Windows 10: How to reinstall free version of Win 10 on a Win 8 machine.

OK here it is. I have what was originally a Win 8 machine that had a free version of Win 10 installed when Win 10 was first released. The machine has worked well, being completely offline all these years, as a photo editing suite. I've had a hard drive crash and can't find my recovery disc. How do I now go about reinstalling Win 10 on the new drive? Thank you in advance.

:)

 

Reinstalling win 10

Hi

I want to reinstall a laptop currently installed with Pro x32 version and I have few questions please.

1. Would the activation key still be valid if I will install the x64 version (Machine has a x64 CPU).
2. I am not sure whether the current installation is a "upgraded win 8 " , or is it a direct win 10 setup.
   With respect to the later activation, should I really care?

I far as i know, when upgrading from win 8 to 10 the activation key is no longer displayed in the system information. Instead all XXX-XXX-XXX-XXX is displayed.
But when checking another machine that I know for sure that has been upgraded from Win8, I see this 00330-80000-00000-AA695 product key, which looks with two many zeros.
The machine I want now to reinstall, has also this kind of many zeros product key, a bit different though.
Tx

 

Fresh Install of Win 10 without Serial Key?

Looking to reformat a laptops HDD, and then reinstall Win 10 fresh. The problem is it came pre-installed with Win 8 and I did the free upgrade to Win 10. How exactly would I re-format the HDD, reinstall Win 10 and ensure it reactivates properly? I don't see a Win 8 serial key anywhere in the contents of the box.

 

Wipe a dual boot machine and reinstall Win 10?

I have an old machine that started out on Win 7. I updated/upgraded over the years and it now has two SSDs one with Win 7, the other with Win 10. I created the dual boot a long time ago from the Win 7 drive.

I'm worried wiping will negate my Win 10 lisence since it was an upgrade not the original OS. I have the original Win 7 serial, but I don't think that is relevent to the process any more.
At any rate, I'd like to give the machine to an elderly neighbor, so I need to wipe it and reinstall Win 10. I don't know where to begin. Anyone able to point me in the right direction, for a step by step?