• ×
    Information
    Need Windows 11 help?
    Check documents on compatibility, FAQs, upgrade information and available fixes.
    Windows 11 Support Center.
  • post a message
  • ×
    Information
    Need Windows 11 help?
    Check documents on compatibility, FAQs, upgrade information and available fixes.
    Windows 11 Support Center.
  • post a message
Guidelines
Seize the moment! nominate yourself or a tech enthusiast you admire & join the HP Community Experts!
HP Recommended
hp pro desk 400 g4 sf f business pc
Microsoft Windows 8.1 (64-bit)

hp computer missing feature byte, buil id, serial numberm sku number, product family, system board ct number and product mame?

1 REPLY 1
HP Recommended

That sounds like it has a "virgin" motherboard in place. The process of entering all that info, which includes OS licensing, is supposed to be done at the factory and the process is called "to brand" or "to tattoo". I suppose a motherboard could very rarely slip through and never get branded (virtually impossible) but much more likely is that a person had a motherboard failure and bought a virgin motherboard, and never got it branded by a HP field service engineer. I personally years ago bought two Z620 version 2 motherboards from eBay that were sold as new. And they were... the HP shipping boxes had never been opened. The heat-sealed antistatic bags inside also were unopened. 

 

I learned about branding, did that, and it was a hassle. The codes you need are on the bottom of the case and some of the other info is on other case labels. It is much easier to just buy a used motherboard off eBay if yours fails... it will already be branded with the original computer's codes and hopefully also branded for the OS you wish to run. 

 

You can run a virgin motherboard just fine, but you will need to buy an OS license. You can't use the Windows HP-created Recovery optical disk sets or the more recent HP Cloud Recovery downloadable installers if the branding codes are not properly entered, however. That has to do with licensing and legality (which generally means money).

† 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>.