XP Home - Need my Product Key - Computer is stuck

[Sonny]

Hello - Turned off my Sony Viao 3 weeks ago all was working fine, turned it
on and got a flash of a blue screen & then the computer gives a bunch of
loading options - I tried all combinations no good

So tried installing my Windows XP Home CD - Note Sony gave this CD as a free
upgrade from the Millennium Operating System-

Well the computer wants the Product Key Number for the XP disk - which I
can't get as the computer won't load

any ideas? Should I try a Registry from an earlier date? Have no idea how
to do this or where to look - we (my wife) needs files from this computer & I
threw out all the boxes that had all the info etc for the computer - yeah I
know you Ain't Suppose to do that!

Hope someone can help Please

Sonny

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Hello - Turned off my Sony Viao 3 weeks ago all was working fine, turned
it
on and got a flash of a blue screen & then the computer gives a bunch of
loading options - I tried all combinations no good

So tried installing my Windows XP Home CD - Note Sony gave this CD as a
free
upgrade from the Millennium Operating System-

Well the computer wants the Product Key Number for the XP disk - which I
can't get as the computer won't load

any ideas? Should I try a Registry from an earlier date? Have no idea how
to do this or where to look - we (my wife) needs files from this computer
& I
threw out all the boxes that had all the info etc for the computer - yeah
I
know you Ain't Suppose to do that!

Hope someone can help Please

Sonny

Product keys are like receipts: The goods behind them cost a lot of money,
hence you keep a printed record. If you didn't then you should look for the
sticker that is normally stuck to the PC case, sometimes to the rear wall.
If you've pulled it off then keyfinder may be able to retrieve the key for
you. I read somewhere that Keyfinder Beta 2.0 can retrieve it from an
off-line registry hive. http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html. Doing so
may require another PC or a Bart PE boot CD.

 

[Justin]

Hello - Turned off my Sony Viao 3 weeks ago all was working fine, turned it
on and got a flash of a blue screen & then the computer gives a bunch of
loading options - I tried all combinations no good

So tried installing my Windows XP Home CD - Note Sony gave this CD as a free
upgrade from the Millennium Operating System-

Well the computer wants the Product Key Number for the XP disk - which I
can't get as the computer won't load

any ideas? Should I try a Registry from an earlier date? Have no idea how
to do this or where to look - we (my wife) needs files from this computer & I
threw out all the boxes that had all the info etc for the computer - yeah I
know you Ain't Suppose to do that!

Hope someone can help Please

Sonny

You've got problems if you can't find that key.

It should be printed on the box/sleeve that came with the XP CD.
Since XP home did not come preloaded on the machine it is unlikely to be
on a sticker on the side of it.

Reading the final line of your message - you're *toast.* Check out eBay
and see if you can find a new Windows XP home. It looks like they go
for around $80US.
If you need files off that drive - you have a few options. Pull the
drive out, stick it in another machine and browse to it, drag and drop
to your hearts content.
If you don't have another machine you can try booting into a Knoppix CD
and draggind and dropping to a USB jump drive - if that even works.
http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/helpcentre/troubleshooting/pcdata/index.xml.ID=body.1_div.2

Good luck

Of all the things for you to throw away, honestly people. I bet you
still have the manual to your old pickup truck. Probably the original
sales receipt too. In the same place are probably a few menus to
restaurants that haven't been in business for years. I bet you never
lost track of the TV Guide for more than ten minutes. Do you still have
tickets from your high school senior year homecoming game? You know the
one where you threw the winning pass and met your future wife?
That you have.
CDs and documentation to that computer? Gone.
As the CDs were being thrown away, the high school game tickets laughed
at the CDs as you walked past the cabinet. I can almost hear it:
"HAHAHA! That them there, computer stuff ain't as important as me!"
Then the truck manual said "Yeah, me too; he needs me to remind himself
how to use that winch." Nobody bothered to tell the manual that
particular truck was traded in for a Honda CRV three years ago. All the
while the old menus are at the back giggling.

 

[Mark Adams]

Hello - Turned off my Sony Viao 3 weeks ago all was working fine, turned it
on and got a flash of a blue screen & then the computer gives a bunch of
loading options - I tried all combinations no good

So tried installing my Windows XP Home CD - Note Sony gave this CD as a free
upgrade from the Millennium Operating System-

Well the computer wants the Product Key Number for the XP disk - which I
can't get as the computer won't load

any ideas? Should I try a Registry from an earlier date? Have no idea how
to do this or where to look - we (my wife) needs files from this computer & I
threw out all the boxes that had all the info etc for the computer - yeah I
know you Ain't Suppose to do that!

Hope someone can help Please

Sonny

Use your Windows XP CD to construct a Bart PE or an Ultimate Boot CD 4
Windows with a keyfinder pluggin. Run the disk on the computer that won't
boot and use the keyfinder to extract your product key from the machine.
Write the key on your XP disk so you won't lose it, you knucklehead. Now
reenter the key when prompted by the install routine. Google "Bart PE" and
"Ultimate Boot CD 4 Windows" for instructions for constructing the disks.

 

[Daave]

Hello - Turned off my Sony Viao 3 weeks ago all was working fine,
turned it on and got a flash of a blue screen & then the computer
gives a bunch of loading options - I tried all combinations no good

So tried installing my Windows XP Home CD - Note Sony gave this CD as
a free upgrade from the Millennium Operating System-

Clean Install, Repair Install, or Parallel Install?

