Windows 7: Hard drive failure on preloaded HP laptop - how to obtain copy of os?

I just read up on it and it looks like the digital river downloads will work, but you will have to call Microsoft to activate it.

Not 100% sure ignatz, I personnaly thought they would work, I do know of a way to get them working legally but that is not for discussion on a public forum

Just call microsoft mand explain the situation to them, and they should give you a code to use. i doubt the original poster wants to go to all of that trouble, so the original poster should order recovery media from HP.

Useful tutorial here: Clean Install : Factory COA Activation Key

And this one: Activate Windows 7 Online

The retail installer has been used for clean reinstalling factory OEM since XP. It is a greatly superior install to Factory Recovery, and is a specialty of these forums.

In addition to the valuable ISO files linked by Pebbly, all of the steps are here: Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums

You guys are fantastic!

Special thanks to each of you. You've given me back a little confidence. Now all I need is the new drive.

I've downloaded the 64 bit ISO, burned a DVD and plan to follow Gregocker's tutorial.

Thanks again. Y'all are truly exceptional.

Let us know how it goes, or if there are any further questions.

You're very welcome Wampus.

You're in good hands with Greg's tutorial as he is our top expert in this field.

Don't hesitate to post back if you need further help.

Just to clarify, there's no difference in discs for OEM and retail anymore, in terms of licensing. Gone are the days of XP when you needed a retail or OEM disc. Not since Vista's release have we had to worry about that wrinkle in the clean install process.

I can't confirm if some OEM's BIOS lock their discs, because I use OEM discs for one and only one reason...drink coasters.

There shouldn't be any "not liking my key" as people are stating, as long as you aren't trying to use a Professional key on Home Premium, etc. The keys will be accepted. Possibly, if they have been used recently, you may not be able to activate online...but a simple phone call fixes that.

Going by typical accepted practices, don't put in your key during the install. Enter it later, once you get the system up and running, and there should be no issues. I've used the Digital River .isos and TechNet isos, to install on everything from OEM systems to custom builds without any issues.

The simplest way for those of us who do many installs of various types, is to create the USB flash drive installer with all versions and both platforms. That method also works with any type of legit key.

STOP PRESS:

If you haven't already done away with the OEM installation, I invite your attention to a post by Andreas van dem Helge dated 14 Aug 2010 in Microsoft Support Forum

http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/e...9-ed22bce80a56

For ready reference I quote:

"You can also restore OEM BIOS-locked SLP without the original media. It's a little trickier but it is certainly possible and IMO avoids all the hassles of the activation and "genuine advantage" BS system. You need to extract the SLP product key from your current Windows install and also the SLP certificate (.xrm-ms file extension, probably called acer.xrm-ms)

Once you reinstall Windows you use the tool built into windows, slmgr.vbs to reinstall the certificate, product key and then rearm windows activation and reboot. Open an ADMINISTRATOR command prompt and type slmgr.vbs and it will give you the usage. An advantage to this is that no internet connection or telephone is needed for windows to report "active and genuine)"

Good luck.