Temporary Hard Drive installing windows

Question

QUESTION: If I install Windows and use a new key on a hard drive that is only going to be used temporarily while my laptop is having repairs done, will that wipe or otherwise ruin the Windows installation on my real hard drive when I put that back in? As I understand it, for HP Envy laptops with Windows preinstalled, the Windows key  linked to the BIOS chip on my motherboard.

BACKGROUND INFO: I have to send my computer away for warranty repairs, and being a hobbyist techie myself I've already run diagnostics and determined the fan is going out, the heat sync isn't working well anymore, and the power housing is no longer good.

Because I have confidential information on my hard drive, I'm removing it in preparation for sending it out for repairs as I would open myself up to legal trouble with my clients if that information were ever in the hands of a third party.

The warranty repair company are jerks and having removed a hard drive for a previous repair they did, informed me when I scheduled the work that if my computer didn't have a hard drive they would return it without doing any repairs (even though they have plenty of testing hard drives that they could and have used on previous occasions.)

I have purchased a new hard drive to put in for temporary use, and I also have a Windows key through work that I never had occasion to use until now.

Answer 1

Hi Laur. I'm Greg, an installation specialist, 10 years Windows MVP, and Volunteer Moderator here to help you.

What I'd do in that situation is save a System Image backup of the Windows partitions using free Macrium as shown here:

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/7363/macrium-re...

Then wipe the drive with Diskpart Clean Command from Windows installation media before sending it in: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/85819-erase...

When it returns restore the image to the hard drive following http://reflect.macrium.com/help/v5/how_to/rescu...

Even if you swap in another hard drive, there's no reason to use a new key to activate since the PC came with a Product key embedded in the UEFI firmware chip on the motherboard that lasts for the life of the motherboard, to reinstall Windows as often as you want, on any drive you want, and in whatever way you want.

So you could swap in a drive to send in and reinstall Windows but they can also be fussy about it not having a Factory install if the drive isn't wiped. So you may need to make HP recovery media to restore the new hard drive as shown here:

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04758961

So the best option is clearly to save a system image backup, wipe the drive an send it back blank which is common accepted practice for returning PCs under warranty.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and keep me posted. I will keep working with you until it's resolved.

________________________________________________________

Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

Answer 2

I am glad to help. Let me know if there's anything else.

Also when ready please mark the post which helped most as the Answer, to help others. A rating is also appreciated.

Answer 3

Okie doke. That's what I was thinking but it's good to know for sure, I haven't done much of a deep dive into Windows system protection as I have for the android devices I usually work on lol.

Thanks again!

Answer 4

There's nothing that could cause it to "freak out" if you swap the drive out and then back in, because the drive has everything on it and won't know it's been out of the PC in the first place or that any other drive was in it's bed. It will just think it's being started up again per usual.

Answer 5

Hi Laur. I'm Greg, an installation specialist, 10 years Windows MVP, and Volunteer Moderator here to help you.

What I'd do in that situation is save a System Image backup of the Windows partitions using free Macrium as shown here:

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/7363/macrium-re...

Then wipe the drive with Diskpart Clean Command from Windows installation media before sending it in: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/85819-erase...

When it returns restore the image to the hard drive following http://reflect.macrium.com/help/v5/how_to/rescu...

Even if you swap in another hard drive, there's no reason to use a new key to activate since the PC came with a Product key embedded in the UEFI firmware chip on the motherboard that lasts for the life of the motherboard, to reinstall Windows as often as you want, on any drive you want, and in whatever way you want.

So you could swap in a drive to send in and reinstall Windows but they can also be fussy about it not having a Factory install if the drive isn't wiped. So you may need to make HP recovery media to restore the new hard drive as shown here:

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04758961

So the best option is clearly to save a system image backup, wipe the drive an send it back blank which is common accepted practice for returning PCs under warranty.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and keep me posted. I will keep working with you until it's resolved.

________________________________________________________

Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

Hi Greg, thanks for the info- I've been going at it this way mainly because of a bit of a perfect storm of life issues combining to eat up a lot of my time.

If everything were going well I would definitely have the time for a full backup of my drive, wipe, and then just reinstall when I get it back, but because of everything else going on at the moment (family health emergencies including hospitalizations, being in the middle of moving, and also trying to get over the flu) I needed to find something that would be as close to plug and play as I could get it.

If I go ahead and use the embedded windows key to activate windows on the new hard drive as you mentioned, would I still be able to just swap my regular drive back in when I get it back or would Windows freak out about that?

Thanks for your help!