I would think Lenovo could tell you via an online search of the model's serial number what was on it when it was built.
Vincent Winterling Vineland, NJ > -----Original Message----- > From: Hardware [mailto:hardware-boun...@lists.hardwaregroup.com] On Behalf Of > Thane Sherrington > Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2016 3:49 PM > To: hardw...@lists.hardwaregroup.com > Subject: [H] Windows 8 on a dead HD > > I have a Lenovo desktop with a dead hard drive (completely dead). It > had Windows 8.1, so I put in a new drive and tried to install Windows > 8.1. 8.1 doesn't detect the COA key from the BIOS (although NirSoft > does) and when I enter the key, 8.1 says it isn't valid. So I'm pretty > sure the problem is that the version of 8.1 I'm using (Pro x64 English) > isn't the one that was used by Lenovo (there are about six different > version so 8.1 (Pro, non-pro, English, English International, Single > Language, etc.). > > Anyone know a way to figure out which version it was rather than just > trying every one singly? > > T
