Windows 10: Recover 10 key from corrupted hard drive

My aunt upgraded her 5 year old Win 7 desktop to Win 10. The PC ran well until this morning when she got errors upon boot (Preparing automatic repair, diagnosing your PC) After we tried and failed to get anything in the troubleshooter to 'repair' it (even the reset that would save personal files failed) I pulled the drive from her PC and am using a USB to SATA adapter to manually copy what I can to my Win 7 Pro machine. (saving pictures, documents, etc)

Some files (less than 1%) won't copy due to various read errors, but I am getting most copied over. Is there a way to recover the product key from the files on the system so when I re-install 10 on a new drive for her PC, I can activate it with the key she had on the old drive? Thanks in advance.

:)

 

Win 10 Crash and cannot be auto-repaired - how can I transfer the profile and data to the new drive?

If the system crash, then user profile might be corrupt. I recommend you use the following method to recover your files:

How to Recover Data from a Hard Drive that Won't Boot - groovyPost

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/recover-data-n...

 

recover product key from laptop hard drive

You're welcome and here is a set of test utilities for DIY computer builders:

　

　

Note: If you are Overclocking or use any automatic overclocking or power saving BIOS features, start out by disabling them: Intel EIST, Turbo Mode, Cool and Quite and drop back to the stock speed as a starting point.

　

　

Disconnect any other (additional) internal hard drives and external USB devices.

Check for any loose hard drive power or SATA cables, Graphics card or other power cables.

　

　

First run Memtest86+:

This runs from a boot disk / CD or USB and should eliminate or confirm if one or more of your memory

sticks are bad or the SPD values in the BIOS are correct.

Let it run for as long as you can: 2,4,6,8 or more hours (at least 3 full passes), if no errors by then your ram is OK.

Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

Memtest86+ Guide/How To's (use the .ISO to create a bootable CD)

Memtest86+ Guide/How To's | Overclockers Forums

USB Auto Installer:

http://www.memtest.org/download/5.01/memtest86+-5.01.usb.installer.zip

　

　

　


Hard drive Testing:


1) If you don't know your drives make / model number AND your computer is no longer able to load Windows:

a) Remove the drive from your desktop and check the label for the make and model number.

b) Remove the bottom cover of your laptop, remove the drive and check the label for the make and model number.

　

2) If Windows is still usable, install "Speccy",it provides System/computer Information in detail about your:

OS, CPU, RAM, Motherboard, Graphics, Hard Drive, Optical Drive, Audio, Peripherals, Network.

Note: RAM option will show number of slots, DRAM Timing,

The speed (Frequency) your memory is running at. The rated frequency for your memory.

Download Speccy | Find your computer specs, free!

　

　

3) Crystal Disk Info: Crystal Dew WorldChecks
and displays your drive's SMART values.

　

Test your disk drive - Create a Bootable CD:

(or connect the drive to anther PC and install the appropriate test software)

　

Note: Hard drive reliability has gone way down in the last 24 months and improved a bit lately depending on the manufacture.

Anywhere from 5 to 25%, (depending on the manufacture and model) of new hard drives are defective.

　

　

Drive manufacture's utilities list:

If you have a new Seagate hard drive the very next thing would be to download Seagate's Seatools

(the bootable CD) and check for bad sectors.

Seatools Info: http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/

Seatools for Windows download: http://www.seagate.com/support/inte...prise-hard-drives/saturn/seatools-win-master/

Seatools for DOS download:

http://www.seagate.com/support/inte...-electronics/ld25-series/seatools-dos-master/

　

　

For Western Digital drives download the WdDiag .iso file:

Software and Firmware Downloads | WD Support

　

　

Samsung's Estool: http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/support/utilities/ES_Tool.html

Samsung's Disk manager software: hk

　

　

Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test software: http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT

Diagnostic tool available for use by customers who feel they have a Fujitsu Branded Toshiba hard drive:

http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=ServicesandSupport/WarrantySupport/SoftwareUtilities

　

　

Fujitsu's Notice of drive Utilities support: http://www.fujitsu.com/us/services/computing/storage/hdd/

