Hard drive failure and replacement

[_RoveR_]

Hello,

I had been hearing a clicking sound from my 4 year old Hp laptop along with slow booting. I tried hardware diagnostic test and it showed "Short DST : Failed". I'm assuming that I need to replace my hard drive. 

In that case, Is it possible to replace HDD with SSD for this model?

Also do I have to purchase windows again since it was inbuilt when I purchased the computer?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

Yes, you can replace the failing/failed hard drive with a better performing, normally more reliable 2.5" SSD.

The W10 product key is in the BIOS, so you can reinstall W10 for free on the new drive by making bootable installation media using the media creation tool at the link below.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

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

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-pavilion-15-ab200-notebook-pc-series/8499306/mod...

Below is the link to the service manual, where you can find the hard drive removal and replacement procedure.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04642845

[_RoveR_]

Thank you so much for your response.

Is there any possible ways to retrieve files from a failed hard drive since the computer is not booting up?

Also I could not find the w10 product key from bios in the startup configuration. I'm not able to find it through other options because the hard drive seems to be completely damaged

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Most likely you will not be able to recover files from a failed hard drive easily.

However, before paying a professional to do it, if you absolutely must have the files, you can buy a SATA to USB cable, plug one end into the hard drive, and the other end into a working PC's USB port, and see if you can read and copy any files from the disk to the PC.

Something like this...

https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Adapter-Cable-Support-Black/dp/B07S9CKV7X/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=...

You cannot see the Windows product key in the BIOS.

You need special software to see it when you are in Windows.

The key is not necessary to reinstall W10.   The installation will automatically find the key and activate.

You won't even be asked to enter it.