Installing Windows 10 on new HDD in a Notebook

[Rabmac]

Hi,

My old drive has started failing and the master file table is now corrupt, the machine no longer boots and the drive is inaccessible.

Prior to failing the disk started off with a preinstalled version of Windows 8, which was upgraded to Windows 10 a few months ago.

On account of the hard drive issues listed above I decided to buy a replacement drive and reinstall Windows 10. I was told that as long as I installed Windows 10 on the same machine it would register because the motherboard was the same.

As my machine does not have a DVD drive I made a bootable USB with Windows 10. My machine has UEFI BIOS and I have disabled secure boot and set the boot order to USB first and HDD second.

Unfortunately, I cannot get Windows 10 to install and I keep getting the following message:

Recovery

Your PC/Device needs to be repaired

The boot configuration data file doesn't contain valid information for an operating system.
File: \Boot\BCD
Error code: 0x0000098

You'll need to use recovery tools if you don't have any installation media (like a disc or usb device) contact your PC administrator or PC/Device manufacturer.

Any idea how I can fix this and install Windows 10 on the new HDD? I think it is not liking the WIndows 10 version on the USB and is skipping straight to trying to load the OS from the new HDD and obviously it won't be there as nothing has been installed. If it helps I have HDD docking station and am happy to removing the HDD and plugging it into the docking station but not sure if that would help.

Thanks

 

[Lutfij]

1| Replace your old/dead HDD with the new one in your Notebook
2| Install Windows 8 onto it and update until you reach the eligibility point for an upgrade to Windows 10.
3| Upgrade to Windows 10, let it update and enjoy.

The problem many have faced and eventually explained is that in spite of the activation key being bound onto the UEFI of the motherboard there is the simple issue where any minor hardware changes is registered within OS and it throws a fit when it can't comprehend the hardware change with the preset activation key thus if you were coming from an upgrade path to Windows 10 and were interested in a hardware upgrade for Christmas then you'd need to perform any/all hardware changes within old OS and then migrate to new OS.

 

[Rabmac]

Sorry for delay in replying as it has been a hectic festive period. (Merry X-mas btw)

Just wanted to let you know that I managed to fix the problem. I was trying to install using bootable USB installation media and the problem was related to how I burned the image on to the USB. Once I used the correct procedure to burn the ISO onto the USB device, it worked first time and the product registered itself as soon as I went online.

Thanks for your suggestion though.