Windows 10: windows 10 activation after hard drive failure

my hard drive failed HP pavilion g6 notebook PC I5 1T quite old before Christmas lost everything - unable to boot - couldn't load Norton to access backed up files in July 20- resorted to using my work laptop usb stick to access tools which has now got me access to pc which i am typing on now - loaded recovery files but having access issues via internet etc due to the fact i have windows 10 pro loaded on system and not windows 10 and product key does not match- tried changing product key to the one found on cmd path - still the same , looked at files in recovery folder - could not reboot windows from these, tried loading window 10 only via microsoft but system still says i have windows 10 pro loaded i think my pc had windows 8 on when i originally purchased it and had the free upgrade to window 10 from microsoft also lost access to my free office 2013 via HUP program and cannot see how i can recover this any help would be greatly appreciated

:)

 

Hard drive/ OS issue

a guy suggested :

• shutdown
• unhooked HDD
• restarted
• yay !!
• reconnected HDD
• restarted
• yay !!

also , try method 3
How do I unlock the drive where Windows 10 is installed?

 

Seagate External Hard Drive

Hi Barbara,

Hardware failure or corruption within your system files are some of the possible reasons why you are experiencing an issue with accessing your external hard drive. For us to provide an accurate solution, we would need you to answer the following questions:

• Which build, version and edition of Windows 10?
• Are you experiencing the same issue when you are trying to access the external hard drive using another PC?
• What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?

In the meantime, we suggest running the automated troubleshooter for hardware. Follow these steps to do so:

• Open the Control Panel.
• Using the search box at the upper right corner of the window, type troubleshooting.
  
• From the search results, click on Troubleshooting.
• Click on Hardware and Sound and then choose Hardware and Devices.
• Once done, restart your computer and then check if the same issue persists.

We are looking forward to your response.

 

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.