Windows 10: licensing is info stored on microsoft server? Or on computer hard drive? Can I replace...

I have a dell laptop without any restore CD's. I think everything was on the original hard drive. I am trying to copy all of the files to a new hard drive but since the old one has some problems it has hung up on 74% for hours.


If I install a fresh copy of windows 10, does microsoft somehow know that this laptop is supposed to have a windows liscense, and will it work? Or is my only option to wait however long it takes for the hard drive to finish copying to the new drive?


I'm also worried about file/data corruption since the drive was so bad.


Should I do a fresh install or wait for the transfer?

:)

 

Replacing hard drive, what about license?

Replacing a hard drive has no effect at all on licensing or activation.

Image (backup) your existing hard drive and restore the image to the new hard drive. Your computer will be exactly as it was, only on a different hard drive.

Most hard drive manufacturers include the necessary software and provide detailed directions on their websites. It is by now a very common procedure.

 

Windows 10, Occasional Error, No Hard Drive, after Hard Drive Replacement

Hi,

System corruption can cause issues detecting your computer's hard drive. For us to properly investigate on your concern, we'd like to confirm the following information:

• On which cases do you receive the startup error?
• Aside from replacing the hard drive, have you made any significant changes to your device prior to this happening?
• Have you tried plugging in the replaced hard drive to another computer to check if the same thing occurs?
• What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?

We will be waiting for your reply so we can move forward to resolving your query.

 

Stored files in Hard Drive

I'd like to know if there's a way of listing all the files stored in my hardware and arrange them by size, because I want to keep track of what's on my hard drive. Thanks, I hope you answer.