Hard disk failure

[LiviuDinu]

Hello. I have purchased 2 years ago a hp notebook. My hard drive has failed. I have purchased a new harddrive but i need to install windows on it and create a recovery partition just like it was before. My laptop came with windows preinstalled. I can only find drivers on the hp support. How can i reinstall the windows without purchasing a new copy,i have already paid for one when i purchased the laptop.

[WAWood]

@LiviuDinu 

Under the OEM license, the manufacturer must provide the capability to create your own backup for free -- which was there on the PC all along.  The fact that you failed to make use of that feature is not the fault of HP -- it is your fault.

You CAN purchase something called HP Recovery Media, but since you failed to exercise the option to create your own, you NOW have to pay for that. HP is under no obligation to provide you a second copy of the OS for free.

HP Recovery Media is a set of DVDs and a CD, or USB stick, that will erase the hard drive (removing all data, settings, and applications, reinstall the original OS, drivers, and some HP Utilities.

In some cases, you may be able to order a USB stick instead of disks. You have to order these from HP; they can not be downloaded.

You can look online for Recovery Media starting with the linked paged: http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers

Once there, input your Product name or number. On your Software and Drivers Download page, select your Operating System and and Version. Click "Update".

If HP Recovery Media is available for your machine, down near the bottom of the page, you will see an entry for Order Recovery Media-CD/DVD/USB. Click the "+" symbol to expand that entry and click on Order Media for details.

Or, if you prefer, you can do the same by contacting HP Customer Service:

If you live in the US or Canada, contact information is on this page: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/phone-assist.html#section1

If you live elsewhere, contact information is on this page: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-contact-us.html

NOTE: After you get through, stay on the line until you are finally able to talk to some one -- it can take a while!

If HP no longer provides Recovery Media for your model, another site you can check is: http://www.computersurgeons.com

When you get the media, if it is a USB stick, insert it into your PC, pressing F9 to get a Boot menu, then select the External USB Hard Drive to boot from it.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @LiviuDinu 

If you don't want to pay to order recovery media, then your only other option would be to clean install W10 using the media creation tool at the link below to create a bootable 8 GB USB W10 installer.

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

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

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/HP-Pavilion-17-Notebook-PC-series/8499304/model/896...

If you want the hard drive configured to it's 'out of the box' state, then your only option would be to pay HP for recovery media, which you can order at the link below.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/mediaorder/HP-Pavilion-17-g100-Notebook-PC-series/8499304/model/8961418...

[LiviuDinu]

Mr. WAWood, i indeed had a recovery tools preinstalled but the hard disk is not working anymore. That tool which was provided was not helpful at all if the HDD is unable to power up. Now my laptop is out of guarantee,so a new hard drive was purchased to replace it. From what you are saying i have to pay again for a copy of windows just because a piece of hardware failed. 

[LiviuDinu]

Dear Paul, will i have to pay for the windows if i download from microsoft? Will it require some sort of paid activation if downloaded from the store? Thank you for the links submitted. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

You will not have to pay anything to download W10 and make the USB flash drive.

When you get to the part where it asks what version of W10 do you want to install, select W10 Home Premium 64 bit, and W10 will install and automatically activate once you are connected to the internet.

Your PC has a W10 Home Premium product key in the BIOS, and as long as you install the right version of W10, you will be fine.

You don't even need to know what the product key is.