Windows 10: Reinstalling Windows 10 on after changing to a new hard drive?

I own a laptop which came with Windows 10. It was activated by digital license associated with my Microsoft account, so I do not have a product key.The hard drive in the laptop is failing, and I have ordered a replacement. Due to anticipated problems copying off the old drive, I would like to cleanly install Windows 10 on the replacement drive rather than clone the old drive. What would I need to do to transfer that license to the new installation? The old disk is at best going to need to be totally zeroed out and at worst be literal solid waste, so there won't be any "double

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Reinstall Windows 10 to new hard drive

Hi Rodolpho,

We want to know about the issue you're having with your recovery drive. Please answer the questions below:

• Are you trying to reinstall Windows 8 or Windows 10?
• If you already upgraded to Windows 10, were you able to create a new copy of the recovery drive?

We suggest creating a new copy of the recovery drive and then follow the steps provided by Andre Da Costa above this thread.

Update us with the outcome so we can assist you further.

 

unrecognised external hard drive on Windows 10

Since you already reinstalled the drivers of the External Hard Drive, let's run the
Hardware and Devices troubleshooter as it can resolve your concern. You can do that by following these steps:

• 
  Press the Start button.
  
• 
  Type and select Troubleshooting.
  
• 
  Click on View all on the left panel.
  
• 
  Select and run the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter.
  

If the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter doesn’t resolve your concern, we suggest that you change the letter of the External Hard Drive. You can do that by following these steps:

• 
  Press the Start button.
  
• 
  Type and select Control panel.
  
• 
  Select System and Security.
  
• 
  Select Administrative Tools, and a new window will appear.
  
• 
  Double-click Computer Management, and a new window will appear.
  
• 
  Select Disk Management that is located under
  Storage in the left pane.
  
• 
  Right click on the External Hard Drive that is not showing on the File Explorer.
  
• 
  Select Change letter and network path, and a new window will appear.
  
• 
  Select Change, and choose the letter that you want for the External Hard Drive.
  

After changing the letter of the External Hard Drive, we suggest that you reboot your laptop for the changes to take effect.



Let us know how it goes.



Regards.

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.