OS license

[EugenMezei]

Hallo!

I have here 3 Elitebook 2170p. The two i5 versions have Windows 7 stickers on them and the i7 has Vista (or Win8, that one is not in reach now). They all came to me without a HDD/SDD.
Has HP put the activation code for the OS in the BIOS (like Dell does on some computers)? I would like to install the OS (e.g. Windows 7) and it should take his serial number from the BIOS.
If not, how can I get a legit OS?  MS says to contact the manufacturer of the computer.
Or do the stickers have no significance at all? (These are not the stickers with an activation code, just a windows logo and the version of Windows mentioned.)

[CherylG]

HP didn't insert  license key in BIOS until Windows 8 machines were released. You should have a COA attached to bottom of laptop. may be inside the hdd compartment. If not, someone may have removed the label and there is no way to recover other than purchasing a new license. Ebay usually has sellers offering them pretty inexpensively.

[WAWood]

@EugenMezei 

Sorry, but once again, MS is providing incorrect information -- as HP does not sell OSs.

IF your PC came with an OS other than Win7, you would have to BUY a copy of Win7, which would also include a license, in order to install it -- as the licenses are different for the various OS versions.

And, I would suspect anyone on e-Bay offering Win7 dirt cheap -- those are usually STOLEN Volume Licenses and those either don't work or deactivate soon after installing.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @EugenMezei 

See if you can still order W7 recovery media from HP for your PC.

You only need to order one kit, which will work on all of them.

I have this old business PC support phone number listing.  You can see if the number for your country still works.

http://jp.ext.hp.com/lib/doc/manual/desktop/business_desktops/332630_007.pdf