Windows 10: Do I have to buy Windows again after replacing hard disks?

My pc got destroyed after moving and i had to replace both my hard disks. I bought the pc pre built by a private person and it has no CD ROM, do I have to buy Windows again or is there some way I can get the Windows I had back?

:)

 

Replacing windows 10 home hard disk with SSD

Hi! I have an HP Envy x360 m6-aq105dx convertible laptop that I bought from Best Buy. I'd like to replace the slow hard disk with an SSD, but I don't have the Windows 10 Product key to create an installable USB flash drive. It looks like there may be some
non-trivial ways to recover a product ID from the BIOS, but I was wondering if it would be easier to create a Recovery disk on a USB flash drive and install from it after I replace the hard disk with the SSD. Thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions.

 

Replacing the hard disk

Hi,

If you are replacing the hard disk, you can still reinstall Windows 10 by performing a direct clean install using the media creation tool.

For more information on how to perform a clean install. Refer to the Use installation media to reinstall Windows 10
section on this article.

Note: Performing a clean install will remove all your personal files, drivers you installed, apps, customizations from your PC manufacturer, and changes you made to settings so we suggest that you back up all your important
and personal files.

While performing a clean install, your product key should automatically retrieved from the system but, in case you are still prompted for a product key during the installation, get the product key in advance (before doing a clean install) by following the
steps below:

• Press Windows key + S.
• Type Command Prompt.
• In the list of results, right-click on Command Prompt and select
  Run as administrator.
• Enter the administrator credentials if prompted.
• In Command Prompt window, type this command:
  
  wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey
• Press Enter.
• The product key will be revealed. Copy or write it on a paper.

Also, we recommend contacting the device manufacturer for more information if your SSD is compatible with your laptop.

Merry Christmas and feel free to post back if you have other concerns.

 

W7 Hard drive partition issue

to get rid of that 100 meg windows partition that setup creates for you on a new install on a blank hdd:

- press shift+f10 when on the partition management screen in setup <-- this opens a command prompt
- diskpart <-- start the windows command line partition management tool
- list disk <--- list the installed hdds in this computer for the next step
- select disk 0 <- might have to replace 0 with the number of the correct disk
- clean <-- this will erase all data on the disk you selected one step up- dont use the wrong disk!
- create partition primary <- creates a primary partition taking up all space on the drive, adjust the command if necessary
- exit, exit to exit diskpart and the command prompt
- click refresh in partition manager and select your newly created partition and install to that