Discussion on:

Find a lost Windows product key

have you been able to avoid it? Or have you had a smooth experience whenever you've had to deal with WPA issues?

Belarc Advisor from www.Belarc.com lists them all.
Free for personal use!

HI IF GOT THE DISK BUT CANT FIND MY PRODUCT KEY CAN YOU HELP ME PLEASE

Do you have windows installed on your computer?

no ,the windows is not installed

I purchassed A Microsoft XP3 opereating system CD.Now the keys was erased .Pls help me to find out the original keys.

how does one erase a reg key from a cd

are you trying to tell us the label that has the key file printed on it came off of the case, or you lost the genuine reg key label.
or that you erased it from the cd, which mind you is an imposibility, as the reg key is not on the cd

If you only have the CD, and WinXP is not installed on the PC, there is no way to recover the key 'cuz the key is not imbedded in the CD. The CD only contains an algorithim to check the key that's entered during installation to see if it's valid.

I have lost my product key and i do not have CD
so can you please guide me what i have to do further to get my product key. Hope you have understand my problem

I have some software that might help if you cannt find the key

I am interested in having the said software

Magic Jellybean programs lists all microsoft products codes and it's freeware

Thank you for the information. I'll get it.

I need the I d number to install a program

Personally I will never install any OS or other product that I know requires Product activation on any computer of mine. I have had enough bad experiences from getting ordinary licenses from Microsoft already. Their licensing delivery system sucks and so do PA.

That means no Symantec Products and no major Microsoft Products. As a computer technician, I see thousands of computers. You wouldn't believe the amount of bootleg software around. I can understand why MS and others do it. That doesn't mean that I like it however. Especially the fact that in order to preload windows, I must now activate the product before i get updates. Also, if the OS damands to be activated but will only boot in safe mode, what can you do?

I purchased a used computer from Computer Renessance preloaded with Windows.Installation of upgrades proved it was bootleg. The OS still works, but will not play videos. Can a Product Key be found for this situation? dickschulz@charter.net

I've never had a problem with it, personally. I am curious though if MS keeps statistics on the calls/connections they get for product activation. The reason I say that is this: just because a system _shipped_ with XP, doesn't mean it _runs_ XP. I found it interesting that at the local university all the new Dell computers in the computer lab that have XP Product ID stickers on them are actually running 2000 Pro!

My guess is that for compatibility or other reasons, there are lots of people who prefer something else. This of course skews statistics about XP use, because they are removing XP and installing a different operating system.

They may already have an open license for W2K with a standardized desktop image. In that case they would purchase the machines with XP home edition then roll out the standard image.

I booted up my computer and it informed me that I was running an illegal version or something of that nature and needed to call MS. I had made no changes in my system for several months at that point. Fortunately this did not occur during a critical business time. I called MS and got response very quickly without the usual VMS b-s all companies use now that prevents you from reaching a person. Not only that the person on the other end of the line spoke english very well.

We resolved the problem with only 4 telephone calls and in less than 2 hours I was back up and running OK. Note that this was after 10 PM EST.

I'm glad it happened when it did and without iuncident to business, otherwise I'd be running to convert the company to Linux. Considering that anyway due to the exclusive nature of MS products and the registration requirements.

So what was the problem and how was it corrected?

A number of universities also participate in the Microsoft Academic Alliance which provides licenses and software to the universities and students. Participating universities may offer students copies of WinXP, Visual Studio and a host of other software free of charge (to the student). The tendency of slow reacting academia to use older (somehow perceived as more stable) OS's like Win2K or compatibility issues with particular software used by/at a university may also cause them to switch out the OEM installed OS in favor of something else.

One of the things that volume licensing allows it to downgrade a product. This means they can use Windows 2000 (or NT for that matter). The same thing is available to products like office.

MS Offers the ability to downgrade a license (under some circumstances). read the EULA that comes with your OS to see if you can downgrade.

