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Replacing hard drive on HP Laptop with an SSD and would like to install Windows 10 on the SSD

Anonymous
2020-07-23T23:10:24+00:00

Hello All

I'm new here, and hope I don't embarrass myself asking this question...

I live in the United Kingdom.

I have an HP G6-2244sa laptop with an AMD E2-1800 processor (1.7GHz) with 8GB RAM. 

The laptop originally ran Windows 8 but was updated to Windows 10 Home 64-bit.

My girlfriend uses the laptop for email, Internet browsing, Spotify and occasionally using Word and Excel.

The laptop has a 1TB hard drive with two partitions.

Partition 1 - C: drive is 976 GB of which only 170GB is being used

Partition 2 - D: drive is 20GB of which 17.3GB is being used... This has the Recovery files.

When I look in Settings > Update & Security > Activation... It states... Windows is activated with a digital licence

The laptop has been running very slow... Start up is slow, and there is a long delay between clicking on a file/application, and it opening.

I've already uninstalled any applications that were not being used, like video editing applications, 3D imaging application... Run Disk Clean-Up and also ran ASCOMP Cleaning Suite 4

I have  looked into replacing the current HDD hard drive with and SSD drive, as this seems to give a new lease of life to PCs.  So have decided to install a 500GB SSD.

I was going to clone the current disk, to the SSD as this could be potentially easier.

However, I am now thinking of doing a clean install of Windows 10 on to the SSD. The reason for doing a clean install of Windows 10 is because I'd rather start with the clean slate, and not potentially "bring over" any issues from the current drive when I clone it.

As the laptop originally came with Windows 8 and was updated to Windows 10, I'm unsure what licence key I have. There is a Windows label on the underside of the laptop but no licence key... I can't find the original paperwork that came with the laptop when it was bought.

I have used PowerShell to look at the 25-digit licence key, and it displayed one.

I then used Command Prompt to confirm the same 25-digit licence key...  But I'm unsure if it's a Windows 8 licence key or a Windows 10 licence key. Or is it a digital licence?

If I install a new SSD drive into the laptop, can I do a clean install of Windows 10 on it?

Can I use the 25-digit that I looked up (if applicable)? 

Or do I rely on the digital licence when I do the Windows 10 install? If this is the case, how do I know what the digital licence is?

Apologies that this a long message. But I thought I better try and give you as much information as possible.

Any help you can provide me, will be greatly appreciated.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Licensing and activation

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-07-24T17:53:42+00:00

    This is product key for Windows 8 but it will work for Windows 10 too.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-07-23T23:18:31+00:00

    Hi,

    you may reinstall Windows 10 from scratch with no doubt and likely it will be activated automatically. In rare cases in may e needed to enter key manually.

    You may check built-in key by

    wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

    command (need to be run from Windows PowerShell (administrator).

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-07-24T12:23:10+00:00

    Hello Igor

    Thank you very much for your reply.

    Igor, you mentioned  "You may check built-in key by

    wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

    command (need to be run from Windows PowerShell (administrator)."

    Thank you for this... I ran Windows PowerShell and it displayed a 25-digit key.

    Will this built-key be for my installed copy of Windows 10?  I only ask this, as the laptop originally came with Windows 8.

    Just for my own knowledge, does the built in key stay the same as the Windows 8 key, or would it have changed when I upgraded to Windows 10?  (Apologies if this is a silly question)

    I've downloaded the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool in preparation for installing Windows 10 Home operating system on the SSD. From this I will be able to create an Install USB/Disc.

    I'll fit the new SSD, then go through the install process for Windows 10. At least it should be a "clean" installation of Windows 10 Home, without all the HP add-ons.

    I'm really hoping the new SSD and clean install of Windows 10 will breathe new life into the laptop.

    • Savio
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