HP DV6 recovery files

[mb500]

The original hard drive in my laptop died. It had the recovery files on it. I put in a new hard drive and would like to reinstall the operating system. The driver downloads page tells me I need to order the recovery files, which takes me to a page that tells me I need to download the files. The support chat window tells me I need to ask the community, the community tells me I need to contact support. I can't seem to find a way to do that. Can someone just tell me whether or not this is possible?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

HP no longer sells recovery media for that model series, which is probably why you are going on the road to nowhere.

You can order W8 recovery media from this non-HP vendor at the link below...

http://www.computersurgeons.com/p-23038-windows-8-64-bit-recovery-kit-708588-001-for-hp-envy-noteboo...

But before you do that, here is a way you can reinstall W8.1 for free by using the W8 product key in your notebook's BIOS.

Install W8.1 by creating the Microsoft installation media, using another Windows PC, if yours is not working...You want W8.1 64 bit.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows8ISO

Only if you are asked to enter a product key during the installation process, use this generic key.

This is the generic key for W8.1 'standard.'

334NH-RXG76-64THK-C7CKG-D3VPT

If you had to enter the generic key, manually change the generic product key to the W8 'standard' key in your PC's BIOS in the PC settings menu.

After you get W8.1 installed, and you had to manually enter the W8.1 generic product key, you will need to run the free utility I zipped up and attached below, that will show you show the W8 product key in your PC's BIOS.

I have also zipped up and attached below, the Microsoft tool which hopefully will transfer the ISO file to a DVD or usb flash drive so it is bootable.

Then you can install the available drivers and software from your PC's support page.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/HP-ENVY-dv6-Notebook-PC-series/5296055/model/531690...

[mb500 · Accepted solution]

Based on Paul’s suggestion, my solution turned out to be very easy. I had upgraded to Windows 10 at some point in the past, so I downloaded an app from Microsoft on a different machine that created a bootable Windows 10 installer on a USB flash drive. Then I set my laptop to boot from a USB drive and 20 minutes later I was up and running. Windows Update found all the drivers for me.