Short version: my 6mo Dell laptop failed, and they replaced the HDD under warranty. HOWEVER, the replacement only came with the OS, nothing else... including no recovery partition.
I have the "emergency" flash drive I made for the original HDD - is it useable now that the hardware has been replaced with one whihc presumably has a different serial number?
Alternatively, what's the best way to ensure I have something I can use in the event of a serious OS failure? I WISH they would ship these with OS hard copies the way they used to!!!