My grandson has a HP Stream Model 14-ax010wm which will not boot and displays Automatic Repair unsuc

[Mick-10]

The laptop will not boot, and displays the following:

HP Preparing Automatic Repair;

Diagnosing your PC;

Automatic Repair [Your PC did not start correctly; Press "Restart" to restart your PC, which can sometimes fix the problem. ]

                                  [You can also press "Advanced option"  to try other options to repair your PC]

       Restart           Advanced options

Pressing Restart results in a repeat of the preceeding sequence.

Pressing Advanced options results inthe Windows "Choose an option" 

      Continue

      Use a device    [Use a USB drive, network connection, or Windows recovery DVD]

      Troubleshoot  [Reset your PC or see advanced options]

      Turn off your PC

I used the command prompt to recover the USER Documents folder and need to reload Windows 10 in S mode.

A brief review of the hard drives appears to have what appears to be a normal inventory of Windows files. I assume the BCD or other boot control files are what was corrupted and caused the boot failure.  I need to reload Windows and require the Windows Product Key.  How do I recover it from the BIOS or from inside the case?

To accomplish the reload I need the Product Key which I assume is 

Grandson never created a recovery disk or USB, and I need to 

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

Its not as hard as you think. You do not even need to see the product key. Just download an install disk and make a bootable thumb drive from the Microsoft Media Creation Tool site. Your laptop runs Windows 10 Home x64. Get the latest Build 1809 image here:

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

The credentials are embedded in the BIOS and the MS activation servers keep a record of all machines ever activated with Windows 10 so when you reinstall it will just reactivate. 

After you install Windows 10 do this:

You open an elevated command prompt and type:

Compact.exe /CompactOS:always

This will reduce the storage footprint by 20-30% and does not slow down the system. Your laptop only has a 32 gig eMMC so you have to reduce the size of the OS footprint as much as possible. 

Post back with any more questions and please accept as solution if this is the info you needed.