retrieving product key of the windows 8.1 copy that came with the laptop

[candid_morpheus]

I accidentally wiped my hard disk and now I'm trying to reinstall the Windows 8.1 OS. Since the OS came with the laptop and is genuine, can I use the same Windows product key while reinstalling now? If I can, then where do I find that product key?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

The W8.1 product key is in the BIOS.

You will not need it to reinstall W8.1 as long as you download the right W8.1 ISO file.

The product specs for your notebook indicate that it came with W8.1 'standard' 64 bit.

If the installation doesn't activate after you install W8.1, go back and try the W8.1 Single Language ISO file download instead.

[WAWood]

@candid_morpheus 

Hello;
Allow me to welcome you to the HP Support Community!

The answer to your first question is YES -- you can reuse the same product key.

The answer to the second is you can't -- because it is encoded into the UEFI firmware of the motherboard and the utility to retrieve it requires Windows to be running.

But ... if you reinstall the same version of Win8.1 that came preinstalled -- the HP OEM version -- you will not need the product key because it will reuse it automatically.

[candid_morpheus]

Thanks a lot

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.