Windows 10: A Basic HDD Replacement Question

http://www.cnet.com/news/windows-8-m...-product-keys/

 

On the newer machines not custom builds but newer OEM premade systems that is quite true. The OEM product key is bound to the hardware in that fashion over simply seeing the typical software made hardware profile id assigned a product key found on a sticker only. That's programmed into firmware there not necessarily the bios setup program itself however. They simply flash that onto an eprom chip on the same board but in the event the bios chip needs replacement it would have to be on a separate chip. Boards made for OEMs are not quite the same as those found at a vendor like Newegg or TigerDirect but could be the same model at the same time but were special ordered to have that extra chip as well as some other changes seen.

 

And my statement is still true. Windows does not and never has stored product keys in bios, nor will Windows change product keys stored in bios. Computer manufacturers burn product keys in their bios - not Windows.

 

Not the bios setup program itself mind you! But simply flashed onto an eprom likely an extra one added onto boards just for this purpose to insure the serial number as well as key are tucked away safely. That also makes it much easier for companies to trace hardwares back for service warranties and other things as well.

 

I can help you out with a video that explains how to use Macrium Reflect to clone a hard drive to a SSD, same procedure would be used to clone your current hard drive to a new hard drive. The software can just as easily be used to create an image and restore it to a new hard drive.

I believe in your OP you ran scandisk and that allowed you to boot into windows while still getting the SMART Error message that a disk failure is eminent ? If that is true you have a good chance of cloning or Imaging successfully since your issue isn't really windows but a hard drive failing. Defiantly worth a try

 

Scandisk hasn't been seen since the XP days. The tool in use at this would be the Disk Check tool. That was initially tried while the recommendation for a second run with both switches was advised to see if any progress could be made.

Otherwise cloning rather then seeing a clean install would not only be a time consumer as restoring a full system image after seeing it created takes far less time would be pointless if the drive is simply too messed up? You would simply seeing the exact problems spread between drives!

When going to replace a drive either a fresh primary followed by a clean install of the OS is the best option unless an image was being restored that had been made while things were in prime condition. If the drive is failing which is still an unknown at the moment getting the last minute items backed up manually before a complete fail would be the best move. Once the drive is replaced the need to start over fresh will have it's own benefits rather then carrying problems over.

The last clone here of a 1gb drive will less then 400gb total on at the time took hours! to clone to the exact same identical drive in preparation for trying the 10 upgrade out. Having left the other drives plugged while the first OS drive had been unplugged wasn't enough to prevent the mess that came about!

 

I set up the PC to run chkdsk /r /f at boot and it detected no errors, so I ran it again. Still no errors. And except for having to press F1 to boot the machine seems to be fine. So I'd like to disable SMART, but I don't know how.

This is an HP Pavilion TouchSmart 23 All-In-One unit. I can access the BIOS by holding <shift> while shutting down, then tapping <esc> while starting up, but I see no reference to SMART.

 

As there seems a risk of your disk failing, your first priority is to back it up- rescue your data.

The SMART parameters indicate degraded performance, so you should not risk losing your data.

As chckdsk passes, you can create a disk image of your disk onto external storage medium.

Once you have that image, check the SMART parameters of your disk using e.g. Speccy
Speccy - System Information - Free Download
or
PassMark DiskCheckup - SMART hard drive monitoring utility
(simpler)
Both free.

Then you can get a new disk, and use your image to recreate your data on that new disk, giving you an almost 'instant' good PC. Hopefully.

SMART and BIOS settings are completely unrelated. Somewhere in the boot sequence it seems your disk is seen as problematic.

 

I have to wonder if that external drive was plugged in during the upgrade to 10! That can be a source of all heck breaking loose! I went through that last summer when at first not able to get 10 to even go on!

In the meantime I found the HP support page for that model with all the guides and How Tos all categorized. HP Pavilion TouchSmart 23-f364 All-in-One Desktop PC (ENERGY STAR) Manuals | HP® Customer Support


One particular guide you should get very familiar with is the Troubleshooting and Maintenance Guide viewed in PDF form. That covers everything from sound and keyboard. mouse to software troubleshooting as well as the recovery options including the option I expected to find for how to go about creating the recovery media with a blank dvd. HP also advised in another Hard Drive guide to back everything up as you have already been advised to.

Despite the clean find by the Disk Check tool which is actually good news but was advised just the same where you can now rule certain things out have you seen any type of hard drive error at post time? HP PCs - Hard Disk Error Displays before the Computer Starts | HP® Customer Support