Windows 10: Windows 10 reinstall no go?

Visting a relative whose HP Pavilion 23 All-In-One went dead.

For the last week, it would not boot. The only way to proceed was to backup, reformat the Windows partition, then reinstall Windows. I did all that.

That's when I realized, it restored Windows 8.1. It has worked fine for a couple of years with Windows 10. No problem, I thought, I'll simply upgrade that.

But that won't work. The Windows 10 installation tool wants the 25-character product key for Windows 8.1. It is supposed to be printed on the label, perhaps on the box or another piece of paper originally from HP. We can't find that anywhere, it's long gone.

Trying to contact Microsoft via chat is useless. It only displays is a message about how busy they are.

One suggestion was to contact the manufacturer to ask about the product key. That seems to be impossible as well. There is no longer a telephone support number, and no information online about a machine this old. (My machine at home is a Dell and they still have all my system data.)

Are we condemned to Windows 8.1?

Is there any other way to contact Microsoft?

submitted by /u/JeanMarbot
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:)

 

[Solved] Windows 10 keeps reinstalling KB3119142

I noticed quite some time ago that KB3119142 (Update for Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Update 4 Redistributable Package) kept reinstalling itself for some reason. At least once daily. Sometimes up to several times a day. I just ignored it. It didn't seem to be doing any harm. And I figured they'd eventually fix it. Well...days turned into weeks, weeks into months, with no end to the problem in sight. It dragged on unsolved for at least the last few months. Literally reinstalling itself hundreds of(at least a hundred, felt like more) times in that period of time.

So I finally googled it a couple days ago. And just got around to fixing it today. Which appears to have worked. And it couldn't have been easier to do. I feel so stupid to have let it intimidate me for so long.*Oops!

Below are links to the thread that I got the fix idea from, and the official MS support info page for KB3119142(from which I quoted the above).
http://www.tenforums.com/windows-up...-windows-10-keeps-reinstalling-kb3119142.html
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3119142

 

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.

 

Unlocked Realtek HD Audio Drivers Windows 7 & 8 (With Dolby Digital Live and DTS Interactive)

DTS supported natively by Windows 8/8.1 and it should work on windows 10 too just DDL require to unlock your driver .