Impossible to activate windows after recovery

[PbdS]

Hi, my laptop started mulfunctioning and I found out it was the hard disk with physical problems (pending sectors).

I cloned the 1T hard disk to a new 1T hard disk.

I cloned it by ddrescue (block level utility you can find systemrescuecd and othe linux os).

The clone successed but windows was not able to start.

Recovery console was working so I resotred windows (system and user files were deleted).

Windows is now working fine! But it's not activated and updates are failing.

Windows activation should be working automatically but it doesn't.

I tried to contact Microsoft to activare windows but they need the Windows Serial Numner that is unavailable!

What can I do?

[iomare]

Hi,

Try using a program such as showkeyplus to see the keys of your system, which will help when in contact with Microsoft:

https://github.com/Superfly-Inc/ShowKeyPlus/releases

Try getting in contact with Microsoft through chat. At first it will be virtual agent. However after answering a few questions you will be able to chat with live person who will be able to help with your activation.

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

Hope it helps,

David

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[PbdS]

Thank you for your reply.

I told Microsoft about the keys shown by showkeyplus but they say that if the serial number is missing the installation is compromized and they can't do anything.

They suggested to reinstall windows downloding the iso and using the product key I got from showkeyplus.

If I reinstall by dvd/usb, is there any problem if I remove all partitions (also uefi)?

[iomare]

Hi,

You can perform a clean install (downloading windows 8.1 from Microsoft) and delete all partitions. You might need to disable secure boot in Bios and enable legacy boot. I like doing clean installs of operating system and delete all partitions, even recovery partition as I can create them myself by creating an image of the freshly installed OS with all drivers and software I choose. This image I keep for any future problems.

So, yes you can delete all partitions and install in unalocated space. You might not even need product key because the digital key should be in firmware of Bios and should automatically activate Windows.

Let me know how it works out and if you need any help,

David