System recovery for HP Slimline 260-a145nf after disk crash

[VBertin]

Hello,

I had a disk crash on my HP Slimline model 260-a145nf and I unfortunately have no backup of the Windows 10 system, since no system CD or USB was provided with the computer (bought in July 2017).

I tried to download an image of the system using the "HP Cloud Recovery Tool" to install on the new hard disk, but after installation and rebooting, the system fails to start showing the message "Incorrect brand name".
Note that I could not find the system image of the exact model of my computer in the list accessible with the HP Cloud Recovery Tool.

Could someone tell me what to do now and where how I could get an image of my Windows 10 system to install on the new hard disk ?

Thanks.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Since the cloud recovery tool didn't work, you can clean install W10 by making bootable installation media using the media creation tool from the link below.

Download Windows 10 (microsoft.com)

After W10 has completed installing, you can install the drivers and available software from your PC's support page.

HP Desktop - 260-a145nf Software and Driver Downloads | HP® Customer Support

[VBertin]

Hi,

thanks for the proposed info.
Unfortunately, this solution requires to know the Windows10 licence number, while in my case this licence number was not provided with the computer (no label on the central unit or the expedition box or the HP bill...).
Any alternative suggestion ?
Would someone have an image copy of my system ?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

You're very welcome.

The W10 license/product key is in the BIOS.

You don't need to enter the key during the installation or even know what the key is in order to install W10.

[VBertin]

Thanks a lot : my system is restored and my computer is again operational !

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.