Order recovery media: "Sorry we appear to have an issue with one of our services (DFSL) , please wait a few moments and try again."

Are you still under warranty and in the US or Canada? That error appears when the computer is out of the original 1 year warranty period or the tag is incorrect. You can use another Dell reinstall disk for the exact same version of windows. Or--explain why you need to reinstall and someone can help here in the forum. 

It is out of warranty. That is a pretty stupid message; why not "You are out of warranty".

This is a two year old laptop and the harddrive died. The original usb recovery media that was made when the laptop was new does not work after sitting in a drawer for the past two years.

 I purchased a new harddrive. Dropped it in and the computer does not dedect it on startup.  I put the usb drive in another working computer and it is not detected there either. Haven't a clue why. It is absurd (I know, I know, seen a million other rants on the forums) that situations like this are made impossible by OEM manufacturers and Microsoft.

I have a macbook, when the harddrive died, I put in a new one, booted to network, and the macbook downloaded and installed OSX from scratch.

OK, Microsoft and Dell decided that is too easy a solution, but would it really be that difficult for Dell or Microsoft to have downloadable ISO that picks up the embedded key in BIOS and installs a new copy of Windows 8?

Heck, you can at least get downloadable ISOs for Windows 8, but the lack of Certificate of Authenticity or some method of reinstallation is just a big "I don't care about you now that I have your money" from Microsoft and OEMs.

If you would have read the first line on the site, you would have seen that you NEED to be under warranty to get the software. Microsoft stopped supplying isos for systems other than Win 8 because they want everyone to upgrade to Win 8.  If you really want Win 7 or earlier, you will need to purchase the operating system.

The issue with the USB drive could be anything. Did you try to boot it after you prepared the recovery drive? A successful drive would not degrade in two years.

For a guy lecturing someone for not reading, it is ironic that you seem to have not read what I wrote. 

It is just out of warranty, so yeah...my bad on line one.

It is Windows 8. The laptop is about 18 months old. I tried the USB stick in not one but two computers--now to be fair, perhaps a Dell Recovery stick will not boot a lenovo (cannot think of any reason why it would not, but OK, maybe it doesnot.) . There are files on the USB stick, it simply does not work. It will not boot from either  machine. I disabled secure boot, enabled legacy boot and did everything that a hundred different forums suggest...it does not boot. I suspect the Dell recovery media creation software failed to properly install the boot sector. I have read dozens of posts from people who made recovery disks and usb drives with Dell's recovery creation software and there are many that simply don't work.

OK, they don't want to supply a factory recovery disk/usb stick for free.

That does not excuse a nonsense message that tells you nothing. How about "Sorry, you are out of warranty--we can sell you some recovery media for (fill in price)."

Are you really going to defend that kind of service? I did everything that a reasonable person could be expected to do except read the first line of page that I clicked on from another forum link that did not say, HEY READ THE FIRST LINE OR YOU WILL GET SOME NONSENSE RESPONSE.

This is an 18 month old laptop with a faulty harddrive. I am not asking them to replace the harddrive for free ...I just want to be able to drop in a new drive and get back up and running.

That is not an unreasonable expectation. 

I have a daring and risky proposal to get you up and running again for free-- Join the Test Preview for windows 10. Download the iso file, burn it to dvd or thumb drive and boot to it, select custom install, drive options to format the new drive and install it. The preview is working well (with some bugs) on my test computer BUT it gets replaced frequently with new builds and you cannot opt out of updates--so good external backups of personal files and some patience are required. Windows 10 upgrade will be free for windows 7 & 8 users when the final version comes out in late summer. Your Windows 8 key is embedded in the bios, but I don't know if that will work to qualify for the upgrade. That is to be decided. You can always reinstall windows 8 if you want.

windows.microsoft.com/.../preview-iso-update-1503

and read this-- windows.microsoft.com/.../preview-faq

You can prepare a Win 8 Recovery Drive by using the Windows Installation Media Creation Tool. I personally would not trust any Dell recovery tool. Have seen many people with problems.

You can install Windows 8 by downloading the windows 8.1 ISO. 

The 8.1 media will not accept an 8.0 key for installation.  If you have an 8.1 machine the 8.1 iso of the correct type will not ask for a key it will install.  You need a minimum of 8 gig flash drive to make a 64 bit usb bootable flash.  4 gig devices usually are actually 3.5 gigs so the ISO doesnt fit.

Personally I recommend downloading the ISO and then using the win7 DVD download tool to make a bootable USB flash drive.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool

There are no more COA stickers for WIN8 machines.

Pre installed OEM WIN 8.X are always 64 bit media so make sure you get the Home or Pro ISO.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

You can use the Generic Key to INSTALL but NOT to activate.

Basically you install and then go online to activate.

The key is embedded in the Rom.

These keys are for install only they will not activate.

XHQ8N-C3MCJ-RQXB6-WCHYG-C9WKB (Windows 8.1Pro.)
334NH-RXG76-64THK-C7CKG-D3VPT (Windows 8.1 Home)

Windows 8 keys are encrypted stored in the Bios installed at the factory.  There are no more COA Stickers due to piracy. (OEM System Builder Versions Do Still have COA Stickers)

Windows 8 now comes with a Genuine Microsoft Label there are NO MORE Certificate of Authenticity (COA) Labels.

See the following examples of labels to look for.

Color-Shifting Ink
The color shift on the label is designed to change from one color to another when viewed from different angles,

making it easy to determine if it is genuine.

Windows 8: magenta to green

Windows 8 Pro: blue to purple

Windows RT: turquoise to purple

Yes, the procedure is not nearly as daunting as presented by some.

With UEFI "BIOS", to get a DVD or USB device to boot, the boot order needs to be changed to make the device the first in line. The Secure Boot feature demands this. Or, you can defeat Secure Boot and get a DVD or USB Recovery to boot. I have done this with DVDs myself, but not with A USB Recovery, but the info available says it does. I usually change the boot order, as you can leave the USB as the first device and it will be skipped during the boot if the device is not plugged in, so you don't have to change back and forth.

Did you do either with the DVD and USB?

Windows 10, do this will save you a load of headaches if you're having issues getting a copy of Windows 8/8.1.

Did it on my 7737 which was being a complete pain due to inept USB3 driver creation in 8.1.

Oh and the added bonus is you won't have to talk to Dell support about it ;-)