How to : replace HDD in HP All-in-One??

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kiwifidget

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#243214 1-Dec-2018 13:15

Hi Geekzoners,

An HP Pavilion 23-p100a has turned up with a 1TB HDD that fails the DST test, whatever that is.

Upshot is that it often fails to boot, but on the odd occasion that it does, Windows returns a LogonUI error when you click the desktop.

HP Diagnostics component tests pass on everything except the HDD so I've decided to replace it.

I've managed to get the back off and have put an SSD in.

Originally this PC had win8, and was upgraded to win10 during the free upgrade period.

Are there any gotchas I need to be aware of before I start re-installing Win10 (using a dvd created from the MCT as I can't get it to boot from USB)?

My first thought is whether Win10 will be registered/activated or if a new license will need to be purchased.

Any helpful tips would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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SATTV

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#2137757 1-Dec-2018 13:55

The computer will activate just fine and you will be amazed at how fast the computer will be.

John

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gb67

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#2137839 1-Dec-2018 17:38

The computer will activate just fine only if you logged into a microsoft account on it and then do the same when reinstalled.

Replaced a motherboard and found it wouldn't activate, so put boot drive back in old motherboard, logged in to microsoft account, moved drive to new motherboard, logged back on as microsoft account user, then all activated. Then just changed user to use local account, back to normal.

kiwifidget

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#2138098 2-Dec-2018 12:57

Well I didnt use a MS account and it says its activated, so that's a good start.

The Windows updates took ages though. Otherwise it seems quite speedy.

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amiga500

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#2139515 5-Dec-2018 07:39

kiwifidget:

Well I didnt use a MS account and it says its activated, so that's a good start.

The Windows updates took ages though. Otherwise it seems quite speedy.

Probably activated through 'digital entitlement' based on the unique hardware i.d. from your motherboard, cpu, & other hardware.

I've reinstalled W10 a few times now onto a blank hard drive or ssd & it works every time. Far better than the annoyances with Windows XP that only

let you re-install a few times without having to activate using the MS phone system.

amiga500

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#2139516 5-Dec-2018 07:43

gb67:

The computer will activate just fine only if you logged into a microsoft account on it and then do the same when reinstalled.

Replaced a motherboard and found it wouldn't activate, so put boot drive back in old motherboard, logged in to microsoft account, moved drive to new motherboard, logged back on as microsoft account user, then all activated. Then just changed user to use local account, back to normal.

That may be because you replaced the whole motherboard & not just the hard drive. If it's a case of reinstalling Windows onto a brand new hard drive, it should in theory re-activate using digital entitlement or whatever MS call their system.