Windows 10 OEM key for your device
Windows 10 OEM key for your device
you have the key but it's an OEM from your HP P7. when the hdd failed, the recovery partition also vanished, making it impossible to restore to version 7 without activation problems. the key is on a sticker on the side of your PC, so if Windows 10 blocks access, it’s not safe. since you’ve been using it since launch, losing programs and settings would be a big loss.
I’ve swapped out hard drives completely and reinstalled the original manufacturer parts correctly. (I replaced an HDD in a laptop with an SSD during setup, and it didn’t prompt for a key—maybe a different scenario than yours, but that’s just to say). Have you done it? Even if it doesn’t work, I’m confident Microsoft can help resolve the issue.
I didn't attempt it since I was using another system, making it unnecessary. I could have easily accessed the Windows 10 technical preview without any immediate problems. Even though I went back to version 7, I still had to enter a key when switching to version 10.
Never considered looking into their options, but it's not working out. Please reach out to the manufacturer. It's really disappointing.
Usually you should have the key on the side of your case, which is the OEM key. The key used by HP for your Windows 7 setup is a generic version meant for their purposes. In practice, that key on your case isn’t active unless you have the ISO. You could potentially install it and activate it, though it might require contacting the Windows activation center—essentially talking to a system and entering a confirmation code. The success depends on the ISO options you have; many have been removed over time. If you asked about a month ago, I could have provided a full list of available ISOs from digitalriver. However, once Microsoft introduced their "software recovery" approach, those links were taken down. Here are two links for the original, untouched pre-SP1 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium ISO files. If your key relates to SP1, look for “X17-58997.iso” for 64-bit or “X17-58996.iso” for 32-bit. You should be able to locate them on torrents or through a detailed Google search for working downloads.