New hard drive- lenovo

So today, my lenovo y550'd hard drive crashed, so I want to get a new hard drive for it since my warranty ended two days ago (>:C). The replacement hard drive from Lenovo costs $150, while the one from newegg costs $45. I figure the Lenovo laptop has a copy of W7 on it, but since I already have a copy of W7 I figure I can buy the cheaper one.


My question is this: If I reinstall W7 on the laptop and use the activation code on the bottom of the laptop, can I re-use the code? And if not, will calling Microsoft work? I ask because I remember having a bit of trouble activating windows when re-activating W7 on a laptop with it pre-loaded.

Worst case, you just have to call Microsoft. Make sure you have your restore disks/partition or w/e the hell they give you nowadays. If not just torrent a lenovo OEM version of windows 7, this is perfectly legal as long as you're using your own activation number. I personally would take this opportunity to upgrade just find a nicer hard drive that uses the same slot/connection type and get something bigger/fancier!

If it has been 2 years since you last used that code, or rather, since that code got used, then it's OK. If you somehow have to call Microsoft, just tell them you're your hdd died. They will take care of the rest for you.

torrent a lenovo OEM version of windows 7

Why bother? Any copy of 7 at all would work perfectly fine. Generic drivers ftw!

That and... you could just download lenovo's drivers......