Current Hard Drive fried, put in new hard drive, can i fresh install windows 8.1, dont have key?

joshiameya
joshiameya Member Posts: 4 New User

Hi,

 

I have replace my HDD , the previous one is damaged.

 

Also my laptop doesnt have a CD key. my only option is bootable USB.

 

Now how do i  fresh install windows 8.1 or windows 10 as i dont have the product key?

 

Please help. Currently i am planning to install ubuntu, but would like to switch to windows 10 in near future.

 

i want to exhaust all options before buying windows 10.

 

Regards,

Ameya

Answers

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    product key will be read automatically from BIOS by windows installation, just be sure to install the correct one.

     

    Home

    Professional

     

    if a product key is asked, just skip those steps.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • joshiameya
    joshiameya Member Posts: 4 New User

    Thank you so much, i had no idea, the keys nowadays are embedded in the bios.

     

    So i went to microsoft and have downloaded the Windows 10 iso image.

     

    I will create a bootable USB and hope everything goes fine.

     

    I have no other option but to clean install windows 10 and then install all the necessary drivers, hope windows 10 will boot after installing as the drivers arent present.

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer
    Don't worry, windows 10 will work for sure and automatically install most of drivers, especially if connected to the web.
    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • joshiameya
    joshiameya Member Posts: 4 New User

    Thank you so much iron fly.

     

    Windows installation went without any issues.

     I need to install my NVIDIA graphics driver 

     

    One question i have is about BIOS update.

     

    The current version of my BIOS is v 1.27.

     

    There are 2 available updates on ACER website  1.31 and 1.32

     

    Should i update my bios? Can i directly install version 1.32?

     

    Regards,

    Ameya

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer
    Yes, go fo 1.32
    I'm not an Acer employee.