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HP Recommended
HP Notebook

Hi, I'm trying to sort out my friend's computer but something is really fishy. 

 

Model no. 14-ac106ns

S/N: ********69

O/S: Windows 10 Pro v. 1607 build 14393.0

 

My friend is a complete technophobe, so when she bought the computer new in September 2016, she immediately handed it over, still boxed, to some guy to "set it up" for her.  She only got the computer back, no box, manual, paperwork, nothing.

 

Anyway, now every time she starts her computer she gets the Windows pop-up message "Your licence will expire soon" and that's why I've been called in.  In trying to fix this for her I've come across several things that seem anomalous:

 

A computer with 4GB RAM costing €260 has Windows Pro?

There is no expiry date on the licence.  The activation section says "activated by your organisation"

There is no HP software on this computer whatsover!

HP support website tells me the warranty has expired.

Hitting Esc then F10 at startup to get the system information includes "Born On Date: 00/00/0000"

 

Suspecting that the guy who "set up" the computer replaced the original OS with Pro (he virtually admitted as much when challenged) I tried a system restore.  Since there is no HP software on this computer I couldn't use HP recovery so I used Windows recovery.  This re-installed Windows 10 Pro and the licence expiry message still persists.  I don't know what to do next.

 

Please can somebody confirm whether this is the O/S the computer came with?  Is it possible that this guy reformatted the hard drive / switched the hard drive / switched the whole computer??  If so, any evidence I can take to the police would be very much appreciated as well as any suggestions as to how I can put this right now.

 

Thank you!

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
HP Recommended

Hi:

 

Below is the link to the product specs for that model.

 

http://support.hp.com/us-en/product/HP-14-ac100-Notebook-PC-series/8499318/model/11351299/document/c...

 

Under the software section, it originally came with W10 Home and some HP software.

 

Is the hard drive 500 GB?  If so, for whatever reason, the guy probably reformatted the drive and put W10 pro on it.

 

I have zipped up and attached a free utility that will allow you to retrieve the W10 Home OEM product key in the BIOS, below.

 

It should show a W10 Home OEM product key and a W10 pro product key (if the guy entered one).

 

I doubt the notebook was switched and since you don't have the box which may have had the serial number on it, there is no way of telling.

 

As far as the warranty being expired, that is quite possible.  The warranty is only good for 1 year, and HP starts it beginning at the time the PC leaves the factory, not when it is purchased by the consumer.

 

You can submit a warranty dispute if your friend still has the invoice/sales receipt showing the purchase date.

 

Contact HP for the country you live in at the link below...

 

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-contact-us.html

View solution in original post

5 REPLIES 5
HP Recommended

Hi:

 

Below is the link to the product specs for that model.

 

http://support.hp.com/us-en/product/HP-14-ac100-Notebook-PC-series/8499318/model/11351299/document/c...

 

Under the software section, it originally came with W10 Home and some HP software.

 

Is the hard drive 500 GB?  If so, for whatever reason, the guy probably reformatted the drive and put W10 pro on it.

 

I have zipped up and attached a free utility that will allow you to retrieve the W10 Home OEM product key in the BIOS, below.

 

It should show a W10 Home OEM product key and a W10 pro product key (if the guy entered one).

 

I doubt the notebook was switched and since you don't have the box which may have had the serial number on it, there is no way of telling.

 

As far as the warranty being expired, that is quite possible.  The warranty is only good for 1 year, and HP starts it beginning at the time the PC leaves the factory, not when it is purchased by the consumer.

 

You can submit a warranty dispute if your friend still has the invoice/sales receipt showing the purchase date.

 

Contact HP for the country you live in at the link below...

 

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-contact-us.html

HP Recommended

Thank you!  And thank you for replying so quickly.  The utility did indeed bring up a Pro key and an OEM key.  That's brilliant!

 

Is there any way I can retrieve the HP software that would have come with it?

 

Can you think of any reason why this guy would have reformatted the drive and put Pro on?  I understand that all she wanted him to do was to move her personal files over from her old computer.

 

Thank you for your help!

 

 

HP Recommended

You're very welcome.

 

Why would they do such a thing?

 

Unfortunately, I have no idea. 

 

They must have messed something up big-time during the transfer process, and didn't have a W10 Home installation disk.

 

You can order a W10 recovery kit from HP's e-partner at the link below...That should restore the notebook to its 'out of the box' condition.

 

I think this page is defaulted to the UK. 

 

If you are not in the UK, click on the globe icon on the top right of the page and select your country of residence.

 

https://www.best2serve.com/page/rcd_landing

 

 

HP Recommended

Perfect, thank you!  At least I now know I can get it back to the way it should be.

 

Thank you so much for your help.  Have a lovely evening!

HP Recommended

Anytime.

 

Glad to have been of assistance.

 

You have a great evening too!

† The opinions expressed above are the personal opinions of the authors, not of HP. By using this site, you accept the <a href="https://www8.hp.com/us/en/terms-of-use.html" class="udrlinesmall">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="/t5/custom/page/page-id/hp.rulespage" class="udrlinesmall"> Rules of Participation</a>.