"I will never" use a Microsoft product that requires either re-activation or re-licensing. It's a ridiculous little MS-Scam and I refuse to go along. I now use XP PRO because it doesn't require Activation, if the day ever comes when nothing else is available without this re-activation,re-licensing rip-off, I will go back to my Win/ME or 98/Sec Ed rather than give in to what I consider nothing short of GREED on the part of Microsoft.Not to mention that I deeply resent the level of depth of thier questions and how personal they get when they delve into your personal history.Most of the stuff they ask is "NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS", I'm buying a Microsoft product,not filling out a Police Report form.I deeply resent the way they have inflicted themselves into our lives and the methods used the get what they want.The MS Product is excellent, but MS the way of doing busisness leaves a lot to be desired.
I consider it corrupt.
Thank You
Aaron A Baker

Be careful what you swear to. You state that you are using XP Pro because it doesn't require activation. I beg to differ. XP Pro actually does require activation and also "re-activation" if you need to reinstall it. If you have not been through the activation process yourself with XP Pro, I would venture to guess that it came pre-installed on your machine. Most OEMs pre-activate the OS at the factory so the retail customer will not have to do it themselves.

I would suggeest you try to reinstall XP Pro and if you can do so without activation, then your comment is valid.

It would be a really big pain for even a medium sized company line mine, much less a large company like HP, General Motors, or Lockheed Martin (just naming random large companies) to activate the tens of thousands of software licenses they buy indvidually. There are certain keys that Microsoft issues for corporate licenses that do not require the product to be activated at all, or "reactivated" as far as I know...

copies of XP Pro were distributed, by the hundreds of thousands, that have a key code that does not require activation of any kind, other than to be input upon original/clean installation of the OS.. these disks were distributed to educational facilities, large corporations, MS technical staff, OEM companies, NGOs, and other not for profits. There was a day when - if you couldn't find a "Legitimate FREE copy of Windows XP Pro" you were living under a rock!!!.

My Apologies;
I should have stated that I HAD the 2003 version and got rid of it for the exact same reasons that we are discussing right now. I crashed twice and then had to call MS to get a new number. I was informed that I would have to do this forever now, but it was no problem for them as they just give them out randomly. Man I was Blue in the face. This thing cost $250.00 Ca and I had "was forced" to buy RAM in order to be allowed to buy it.Yet Another Microsoft Maneuver.
All told, over $300.00 is what I spent on the 2003 version and what did I get, the same as my 2001 except the the SPPack 2 was embedded. WOW!! I was furious.
Not with the Tech, he was great and was actually English. Rather with the Hubris and arrogance that Microsoft is now displaying. Once I pay for a product"And I can prove it? That Should be Enough". So I dumped the 2003 and went back to my 2001 version.
With 2001, you can re-install Auld Nauseum and not have to account to anyone for doing so.
Found there is almost no difference between them except that now I can go to the Bathroom without Microsoft's Kind Permission. Actually with the 2003 I had far more problems than with the 2001.
And YES, I Will hang on to my 2001 XPPro for as long as I possibly can and try with all I've got, to avoid this disaster called VISTA.
Sorry about the omission, thanks for understanding.
Regards
Aaron

Aaron, I'm sure that in my comment above I am referring to the 2001 version of XP Pro and had in fact seen some people begin to have problems after "upgrading" to 2003 service packs.

I don't know where you aquired your XP, but XP does indeed require activation. As member Canderra states, you probably got a pre-activated version or you may have a multi-license version that does not require a first time activation. However, if you change one-too-many hardware components on your system, you WILL have to reactivate!

Don't forget to look into options other than MS products when you decide to stop using XP (since somewhere along the way you'll end up having to reactivate XP or activate it for the first time installing it on new hardware). Don't forget about other options, like MacOS X and Linux.

I, for one, avoid a great many Windows worries by using Linux almost exclusively. I do have a Windows 2000 (SP2, as the license issues for SP3 are just too restrictive for my taste) system, but that's only a necessity because of my line of work (I consult for clients that use Windows).

Among Windows products, you might look into Windows 2000 instead of Windows 95 or 98, too. Win2k is, without a doubt, Microsoft's best operating system to date. It still falls short of Debian GNU/Linux, but there was a time when it was my primary OS.

Unless you are using a Corporate or Volume License All versions of XP require product activation. You may have received a version that was shipped "pre-activated". btw: there are only volume license upgrades to Operating systems.

There is no greed about activation. If you have a retail version of a MS Operating system, you
do not have to pay any fee to run it on a new computer or activate it. You just have to destory the installation on the old computer.

OEM operating systems are licensed for that hardware only and can never be activated on another computer.

There is never any personal information sent to MS during product activation.

If you register, then of course you will be sending personal information to MS, but registration is optional.