　

　

Toshiba bootable CD: (DOS Diagnostic Tool Ver. 7.0 For IDE/ATA/SATA Hard Drives)

http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=ServicesSupport/FujitsuDrivesUSandCanada/SoftwareUtilities#diagnostic

　

　

Also try Partition Wizard's free Home Edition 'Disk Surface Test' option:

http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html

Surface test tutorial: http://www.partitionwizard.com/help/partition-test-surface.html

　

　

=============== SSD Test Software - Revised: 10/24/14 ==================

　

　

Intel® Solid-State Drive Toolbox

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18455

　

　

Corsair SSD Toolbox:

http://www.corsair.com/en-us/blog/2013/may/the-corsair-ssd-toolbox

　

　

Kingston Toolbox:

http://www.kingston.com/us/support/technical/sandforce_ssd_toolbox.aspx

　

　

OCZ Toolbox: http://ocz.com/consumer/download/firmware

OCZ Guru: http://ocz.com/ssd-guru

　

　

PNY Support: http://www.pny.com/support/contact-us

　

　

Samsung: http://www.samsung.com/global/busin...isite/SSD/global/html/about/whitepaper07.html

Samsung Magican Review:

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/5...ok-new-ssd-toolkit-adds-rapid-mode/index.html

　

　

SanDisk SSD Toolkit: http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9328/

　

　

Seagate: http://www.seagate.com/support/internal-hard-drives/laptop-hard-drives/laptop-600-ssd/

　

　

SSD Life: http://ssd-life.com/

　

　


Check the health of you disk drive using CrystalDiskInfo:


http://crystalmark.info/software/index-e.html

User's Manual: http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/manual-en/

Monitors Disk Drive (HHD and SSD) health status (SMART values) and temperature. Supports Solid State Drives (Wear level count or Tware value).

　

　

===================== After Windows is installed ======================

　

　

Device Drivers: Did you install the computer or motherboard manufacture's latest device drivers?

Check their support site for the latest drivers as the CD that came with the computer

or motherboard may be older and less stable drivers.

　

　


Check the Graphics card manufacture's download site:


Download and install the most recent Windows 7, 8 or Windows 10 drivers for your card.

ATI: http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx

AMD / ATI Auto detect option: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download

NVIDIA: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

　

　

Also check out Nvidia's "Box of Smoke" test or other Demos: http://www.nvidia.com/object/cool_stuff.html#/demos

or ATI equivilent.

　

　


Prime 95:


http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/

It's a stand alone .exe file contained in a .zip archive.

Just choose to run the "stress test" option for 8 hours or more.

If your PC can pass this test both your memory and CPU

are fine (close the case cover to maintain proper ventilation)

　

　


Core Temp:


Monitor the temperature of each core of your processor.

Note: For non overclockers using the stock Intel/AMD heatsink and cooling fan you can expect

a temperature range of 35 to 40C at idle and from 60C to 65C max when running Prime95.

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

　

　

CPU-ID (CPUZ): http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Shows the clock speed of the CPU under various load conditions

(when using Intel's EIST speed step technology).

Note #1:

CPU-ID has two tabs - 'Memory' tab which show the actual memory speed

and the 'SPD' tab shows the rated speeds for each memory slot that is populated.

Note #2:

Compare the two values, the actual memory speed should not exceed the rated speed of your memory.

　

　

CPUID HWMonitor: A hardware monitoring program that reads PC systems main health sensors.

voltages, temperatures, fans speed.

http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

　

　

Speccy:

Advanced System Information tool for your PC.

Need to find out what's inside your computer?

No problem! Speccy will give you all the information you need.

Note: May or may not show the motherboard manufacture.

Overview: https://www.piriform.com/speccy

Free version: https://www.piriform.com/speccy/download

　

　

FurMark GPU (Graphic card) Stress Test:

http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/

　

　

PassMarks burn in test: http://www.passmark.com/

The Burnin test and their benchmark test both give a good workout of all the major parts of Windows.

