get back windows product key

[Erdenekhuu]

hello, I use envy17. About 5 months ago my hard drive and I changed it into SSD and I formatted it since then my windows is not activated. Is there any possibility to get back windows product key for this product? it was windows 8.1 now 10

Model: 17t-j100, Product: E1P14AV

[IT_WinSec]

Hello,

Welcome to the HP Support forum.

The Windows OEM key should be in the BIOS (but the key is for Windows 😎 >> http://www.cnet.com/news/windows-8-moves-to-bios-based-product-keys/

Download ProduKey from Nirsoft >> http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html

x86 Windows >> http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/produkey.zip

x64 Windows >> http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/produkey-x64.zip

Extract the archive and run the program.

It will open and show you the available keys it detects. Does it detect your BIOS and Windows key(s) ? Does it says Windows version ?  Take a picture of the codes and write them down. Do not post them here, just keep them for yourself.

There are several ways to activate Windows 10 - in your case specifically - and it depends on the way it was activated initially.

Here they are:

1) No code - no key - just Digital entitlement  - if you previously performed upgrade from Win 8 to Win 10 on this very same computer, if Windows 8 was activated fine and if you used Win 10 for a while, and if Windows 10 was activated eventually (it's licence was activated), then your computer has a Digital entitlement option stored on Microsoft servers. Because of this, you will no longer need a code/lic key to activate Windows if you need to reinstall it.  It will activate itself without you entering any key - it will connect online and detect your PC hardware.  More info:

>> https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12440/windows-10-activation

>> http://www.winbeta.org/news/digital-entitlement-a-new-method-of-activation-in-windows-10

2)  Use of key - if Windows 10 was activated initially with a Microsoft licensing key, you will need to enter this key again and re-activate this Windows using the key again. Only retail type of keys are accepted, aka retail licenses - not OEM/DSP types.

3) Activation using Microsoft account - Digital license - starting with Anniversary update built from last year, if you used MS account to login to the PC and if you enabled a special option, you no longer need a license key to activate your Windows - just login and use your Microsoft account - here is more info >> http://www.windowscentral.com/how-re-activate-windows-10-after-hardware-change

Based on your specific case scenario, you need to active Windows your method.

If you upgraded from Win 8 to Win 10 , it was activated using Digital Entitlement but since you performed a hardware change (HDD> SSD), this causes you problems activating Windows.

I think you will need to contact Microsoft (e.g. call or chat functions). Most likely they will request from you a proof of purchase or some other proof that you actually replaced your HDD and Microsoft will then be able to activate your Windows. Eventually, I recommend you switch to activation method via Microsoft account .  Here is:

>> https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/contactus/

>> https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/contact/virtual-agent/?flowId=smc-contactus

Let me know how it goes.