I agree 100% - you are right on Mr. Baker.
This 77 year old thinks Microsoft marketing is rotten to the core.

Sir, having utilized a computer of some sort since 1966, I feel confortable saying that the problem is not greed, but is trust. the swiss cheese Gates sold back then is still swiss cheese today, but the ms team is trying to make it better. Black Hatters screw this up. Remember, it started out swiss cheese and people bought it. So why get upset because Black hatters cause the updates and changes, and society requires bigger and better products at a rate so fast that a perfect program is impossible. Chill -- go with the flow and keep you stuff updated. Of course there is always free or share ware. Good luck.

You say that Windows XP Pro does not need activation? I'm afraid you are wrong there. The only XP that does not need activation is the OEM, or Corporate versions, and the Corporate versions have volume licensing

What if your hard drive crashes and you have lost the number and can't retrieve for the hard drive. Is there no way to retrieve it from the cd.

All the CD uses for the activation-key control is an algorithm which verifys that the key you have entered is valid. The key itself is on a piece of paper with a hologram from Microsoft.

If the drive crashed from a 'soft error' like corruption of the kernel or something, you could try using a Knoppix or other LiveCD bootup to extract the key from the (hopefully still useable) registry on the hard drive. If you can get the WinXP CD 'Repair Console' to boot, you may be able to use that.

Otherwise you are better off finding the CD case with your key, buying a copy of XP, or using free Linux.

Hint: If your hard drive quit mechanically, try tapping it against the heel of your hand and remounting or positioning it inverted (or at least in a different position from what it was). Reboot, and if the drive works and you can boot, extract the key with Belarc Advisor and recover your data before wiping and tossing the dying drive.

I use a small program called "magic jellybean"
to extract the product id on a running windows
PC. It works pretty good, if you are just reloading
windows and can't find your key any where.

I do hope everyone knows that the product key is in the registry for all versions of windows even the new Vista and it is not encrypted just sort of hidden Lol another words it is not listed as product key if you do a search. Why bother to download 3d party programs to find it. This is one of the ways MS can tell if your windows is pirated or not since most pirated versions do not place the key in the real place it is suppose to be. This is sort of a double check to validate your windows as real. Just do a start-run-then type regedit-then enter. Then look around but remember do not change anything in the registry. Also this will get you to be familiar with the registry. Also, why you are at it do a back up of the registry

In Win9x/Me, the PK is indeed in the registry, easy to find, and plain as day. In all versions of Windows from 2000 up, the PK is in the registry, encrypted as 'Digital Product ID'. It's also in the file C:\windows\system32\config\software as an encrypted number (WinXP, maybe W2k also). That's why we use 3rd party apps to get key. As far as Vista is concerned, I don't know 'cuz I haven't messed with it that much.

No WPA problems. We have a site license edition of Microsoft Windows. When I accidently lose my product key, I used Insane Keyfinder to retrieve it: http://www.insaneware.com/keyfinder.htm

I tried the insane keyfinder. Does not work for Office 2000 like the ad states. This product costs money. Belarc Advisor and jellybean keyfinder are always free.

Jellybean keyfinder new version does REMOTE kefinding.

What's the big deal. Use Sisoft Sandra (the free version is sufficienct) and the option "Windows Information" gives product ID and Product Key.

It is not listed anymore on download.com or on their website.
Looks like it is a fully commercial product now.

Download a free copy of BELARC ADVISOR, (http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html) install, print it as hard copy and PDF. You will have ALL your software licenses, plus a wealth of other info. Usually do a PDF update every couple of weeks if I've added software...and always before I reformat a computer. That hard copy is mighty nice when installing software! And, if for some reason I do have to take my computer in for repair, BELARC is always run before the unplug and the first thing on return. You can verify everything concerning your computer

my laptop hard drive failed recently with XP pro runing on it. I had to reload everything but i had the licence sticker still!!! Tried installing several differant XP OS but get the same result, licence key is not valid. Is there a database or something to tell me which version my licence validates?...

The key sticker should read whether the key is for Home or Pro edition. If you have trouble loading the key. Remember that the font used may be difficult to distinguish between '8' and 'B', 'I' and '1', or other similar characters.

Call Microsoft and describe the trouble to them, they may condescend to issue you a replacement key (since it's obvious you bought a license with your laptop).

Otherwise, use Linux or buy a new key...