　

　

HD Tune:

Provides drive info and has an option (error scan tab ) to test your drive.

http://www.hdtune.com/

　

　

　

SpeedFan:

Monitors internal temperatures and has an online drive health analysis feature (SMART tab) for hard drives.

It will display your drives model number and compares your drive with other drives of the same make and model.

Note: Unfortunately now includes a lot of bloatware, be very careful when you install to opt out of bloatware.

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

　

　

GPU-Z:

A lightweight utility designed to give you all information about your video card and GPU.

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

　

　

PC WIZARD:

A powerful utility designed especially for detection of hardware, also some more analysis.

It's able to identify a large scale of system components and supports the latest technologies

and standards.

http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php

　

　

　

　

: http://www.pagestart.com

　

　

------------------------ Partition Management Utilities -----------------------------

　

　

Partition Wizard Home Edition (Free):

http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html

Note: There is also a bootable CD or bootable Flash drive versions:

CD: http://www.partitionwizard.com/partition-wizard-bootable-cd.html

Flash Drive: http://www.partitionwizard.com/bootable-flash-drive.html

Resize Partition Video: http://www.partitionwizard.com/help/resize-partition.html

Some of the features and Functions include: Create partition, Delete partition, Format partition,

Resize / Shrink a partition, Move partitions, Restore Partition after accidental deletion,

Convert partition, Explore partition, Hide partition, Disk surface test,

Change drive letter, Set active partition, partition explorer (View contents).

Note: To complete any task use the 'Pending Operations' box located in the lower or top left.

　

　

GParted (Free):

http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Gparted

Gparted is a FREE partition editor that can shrink and modify Windows, Linux, and other OS partitions.

Screen Shots: http://gparted.org/screenshots.php

Faqs and help: http://gparted.org/faq.php

Using GParted to Resize Your Windows 7 or Vista Partition:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/using-gparted-to-resize-your-windows-vista-partition/

　

　

Alternative to Partition Wizard (Somewhat easier to use but both Partition Wizard and EASEUS have nearly identical user interfaces)

EASEUS Partition Master Home Edition (Free):

http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm

How to create a bootable USB /Flash drive: http://www.partition-tool.com/resource/manage-partition/usb-partition-manager.htm

ALL-IN-ONE partition software and the most convenient hard disk partition manager toolkit

Includes Partition Manager, Disk & Partition Copy Wizard and Partition Recovery Wizard on MBR and GUID partition table (GPT) disk under Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7 and Windows Server 2000/2003/2008 (32 bit and 64 bit).

It allows users to Resize/Shrink/Move Partition, Extend System Drive, Copy Disk & Partition, Merge Partition, Split Partition, Redistribute Free Space, Convert Dynamic Disk, Convert GPT Disk to MBR, Partition Recovery and much more.

　

　

: http://www.pagestart.com

　

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General Zero fill info (includes screen shots): http://gizmodo.com/5494427/leave-no...-erase-your-hard-drives-ssds-and-thumb-drives

　

　

------------------------ Other Utilities ------------------------------------

　

Hiren's BootCD

http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd

Hiren's BootCD From USB Flash Drive (USB Pen Drive)

http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd-on-usb-disk

(something for most any issue)

　

　

UBCD4Win:

http://www.ubcd4win.com/index.htm

UBCD4Win is a bootable recovery CD that contains software used for repairing,

restoring, or diagnosing almost any computer problem.

　

　

MyEventViewer - An easy way to view your event logs:

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/my_event_viewer.html

:
http://www.pagestart.com

 

You do not need a key - simply reinstall and skip key entry. Windows 10 upgrade licences are tied to mobo id and MS have record of it from original upgrade. It will activate automatically.

 

Welcome to TenForums @YaSo

I've actually done this. The laptop I'm using now was once a Win7 PC and I upgraded to 10 from the launch. Before upgrading to the Anniversary Update I wanted first to do a test run to check all the new drivers would work. I took out my original drive, put a blank one in its place and did a clean install, skipping entering the key. It activated within minutes.

The Hard Drive is specifically excluded from the hardware ID check so that people like your Aunt can repair their PCs when the drives fail.