Using Win 7 to REINSTALL OEM OS - Need Help ASAP!

[shopsafe]

Hi Folks. First off, great forum!

Secondly, I have searched for this specific question and answer on this forum and have been unsuccessful with this specific query.

I have a HP Touchsmart desktop (Model 300-1020). My son decided to do me a 'favor' and upgrade my computer. In the process he screwed up the computer to the point that he then 'fixed' it by completely wiping out the hard drive. It is 100% wiped and I can not even access the windows recovery console to attempt to recover the OS.

Here is my question. This computer has a Windows 7 Home Premium OA COA sticker on the console. Since I do not have the recovery cd's from HP and do not want to buy them, CAN I SIMPLY REINSTALL THE OS USING THE RETAIL VERSION OF WIN 7 HOME PREMIUM and then activate the installation using the Windows 7 Home Premium OA COA that is on the console since that is the OS that came standard on the system?

Please advise and I thank you in advance.

rick

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello shopsafe, welcome to Seven Forums!


Have a look through the information in this tutorial at the link below for some additional ideas and be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.

Clean Install : Factory COA Activation Key
​

 

[fseal]

Did the disk come with the computer? If so then yes.

If not, then likely not as the install on the computer was an most likely an OEM version and the number on the sticker would only work with another OEM disk, not a Retail disk...

Course if by some chance the computer came with a retail install then it would work yes. No harm in trying anyway. But it's very unlikely that it did.

 

[theog]

   Information

We always assume you have made your Recovery Disks using the OEM manufacturer's app the first day you had your new PC.
& made the Startup Repair CD.

Pressing the f11 key during startup on a computer with an HP factory image will start the system recovery process even if the prompt is not displayed.

How to make HP Recovery DVD disks:
Recover Windows Vista Operating System Using HP Recovery - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

How to make HP Recovery USB disk:
Creating a Recovery Disk on a USB Flash Disk HP Pavilion dv6700z CTO Entertainment Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

or
You can Order HP Recovery Disks from here:
Compaq Mini CQ10-500 PC series -  HP Notebook PCs - Order Recovery Discs for Windows 7, Vista, or XP - c00810334 - HP Business Support Center

 

[shopsafe]

Thanks for the replies. I am not so tech savvy and it seems that the two replies I received contradict each other. If I understand correctly from the first reply, IF I reinstall the Win 7 Home Premium OS using the retail version, then I will need to call Microsoft over the phone to provide them the OEM COA number off the console in order to activate. Is that correct as I stated it?

Thank so much for the reply.


Rick

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Yes that's correct but it's an automated call, it's all outlined in the tutorial about calling in the link I provided.

 

[gregrocker]

Yes you can use a retail WIn7 HP installer to reinstall with the Product Key on the COA sticker. The installers are all the same with some versions hidden - it is the key which determines which version will activate.

Here are tips to get a perfect factory OEM reinstall, which in the case of HP is a much superior install without the load of bloatware and useless factory utilties which have better versions built into Win7:
Reinstalling Windows 7