Replacing a failed hard drive but no installation disk

[PAnastasi]

HP Pavilion Notebook, Model 15T-ab200
Product ID: L8V46AV

I've run the system diagnostics on my wife's laptop and learned that the hard drive has failed. It came preloaded with Window's 7 and we later updated it to Windows 10. We do not have a backup image or installation disk. The laptop is 5 years old and out of warranty.

What hard drive replacement options should I look into?

Also, what options do I have to install Window's . We don't have an installation disk.

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

I recommend you replace the 2.5" mechanical hard drive with a better performing 2.5" solid state drive (SSD).

If you can live with 500 GB of drive space, this model would provide the best performance for the price....

Amazon.com: Western Digital 500GB WD Blue 3D NAND Internal PC SSD - SATA III 6 Gb/s, 2.5"/7mm, Up to...

Since you had previously upgraded to W10, you can reinstall W10 for free by making bootable installation media using the media creation tool from the link below.

Download Windows 10 (microsoft.com)

After W10 has completed installing, you can install the drivers and available software from your notebook's support page.

HP Pavilion 15-ab200 Notebook PC series Software and Driver Downloads | HP® Customer Support

Below is the link to the service manual, where you can find the hard drive removal and replacement procedure...

HP Pavilion Notebook (Intel)Star WarsTM Special Edition Notebook Maintenance and Service Guide

[PAnastasi]

Thanks Paul. I like the idea of using an SSD drive. But when I checked the link you gave me, and used it's provided link to confirm the model would fit our laptop, it couldn't confirm it would fit. It didn't say it didn't fit, it just couldn't confirm it would.  How sure are you that model will fit and function in my HP?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I'm very sure it will fit just fine.

It is a standard 2.5" x 7.0 mm form factor solid state drive

The supported drives for your notebook can be either 2.5" x 7.0 mm or 9.5 mm.

See chapter 1 of the service manual...

Hard drives: Supports 6.35-cm (2.5-in) SATA hard drives in 9.5 mm (.37 in) and 7.0 mm (.28 in) thicknesses
7 mm/9.5 mm share the same bracket

[PAnastasi]

Excellent. Thanks again!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.