Hi, I am a freelance computer technician and I am looking for some insight and/or info to my issue below. I have a Compaq Presario CQ60 and a HP Pavilion G60. Both laptops are virtually identical and both have the same specs. The only difference is the Brand Logos. My problems; Compaq Presario CQ60 - Damaged top cover and LCD screen, missing keyboard keys and a dead in the water SATA hard drive. Mainboard still works as well as the entire base but the Vista Home Premium COA is unreadable. HP Pavilion G60 - Everything works except the mainboard. Mainboard is certified toast. Good LCD, keyboard, Hard Drive with Vista Recovery partition intact, Top & Bottom Chassis and a readable Home Premium COA. I am planning to merge the two systems into one either Tossing the working Compaq Presario CQ60 mainboard into the dead HP Pavilion G60 so that I don't need to mess with moving the COA. or Transferring the Top Assembly, keyboard, hard drive and COA from the Pavilion G60 to the Compaq Presario CQ60 But the main issue is the Vista Recovery Partition. I was reading some forums and discovered that HP & Compaq's Vista recovery partition runs off the chassis serial number or mainboard serial number to work. I need some clarification on this matter. Is there anyway I can edit the recovery partition to accept the CQ60's mainboard or is there a way I can edit the CQ60 serial numbers to the G60 serial numbers and eventually restore Vista Home Premium to factory-shipped standards? Both Laptops ARE NOT STOLEN. I am just trying to make one good working laptop with what I have available to me without spending anything but my time and effort.
I see your dilemma, replacing the screen is the easiest way out but just have to be really careful not to brake the plastic surround. They are so flimsy. Replacing the MB is a major operation, but could be less of a hassle since covers are more robust and don't break as easily. I guess you can start taking the HP apart to sort of practice and gauge the difficulty level, mark everything as you go so you don't end up with extra screws ( which is a common occurrence ). That's that bit, as far as the OS goes I'd Modify the BIOS for the so the OS will be activated if you run recovery. And as far as the COA label, as long as both laptops are running same version of OS I don't see any problems. If it worries you then just take it of HP and stick it back on the other one, get some double-sided tape to make it stick. Hope it helped.
I wouldn't even bother with the recovery partition, but you should post the bios in the bios mods section to get the splash screen + make, model, serial changed to the one on the sticker of the main case.