retrieve win 11 product key for my failing Pavilion 15

[dridge3770]

I have a failing hard drive on another computer. I need to replace the disk drive and need a product key for WIN 11, which was installed on the failing computer.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

If the PC came with W10 or W11, the product key is in the BIOS.

You don't need the product key to reinstall Windows 11.

W11 will automatically pick up the W10/W11 product key in the BIOS.

If you upgraded the PC to W10 and then to W11 from an older operating system, then when you get past W11's Install Now screen, you will be asked to select the version of W11 you want to install.  Select W11 Home or Pro (as applicable).

Then you will be asked to enter a product key.

Select the 'I don't have a product key' option and W11 will install and automatically activate after you are connected to the internet.

[dridge3770]

That excellent news! Thank you. And the next question is, "What took the industry so long to come up with that?" 🤔😂

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome. 

Microsoft started requiring PC manufacturers to encrypt the Windows product keys in the PC's BIOS when Windows 8 was released to market back in 2012.

Windows 7 was the last OS where the product key was attached to the PC's case.

[dridge3770]

I'm still flummoxed. Trying to download Win 11 on a separate computer 🙂 but the download file is 5G. I have a thumb drive with 460G available. As I try to drag and drop, I'm told the  file  (5G) is too big for the destination drive (w/ 460G available).

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You can't drag and dop the ISO file to a USB flash drive to install Windows.

Run the free Rufus utility on the PC you downloaded the ISO file to transfer the ISO file to the USB flash drive so that it is bootable.

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

If the PC has a UEFI BIOS, set up the Rufus menu the way you see it in the illustration for Windows installations.

If the PC does not have a UEFI BIOS change the partition scheme in the Rufus menu from GPT to MBR.

After Rufus has created the bootable USB flash drive you can boot from it and install Windows.

[dridge3770]

after creating the bootable thumb drive, I boot the new-disk-drive-pc with the thumb drive inserted. I walk away to let it do its thing and return with the "circle of dots" frozen, text of "Just a moment" and nothing apparently happening. Attempting to reboot with Ctl-Alt-Del achieves nothing. A power-off/power-on with thumb drive inserted provides the HP logo with a rotating arc continuing to a rotating set of dots with the "Just a moment" text recurring. It appears I need to reconstruct the thumb drive....  Note: I had upgraded to Win 11 from the originally installed Win 10 when that option became available... 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Unfortunately, I wouldn't know what the problem is.

I've never had an issue installing W10/W11 from the flash drive.

I follow the on-screen instructions, Windows installs, the PC restarts, and I am at the screen to begin setting up the new installation.

I recommend that you start a new discussion regarding that problem.

Your PC may be supported by the HP cloud recovery tool, so you can also look into that option to reinstall Windows, the drivers and the software that originally came with your notebook.

Here's an info link for how to use the utility.  You will need a 32 GB USB flash drive.

HP Consumer PCs - Using the HP Cloud Recovery Tool in Windows 11 and 10 | HP® Support

You can download the software from the Microsoft Store.

HP Cloud Recovery Tool - Free download and install on Windows | Microsoft Store

Since you have to use the cloud recovery tool on another PC, you will need to enter your PC's product number in the tool's search window to proceed to make the recovery media.

You should be able to find the product number of the notebook on the case, in the BIOS's system information window, or by entering the serial number in the search window at the link below.

You must also include the #ABA that follows the product number.

HP PartSurfer

[dridge3770]

on this retry, the screen on the new-disk-drive computer ends up black, with a cursor responding to the touch pad "movement". no other messages.

[dridge3770]

after an hour or so, I return to the computer to find "Let's get you connected to the internet". So apparently, I just too impatient....