Replacement OS

[last22775]

HDD died, no disk image or recovery media created => need a replacement for the OS.

Just spoke to hp's sales department (they call themselves "support") and confirmed what I kind of knew: hp will not provide the OS (for the license of which I paid when I bought the laptop) for free or a nominal fee. In the words of hp (support) sales representative: "hp provides the replacement OS completely for free and only charges for shipping and handling $58.00". Beautiful double speak.

Any advice of how to get an OS (other than buying a new copy from MS rather than the limited hp OEM one)?

Would you recommend Linux or Chrome? I'm a fairly advanced user, the laptop would be used for offline office work as well as online browsing and some entertainment.

Thanks in advance.

[Huffer]

"Laptop", huh? How do you expect to get help without sharing some information with us? The devil is in the details which are lacking here. Need some idea of the model of this "laptop". 

[last22775]

Huffer, fair enough.
Laptop model # 13-a010dx

Thanks!

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

I see a couple choices here. Microsoft used to make an OEM .iso of Windows 8.1 available for download, but that was pulled a while back. You may still be able to find it on a mirror site but that is a bit dangerous. 

Did the laptop ever have Windows 10 on it? If so it can be reinstalled with no Key Code. Just download the installer disk from Media Creation Tool site. 

Chrome is a crippled minimally functional OS for elementary school children. Linux is always a viable option for the computer savvy. I have been using it for almost 20 years but have not been able to get a lot of other folks interested. It requires some work and under the hood technical understanding that few people are willing to develop. Kind of like driving a finicky custom hot rod. 

Post back with any more questions.  

[last22775]

Huffer,

Thanks for the advice. Concise and to the point.

No W10, so it seems Linux it is.

[Huffer]

I like Ubuntu and actually use Kubuntu which is based on the K-desktop instead of Gnome...broadly, K desktop is more like Windows and Gnome is more Mac-like. 

Be sure you get the latest distribution. Common choke points are wireless and audio....sometimes extra configuration is needed. 

For the most part Linux drivers are more complex to implement than Windows. Not just download and execute, sometimes requires rebuilding a kernel or "making" the installation package. Your laptop is old enough that a current Linux distro is likely to "just work", however. 

[last22775]

Any expected issues with the touch screen?

Thanks again.

[Huffer]

Again get a current distro...on most touchscreens it "jut works".