Last Updated on November 17, 2022 by pg@petergamma.org
- Download and install Hiren’s BootCD
- in one folder, there is a tool to read out the Windows 10 licence key from your PC
- We tested it on a HP Compaq 8100 Elite Minitower-PC
- We have a legal licence for Windows 10, but no installation medium
- The hard drive of our HP Compaq 8100 stopped booting, but we could read out the Windows 10 licence key with Hiren’s BootCD
- We then downloaded a Windows 10 installation .iso file from Microsoft
- We burned it to a DVD
- Then, we were able to reinstall Windows 10 on a SSD drive on the HP8100
- We could enter our Windows 10 licence key and could reinstall our genuine Windows 10 which we bought together with the the HP8100
- We could also read out the Windows 10 licence key from a Windows 10 mini PC stick with Hiren’s BootCD
- In theory, it should also be possible to start a Windows 10 mini PC stick from an external usb SSD drive, but Windows 10 sticks often have only usb 2.0, which is too slow for our needs.
- The same procedure as discussed above can be done with a LattePanda V1, which is sold with an activated Windows 10 licence.
- The LattePanda V1 has an USB 3.0 port, which is almost as fast as a SATA III port.
- With the instructions discussed here and on the previous pages, it should be possible to run Windows 10 on an external drive of our LattePanda V1.