Hey, all,
So here's the dilemma:
Upgraded a buddies old HP laptop from native Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 (Home I believe it was?) with the still-available-to-upgrade option.
Months later his main 500gb hdd just died. Was an old 5400 hdd. He's ordered a new one and comes in soon.
Now here's my main thought before installing the new hdd and reinstalling Windows: we don't have the Win 8.1/Win 10 key to reactivate after installing to the new hdd. Do I need to reinstall Windows 8.1 and then it'll Activate by itself and then upgrade to Win 10 again? Do I just reinstall Windows 10 Home and it'll re-Activate? Do I need to contact Microsoft for them to Activate it? The machines over 5 years old so any warranties it had are long gone.
Any and all info is appreciated!
So here's the dilemma:
Upgraded a buddies old HP laptop from native Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 (Home I believe it was?) with the still-available-to-upgrade option.
Months later his main 500gb hdd just died. Was an old 5400 hdd. He's ordered a new one and comes in soon.
Now here's my main thought before installing the new hdd and reinstalling Windows: we don't have the Win 8.1/Win 10 key to reactivate after installing to the new hdd. Do I need to reinstall Windows 8.1 and then it'll Activate by itself and then upgrade to Win 10 again? Do I just reinstall Windows 10 Home and it'll re-Activate? Do I need to contact Microsoft for them to Activate it? The machines over 5 years old so any warranties it had are long gone.
Any and all info is appreciated!