Deleted OS - Is It Wise to Replace HDD

Hello All,

Recently, someone deleted my operating system (OS) which originally had Windows 7 and I upgraded over the years to Windows 10.  While an offer was made to mitigate the situation (I completely understand the issue of compensation value to value of the property today), I do not feel that the offer is actually beneficial unless I make some changes.  My laptop (PC) is clearly old (6 years and still going); thus I am currently working off of a counterfeit OS compliments of the person who deleted my OS.

What is the offer to mitigate the situation?  I currently have Office 2013 pro, but the offer is a 2021 office that only comes with Word, Excel and PowerPoint.  No other features and is only for this PC.  If my current PC stops working, I cannot transfer the offer to another PC.  Or, a free 2 year subscription for Office 365 for home and student and is transferable to any PC and all devices.  Although these offers appear great (the  better of the two is to get the 365) they are not doing what is needed as the offers are temporary.

I think it would be better to replace the hard drive (HDD) in order to get a new OS, which effectually looks like me getting Windows 11 if I replace what is needed to get it as they are phasing out Windows 10 and there will be no service to this OS after October 2025.  I am guessing the HDD is what needs to be replaced, right?  Since the OS is a program (a manufactured product) by Microsoft, but is installed by the manufacturer of the PC (Dell), the issue needs to be fixed at the OS level.  It seems I would need to make a counter offer of obtaining a new OS instead of replacing my HDD but that would not make sense because Windows 10 is not going to be a supported product for long.  For the record, I do everything on this PC: a lot of documents particularly in legal matters, gaming, watching tv and movies, music, the list goes on.

Considering the circumstances, can anyone tell me what other things I need to consider before accepting or making a counter offer?

Thanks for your help.