image the new one. Personally I would just download a Windows 8 ISO, burn it to a DVD, and reinstall Windows 8 from scratch on the SSD. Recovery partitions are overrated. As far as the license key is concerned, you can obtain it from the registry using Magic Jellybean keyfinder (Google it), or simply read it off the sticker underneath your laptop.
I don't get why that guy's perfectly valid question got voted down. I'm sure many people out there wonder the same thing. I'm voting him back up. If someone votes a question down they should be forced to comment otherwise it's just an abuse of down-voting rights.
possible duplicate of Free way to clone HDD to SSD? also see Windows 8 migrate from hdd to ssd
– Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2013-02-23T16:43:22.123