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Windows 95 OEM number

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5 replies

by ben.snape

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Is there a way of finding out the serial (OEM) number of my Win95 instalation. Windows will not start in normal OR safe mode, and I need to reinstall it.
Thanks

5 replies

by erwin_winkel

Ben,
this is not difficult at all. Then OEM-number is stored in the system.dat file in the windows-directory. Often this is an hidden file. You can open this file in a text-editor. Then you will see some binary-codes mixed with asccii. Search for the string 'productid' and you will see the OEM-number. Voila!
It will make things easier if you have a hex-editor or something like that, but this is not necessary. You could also transfer this file to another computer and read it with wordpad.
Hope this helps,
Regards,
Erwin

by shanghai sam

Boot into Command Prompt and run the following command in your C:\Windows directory

regedit/e hkey_local_machine\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion

Note that there should be no spaces between the 't' in regedit and '/' and a space after '/' and again a space after the file name you have given.
Then open the file and search for "ProductId" in it.
You will find your key to the right of 'ProductId.

by syscokid

Erwin is on the rigt track, but system.dat is part of the registry. It would be easier to run regedit and click on Edit -> Find and search for productid. You will find several, for example, if you have MSOffice installed, you'll find one there. Most likekly the one you want will be in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion.

(Mine is ...\Windows NT\CurrentVersion).

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