Hi Mike, it may well work OK providing the hardware is exactly the same if the operating system is Windows 7 or lower, however Windows 8 and above the product key is now embedded in the UEFI BIOS system, add to that the hardware recognition is more sophisticated and from what I can gather it takes note of serial numbers. So I cannot be sure if a transfer to a different but similar machine will work with the higher operating systems, a case of try it and see.
A note also about the difference between a system image and a system clone.
A system image is the entire system, operating system, installed programs, and data that is turned into a compressed file for storage on an external storage medium such as an external hard drive. That image can then be reinstalled to the computer should the original drive become corrupted or duff. Usually requires a boot disk to run the install and does take some time to do.
A clone is once again everything except it is not compressed and is an exact copy of the system, usually copied onto a spare hard drive that can be installed to replace an original hard drive. No boot disk required and no waiting time.
For home or even business backup purposes I personally think that the expense of having a spare hard drive holding a clone is well worth doing, as it is just the time required to remove a duff drive and fit the spare, the computer is back up and running again.
It may not even be a duff drive, it could be one locked up by one of the ransomewares such as cryptolocker for example.
Nev.