A Clean Install would have wiped everything off your hard drive,
including the data that could ultimately give you your product key.

Well the computer wants the Product Key Number for the XP disk -
which I can't get as the computer won't load

The product key should be found either on a COA sticker affixed to your
PC or with the packaging material that came with your XP Home CD.

any ideas? Should I try a Registry from an earlier date?

Does it even exist? That would depend on what time of installation you
attempted and how far you got. You need to tell us.

Have no
idea how to do this or where to look - we (my wife) needs files from
this computer & I threw out all the boxes that had all the info etc
for the computer - yeah I know you Ain't Suppose to do that!

You are correct. That product key is worth about $90!

In the event you didn't wipe the data off the drive, you could try this:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

(the equivalent of a manual Windows System Restore)

You should be able to use your XP Home CD for this.

 

[Justin]

It was actually good that were were *not* able to reinstall Windows ...
because if you performed a full system restore you would have wiped out
your data.

before you do any more damage...better get the machine to a repair shop
that can at least backup your data first

He would have been given the option to perform a restore - install
Windows over the current hosed installation.
Had he chosen otherwise there would be a warning.

 

[Justin]

Use your Windows XP CD to construct a Bart PE or an Ultimate Boot CD 4
Windows with a keyfinder pluggin. Run the disk on the computer that won't
boot and use the keyfinder to extract your product key from the machine.
Write the key on your XP disk so you won't lose it, you knucklehead. Now
reenter the key when prompted by the install routine. Google "Bart PE" and
"Ultimate Boot CD 4 Windows" for instructions for constructing the disks.

I have yet to find a Windows keyfinder that actually works.

 

[Justin]

Clean Install, Repair Install, or Parallel Install?

A Clean Install would have wiped everything off your hard drive,
including the data that could ultimately give you your product key.


The product key should be found either on a COA sticker affixed to your
PC or with the packaging material that came with your XP Home CD.

As stated, the machine did not come with XP home it was an added upgrade.
Hence no sticker.

 

[Daave]

As stated, the machine did not come with XP home it was an added
upgrade. Hence no sticker.

That is why I used the word "or", Justin.

For all we know, the PC manufacturer could have issued a new COA sticker
along with the upgrade CD along with instructions to affix it to the PC.
I doubt it, but it is within the realm of possibility.

 

[Justin]

That is why I used the word "or", Justin.

For all we know, the PC manufacturer could have issued a new COA sticker
along with the upgrade CD along with instructions to affix it to the PC.
I doubt it, but it is within the realm of possibility.

Good point.
I withdraw the statement. However if he threw away the CDs and
pamphlets, what makes you think he had the sense to slap a two inch
sticker on the ass end of his machine? If such a sticker was supplied,
it got tossed within the first week.
Guaranteed.

 

[Daave]

Good point.
I withdraw the statement. However if he threw away the CDs and
pamphlets, what makes you think he had the sense to slap a two inch
sticker on the ass end of his machine? If such a sticker was
supplied, it got tossed within the first week.

I wouldn't bet against it.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

I have yet to find a Windows keyfinder that actually works.

Your search must have been very superficial. Both of the following work
while Windows is active:
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml.
http://www.gtopala.com/ (siw.exe - look under "Secrets" in the left column).

 

[Justin]

Your search must have been very superficial. Both of the following work
while Windows is active:
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml.
http://www.gtopala.com/ (siw.exe - look under "Secrets" in the left column).

I have tried both on two separate Dell machines - when I tried to
reinstall with the key provided it didn't work.

 

[Justin]

I wouldn't bet against it.

But if you ask him how much he paid for his 2001 F150 CrewCab - he'll be
able to find the original sales slip.
Next to the TV guide and tickets.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

I have tried both on two separate Dell machines - when I tried to
reinstall with the key provided it didn't work.

This is probably due to you using an installation CD that is different from
the CD originally used by this installation. To say with confidence that a
key extractor works or does not work, you would need to compare its output
with the key that you *know* was used to install Windows.

 

[Bob I]

I have tried both on two separate Dell machines - when I tried to
reinstall with the key provided it didn't work.

You can't scan and use the number from the factory install. You will
need to have installed using the number from the PC case or the CD case.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have tried both on two separate Dell machines - when I tried to
reinstall with the key provided it didn't work.

Using a program like magicaljellybean on your OEM computer is
generally not useful. It shows the key that Windows was installed
with, and that's a key that was used by Dell (in your case) to put
Windows on many thousands of machine. It is *not* your key and you
can't use it to reinstall.

You can find *your* key on a sticker on your case--usually on the back
of desktops and the bottom of laptops).

 

[Justin]

Using a program like magicaljellybean on your OEM computer is
generally not useful. It shows the key that Windows was installed
with, and that's a key that was used by Dell (in your case) to put
Windows on many thousands of machine. It is *not* your key and you
can't use it to reinstall.

You can find *your* key on a sticker on your case--usually on the back
of desktops and the bottom of laptops).

Usually, you're correct.
However I have known people to take those stickers off. Those same
people are usually not the same people O choose to hang around with.
Nor do they qualify as Rhodes Scholars.