Recovery Disks

[sfog]

Have my mother's 17-e185nr with a crashed HDD.  Cannot find any way to get recovery disks or to speak with a human at HP.  Not willing to purchase an SSD and also pay for a new copy of Windows 8, so is this thing junk now?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

You can reinstall W8.1 for free.

You can make plain W8.1 64 bit installation media by downloading the W8.1 ISO file from the link below.

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

I have zipped up and attached below, the Microsoft utility you will need to transfer the ISO file to a USB flash drive or DVD so that it is bootable.

After W8.1 installs, you can install the drivers and available software from your notebook's support page.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/HP-Pavilion-17-Notebook-PC-series/5401229/model/661...

HP no longer sells recovery media for that model, so if you would rather pay to reinstall W8.1 with the original HP software image, you can order recovery media from this vendor at the link below...

http://www.computersurgeons.com/p-24508-windows-81-64-bit-recovery-kit-746874-001-for-hp-pavilion-no...

[sfog]

Thanks for the quick reply!  No install key needed for the Windows8 install?  (there is no key sticker on this laptop)

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

You're very welcome.

Starting with W8, Microsoft requires all PC manufacturers to put the Windows product key in the BIOS.

No more product key stickers.

So, as long as you install the right version of Windows 8.1 the key is good for, it won't even ask for a product key.

If it does, you know you downloaded the wrong ISO file.

You want the plain old W8.1 ISO file.