Reloading HP Software and Windows OS on replacement Hard Drive

[LouisJL1442]

Pavilion laptop won't boot.  Hard Drive failed DST Check, error code 94LCR3-7TC9H4-MFPWMF-60WV03.  Don't have HP Recovery Media.  If I replace the hard drive, can I generate Recovery Media from a different HP laptop model that also runs Windows 10, or do I have to create the HP Recovery Media from an identical laptop?  Also, can I generate Windows 10 recovery software from the Microsoft site and still have the OS recognize that it's "paid for" on my laptop if I replace the hard drive?

[WAWood]

@LouisJL1442 

To answer your questions ...

1) Recovery Media -- no -- the media is model-specific so, most likely, the media generated from a different model laptop will not work in yours.

2) Win10 Recovery from MS -- no -- that would most likely be a retail version of the OS, not the HP OEM version that came preinstalled on your PC.

That said, if you were to reinstall Win10 on your laptop from media created from MS, it would work, and would reactivate, but it will not contain the HP software --  only the HP Recovery Media will contain that.

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi, @LouisJL1442 

You would have to create recovery media from an identical laptop and that might not even work because the serial numbers would be different.

But yes, you can reinstall W10 as follows...the W10 OEM product key in your notebook's BIOS will definitely work with the Microsoft tool.

You can make a W10 USB flash drive installer with the Microsoft Media Creation Tool, using an 8 GB flash drive using another Windows PC, if your PC is not working.

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

If you are asked to enter a product key during the installation process, select the 'I don't have a product key' option, and W10 will install and automatically activate once you are connected to the internet.

Here are the steps to create the W10 USB flash drive installer...

Select Download tool now, and select Run.

If you agree to the license terms, select Accept.

On the What do you want to do? page, select Create installation media for another PC, and then select Next.

Select the language, edition, and architecture (64-bit or 32-bit) for Windows 10. You want 64 bit.

Select which media you want to use:

USB flash drive. Plug in a blank USB flash drive with at least 8GB of space. Any content on the flash drive will be deleted.

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

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/HP-Pavilion-17-Notebook-PC-series/8499304/model/878...