"Click of Death" HDD: can I re-install Windows 10 Pro and activate

I purchased my old well used Toshiba from a charity shop.

I expected it to be running "Windows 7 home Premium OA" as evidenced by the COA Sticker, but after gaining access and booting, it was running Windows 10 Pro, ...nice surprise!

It's a little slow but has served my purposes well for two or three years but recently had problems with Win update and finally carked with the click of death!
Sad

I have replaced the broken 650GB drive with a 320GB one which is running Linux Mint 20 which runs fine so the machine itself is OK.

Because the OS which was on the broken drive was Win 10 Pro I suspect it was a PAID version, it was evidently not just the free upgrade version from Win 7 Home Premium OA which I would expect to have been the Home edition.
I have no idea what the "OA" stands for in "Win7Home Premium OA".


I would like to reinstall Win10 Pro but Microsoft tell me this is not possible without the original Key which they say may be stored in UEFI BIOS.

This machine predates UEFI and the BIOS is set to Legacy, the only options being on or off!

Can anyone tell me if the dratted Key is saved in the BIOS, or have I buggered that up by running Mint from the replacement disk?


Because I didn't know the history of the machine, I created a new and separate Microsoft Account for it to create a barrier in the event of anything nasty lurking on it.
I showed this to Microsoft Almighty as proof of ownership and the fact that I had been using it with Windows 10 Pro, but they say without the Key that doesn't mean anything so is it time for "The Revenge Of The Penguin"?

In "Settings" the machine evidenced that it was "Activated" and I have never had any problems which would indicate that it wasn't legitimate, updates were provided and installed regularly without problems until a few days ago when (evidently) the HDD was in its death throes.
Posting on Bleeping Computers , I was linked to your "Generic Product Keys to Install Windows 10 Editions" page.
I thought I'd better seek advice first hand as I'm already confused by what should be a simple process!

The problem machine is not my main daily ride, That is the NUC detailed in my profile.
Can anyone guide me through this maze?
Thanks in anticipation.

Wow! so many replies!
Spunk: Due to the age and relative condition, I wouldn't invest funds in an SSD, nor even a replacement 650GB drive.
For my purposes, one of several 320GB drives I have available would be enough space.
I don't have the "Pro Key", so if a reinstall doesn't recognise the hardware and validate it as "Pro", that would be OK.
I don't really have much experience installing Win 10 aside from my current NUC machine when I found even the creation of the "Tool" a nightmare!

Andre! hello again!
I agree with you, the Home install is barely distinguishable from Pro.
It just annoys me to think that (if) the original owner actually "Paid" for Pro, then it should remain so. (I hate that Microsoft should profit from the HDD Failure!)

I've heard that there are ways that If you're lucky, that clicking HDD's can be frozen and you might have just a few minutes/hours to recover important files etc.
If that worked for me I would really only want to recover the Product Key in the quickest way possible!
No idea where I would find that!


Bree: thank you for your lucid instructions.
I did ask "Edwin C." the illustrious "Relationship Manager Microsoft Executive Escalations", but he seemed to take the view that all who pester him must be pirates and should be treated with suspicion.
I was told "If the Key was stored in my BIOS, a new install would retrieve it, ... otherwise I would need to buy a new Key!"
From the limited knowledge I've gleaned from helpful sources other than Microsoft, it seems that Laptops of this vintage do not store the Key in BIOS, they rely on Microsoft's Servers, as you also advise.
Just why this basic process should be so shrouded in confusion by Microsoft, I can't imagine!

I think your advice to Clean Install Home without a Key and then try the Pro Generic Key is the smart choice.
I'm confused though, because I have only once installed Win 10 using the Creation Tool I seem to recall that the two versions are loaded at that creation point onto the tool.
I can't recall at what point, or indeed if there is some point during the installation procedure where the paths diverge; Home to the right, Pro to the left, so to speak.

Another nugget of "information" imparted whilst exchanging emails with "Edwin C." was that the offer of a free upgrade from W7 to 10 has now expired. Meaning that because I could not provide any "Key" for 10 in either flavour, I would need to buy one!

Similarly, with regard to "Pirating" I have no experience, despite being tempted with a cracked copy of Photoshop CS!
I was scared just what else might get installed!
However, I cannot believe that the copy I had was Hooky, since it professed to be "Activated" and I have hither to had no problems with Updates or any other interaction with Microsoft while using it.

AddRAM: I really do hope that it goes the way you forecast, despite the age of the machine!
...and the owner!

I am grateful to receive so much advice, I didn't expect such an immediate response and I may not get to take any action for a while since I'm grabbing the opportunity to get some final rays of Spanish sun on my old bones.
It may be six weeks or so before I get my ducks in a row to tackle the reinstall.
I hope I can revisit this thread then for more assistance.
Thank you all.

Whomever you talked to at Microsoft should be fired.

To see the licence information,use either ---command---or ---powershell---run as administrator,then type in:
slmgr /dlv and press "enter".
Also worth a look are:
slmgr /rearm which allows you to access and rearm the trial period on a non activated copy.
slmgr /xpr to check the expiry date and whether activation is permanent.

joeandmarg0 said:

To see the licence information,use either ---command---or ---powershell---run as administrator,then type in:
slmgr /dlv and press "enter".
Also worth a look are:
slmgr /rearm which allows you to access and rearm the trial period on a non activated copy.
slmgr /xpr to check the expiry date and whether activation is permanent.

There is no trial period for Windows 10.