installing win10 & keeping recovery parition

[JR555]

Hello,

Laptop HP 2000 is feeling very slow even though it is empty/clean/not much software, I cleaned few start up programs and so on but it seems just old but in the end I decided I want to try windows 10 instead of windows 8.1 to see how things change, people said it will be worse so I want to keep HP recovery partition just in case things were horrible.

I never installed windows 10 and I don't remember the last time I installed windows and don't know how to deal with recovery partition.

My question, how do I install windows 10 while not affecting the recovery partition? can someone please give me some info in details how to avoid erasing of recovery partition.

P.S. Windows 10 ISO is already installed on drive C (will burn it to USB I guess), drive D seem to have the recovery part.

Thanks

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

The only way for the recovery partition to work if needed, would be for you to do an upgrade from W8.1 to W10, by clicking on the Update Now button at the link below.

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

You may even get the upgrade for free...see this link for more info...

https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-you-can-still-get-a-free-windows-10-upgrade/

If you are asked to enter a product key during the installation process, select the 'I don't have a product key' option.

Clean installing W10 will break the HP recovery manager program which is needed to make the recovery partition work.

You have 30 days to go back to W8.1 if you don't like W10 or some devices don't work properly.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4027936/windows-10-go-back-to-windows-7-or-windows-81

You also can always clean install W8.1 by using the W8 product key in your PC's BIOS.   I can give you the process to do that if you want.

[JR555]

Yes I would appreciate that, thanks for the help 🙂

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Install W8.1 by creating the Microsoft installation media, using another Windows PC, if yours is not working...You want W8.1 64 bit.

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

If you are asked to enter a product key during the installation process, use this generic key.

This is the generic key for W8.1 'Standard.'

334NH-RXG76-64THK-C7CKG-D3VPT

If you had to enter the generic key, manually change the generic product key to the W8 key in your PC's BIOS in the PC settings menu.

After you get W8.1 installed, and you had to manually enter the W8.1 generic product key, you will need to run the free utility I zipped up and attached below, that will show you show the W8 product key in your PC's BIOS.

I have also zipped up and attached below, the Microsoft tool which hopefully will transfer the ISO file to a DVD or USB flash drive so it is bootable.

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

[JR555]

Thanks a lot man for the help and the attached files, I will give the update a try, if it works perfectly I might do a clean install as the HDD is too small and I found out yesterday that the AMD CPU can't be replaced, so no upgrade will be considered e since the CPU is the worst part of it and can't be replaced.

Best regards!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.

That is an excellent idea to clean install W10 if it works fine after the upgrade.

I only have two of my PC's running on a W7>W10 upgrade still.

The rest of them, I clean installed W10, because on most of them, I installed solid state drives.

On a clean install, you do the same thing...if asked to enter a product key, select the 'I don't have a product key' option.

[JR555]

I reverted back to Windows 8 in 8 minutes lol, the CPU could not handle windows 10,

Just wanted to thank you again for you kind help 🙂

Best regards!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Sorry that W10 didn't work out for you.