I need to reinstall win 10 - no discs

[Loggerjack]

Hi,

I bought HP laptop (X031NA Energy Star) new from ebay in 2016. The warranty expired aug 2017. I'd installed Linux Mint 18 on it - dual boot.

Recently Windows began a never-ending update, took several days, it wouldn't let me switch off, huge amounts of data transfer, goodness knows what it was doing. When it was finished, I could no longer boot Linux. I could still see two operating systems in the OS boot manager, Linux was first, Windows second, but it would always boot windows, couldn't launch Linux.

I tried re-installing Linux in a third partition, hoping the installation process would fix what ever Windows had done in the BIOS, but no good. I urgently needed my Linux system for work purposes, so in desperation I overwrote the entire HDD with a new Linux installation, and that worked, Mint 18 works perfectly, and I got my work finished.

Now I have a bit of time, I would like to set up the dual boot again (and this time disable Win Update Manager - I only use windows infrequently for 1 application). Problem is the notebook didn't come with discs. It came from a reputable ebay seller but I can't find him again.

Is there any way I can get Win 7 installation discs without paying a fortune? I've already paid for it once, I have the serial number of the notebook, but obviously I can't retrieve the product key. Presumably HP can check that it's installed on the same notebook. Can anyone offer advice, please?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

I can't help you get W7 disks for the PC, since it came with W10 from HP, but you can always clean install W10 for free at any time by using the Media Creation Tool at the link below.

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

The tool will allow you to create a bootable W10 USB installation flash drive, or save an ISO file which you can burn to a DVD using your DVD burning program's burn ISO file option.

The tool will also work with the W10 product key in your PC's BIOS and activate once you are connected to the internet.

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

[Loggerjack]

Thanks for your help Paul. When I said I wanted Win 7 installation discs, that was a typo, I meant win 10. Sorry for the confusion.

I assumed I would have lost my product key when I overwrote W10 OS, but you give me hope. Do I need to find the key in my BIOS and do something with it? Or will the installation tool find it without help? If the latter, it looks like you've solved my problem.

I can't view the page you linked at the moment - it re-routed me because I'm using a chromebook, but I can visit it again later with a borrowed windows laptops. In the meantime, could you please tell me whether the tool will find and accept the product key without any help from me.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Yes, you have to be using a Windows PC to use the Media Creation tool.

The product key is in the BIOS chip on the motherboard, not on the hard drive, so you don't need it to install W10.

W10 will automatically pick it up and install.

You just need to know what edition of W10 came with the PC.  The specs state W10 Home, 64 bit.

https://support.hp.com/emea_middle_east-en/document/c05214756

If you live in a European Union (EU) country, you may need to download the W10 Home N version and not the plain W10 Home version.

Here is a link from Microsoft that discusses the various versions of Windows.   While this article specifically pertains to W7, it also pertains to W8, W8.1 and W10.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/11529/what-is-a-windows-7-n-edition

After you install W10, and if for some reason it doesn't activate because it states the product key is not for the version of Windows 10 you installed, I have zipped up and attached a free utility below, that will show you the product key in the BIOS and it should also report exactly what version of W10 the key is good for.

[Loggerjack]

Thank you again for taking so much time and care.

I've downloaded the tool and am now creating a USB boot drive. When I selected UK English as my language, my only choice of W10 version was .... "Windows 10". I too thought it would be the Home edition, so I something doesn't seem right. As I previously mentioned, I used the Windows partition infrequently, for an accounting programme. I presume the OS used UK English because that's where I bought the laptop and I never noticed that it wasn't. At present download rate, it'll be a few hours before I know whether it will work or not. 

But you have been good enough to provide me with a plan B if the installer doesn't match my key, so hopefully I'll get there in the end. My plan is to (hopefully) re-install W10, let it fully update then disable the updater, then install Linux Mint on a separate partition. If I can do all that, I'll have the ideal setup for my needs ... again!

Once again, thank you for going above and beyond in your support. I'll report back with the results in due course and mark your answers with all the kudos they deserve.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I just tested the media creation tool myself, and you are correct, there is no version of W10 to select--Just W10 and a choice for it to be 32 or 64 bit.

That is good news in that with the older tools, you had to choose from at least half a dozen versions of W10--Home, Pro, Single language, N...

So, M$ must have rolled all the version combos into one file and the key installs whatever version of W10 it is good for.

[Loggerjack]

Looks like the installer would have worked OK but there's a formatting issue   😞

"Windows cannot be installed to this hard disc space. Windows must be installed to a partition formatted as NTFS.

Windows cannot be installed to this hard disc space. The partition is of an unrecognised type."

Can you recommend a partition/format tool that will do the job?   🙂

[Paul_Tikkanen]

See if the free software can be used as a bootable CD...first item on the list...

https://www.minitool.com/download-center.html

or this one...

https://www.wikihow.com/Use-GParted

[Loggerjack]

Thanks yet again. That looks promising. My girlfriend has demanded to be allowed back onto her own laptop so I'm going to have to wait till tomorrow before I have a windows system to try out the partition wizard.

I'll  be back with an update soon.....

[Paul_Tikkanen]

LOL!

Anytime.