Moving a hard drive with OA key to new motherboard, new retail key?

OK, I made the USB stick using the directions on this site,I downloaded the .iso from Digital River and checked the MD5 checksum then made the stick using Rufus.

I ASSUMED that since this was an i3-4005u that it would be 64 bit. I also ASSUMED I could use an .iso that had SP1.

The stick only works if I put the BIOS into legacy mode, is that correct?

After it boots up I choose my language and keyboard and then choose "Repair Computer"

the message I get is that the version of System Recovery Options on the stick doesn't match the HD. OK, fair enough, maybe it's not 64 bit or maybe it's not SP1

SO... is there a way of finding out what is on the hard drive? The COA label that came with it only says "Windows 7 Home Premium OA"

I don't want to have to download .iso torrents one after another until I find one that matches, that last one took a couple of hours to download and then put onto the stick.

I can throw the drive back into my desktop and read the file structure using a Linux rescue disk, is there a file somewhere on the hard drive that will tell me which .iso to download to repair it?

OK, I mounted the file system in Linux and I have a Program Files x86 and a sysWOW64 folder so it's a 64 bit installation.

OK, mine looks basically like that so I'm going to try the x64 install .iso without the _u suffix next.

JayArr

MeOnMine said:

As far as I am aware the COA is only compatible with the sp1 or not if it came that way.
i.e. if the COA is for non sp1 then you need to install non sp1 how to find out I am not sure. (perhaps the number its self)

Actually, that doesn't really matter on installation, you don't have to install the exact same version that was shipped.

The COA is for that version, (Home Premium, Pro, etc.) both x86 or x64 are valid as long as only one is used at a time, the build number is irrelevant since it will change over time with certain updates or in this scenario a service pack.

OK guys, all fixed!

I made a USB stick with Win7 X64 SP1 using Rufus

I received my replacement motherboard from eBay and installed it in the failed laptop.

I cloned the drive using a Linux rescue cd and the dd command

I set the boot to legacy in the BIOS.

I booted up and hit F12 to get a boot menu and then selected the stick.

The stick found the hard drive and fixed it!

Everything is working now as long as I leave "Safe Boot" disabled, I believe that's because of the replacement motherboard.

Once everything was working with the cloned drive I shutdown, removed it and inserted the original drive and repeated the process with the same results. So now the laptop is back together with it's original HD and everything is running.

I'll just re-sell the replacement laptop, Windows 7 DVD, 1TB hard drive and call it a day.

I really wish it would have been possible to move the hard drive to the new laptop, it shouldn't be that hard to recover from a hardware failure.

Thanks for all the help and advice! everyone.

JayArr