[SOLVED] How can I replace my broken hard drive?

[FluttershySux]

My hard drive has stopped working and I need someone to dumb down how I can go about replacing it successfully. My main problem is that I have no recovery options to transfer my Windows 10 to the new hard drive, so how would I go about putting it on there? I previously upgraded to Windows 10 for free if that’s relevant at all.

 

[kanewolf]

Did you register your Windows 10 with a Microsoft login? If so, then you can use the license with a clean OS install on a new drive.

 

[Barty1884]

If you're activated with a digital license, you won't need a key or anything. Even if you're not linked to your MS account, you should be fine - just skip if prompted for a key.

There's a walkthrough here:
https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/how-to-do-a-clean-installation-of-windows-10.3170366/

Remember, this won't recover your Windows as-was, it's a clean installation, no files etc.

If your HDD has failed and no longer works, recovering data will generally be tough/impossible (for the average user).

 

[FluttershySux]

Did you register your Windows 10 with a Microsoft login? If so, then you can use the license with a clean OS install on a new drive.

I’m not so sure since it was a long time ago. Is there a way I could check if I did without the use of my computer?