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A week ago, I bought a Lenovo IdeaPad Z510 laptop with pre-installed Windows 8.1. Recently, I tried to install Ubuntu and while doing so I accidentally installed Ubuntu by replacing Windows. That is, I formatted the entire hard disk and only Ubuntu is available now (No Windows or Lenovo drivers). Is there any way to get the working Windows back?
I thought of this work around: I can take back up from my friend who also bought the exact same laptop and I can load that in my computer (Does this work?). But the problem is I don't have the product key and hence I don't know how to activate even if I restore using my friend's Windows backup. So, is there any way I can get the license keys? Note that, I bought the original licensed version of Windows and they din't provide any CD as it is pre-installed.
By making little research, I found that activation is linked with BIOS. See this link http://www.cnet.com/news/windows-8-moves-to-bios-based-product-keys/.
If it is true, then is it possible for me to use the above work around to get back my Windows (licensed) and other drivers?
OEM product keys can usually be found on a sticker affixed to the computer. If you bought a non-OEM copy of Windows, you should have received a product key with the purchase. – a CVn – 2014-08-02T13:50:20.267