A friend of mine told me that their Windows 8 laptop crashed and they didnt create the recovery set for it. They were going to borrow ANOTHER friends Windows 8 disc to install clean and use the key that their system would normally have on it like all prior versions of Windows had and surprise, no alpha numeric key, just a Windows Logo sticker on the bottom of the laptop.

They haven't attempted the install of Windows 8 clean yet as for without a key, how would you successfully install it. He asked me if the key was hidden in the BIOS somehow similar to how some of the older HP /Compaq computers use to have a piece of data in the BIOS that a recovery set verified before allowing to use the recovery set on that system, so that you couldnt use a HP/Compaq recovery set on a Dell that also had a similar motherboard and specs etc.

This was beyond my knowledge of Windows 8. I suggested that he contact the laptop manufacturer SAMSUNG and see if they can send him or sell him a recovery set. But the question still stands... where is the Windows 8 key???Hard to reach an old d fog new TRICKS.
Windows 8 moves to BIOS-based product keys
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Product keys for Windows 8 computers aren't printed on a sticker. They're encrypted in the BIOS. How might that affect you?

... utilities... which will may display your product keys if they are still there:
... http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html

If UEFI is turned off prior to install it doesn.t go to the BIOS at all...

UEFI ( Interface) is a standard firmware interface for PCs, designed to replace BIOS (basic input/output system). This standard was created by over 140 technology companies as part of the UEFI consortium, including Microsoft. It's designed to improve software interoperability and address limitations of BIOS. Some advantages of UEFI firmware include: