finding the product key

  • Thread starter Thread starter DaleNDani
  • Start date Start date
D

DaleNDani

I doubt this is possible because I know the windows xp product key is
stored in the registry, but maybe someone can still help me out with
this. In my place of employment I have a custom built pc that was
previously installed with windows xp. The previous employee, for
whatever reason, installed win2k as the default OS. It is configured to
dual boot, but the win xp won't boot. We are trying to upgrade all the
win2k to winxp's (finally!) and in an effort to not buy another license
of win xp we are trying to find the xp key off the custom built PC. I
don't know what disc was used and it's quite possible it's already
installed on another machine, but just in case it isn't. . . It appears
that the there is just one partition on the hard disk and that the
win2k was installed over the winxp because in the root of C there is
both a windows directory and winnt directory. The windows directory
does contain windows xp files and it appears to have been sp2.

Thanks in advance.
 
I doubt this is possible because I know the windows xp product key is
stored in the registry, but maybe someone can still help me out with
this. In my place of employment I have a custom built pc that was
previously installed with windows xp. The previous employee, for
whatever reason, installed win2k as the default OS. It is configured to
dual boot, but the win xp won't boot. We are trying to upgrade all the
win2k to winxp's (finally!) and in an effort to not buy another license
of win xp we are trying to find the xp key off the custom built PC. I
don't know what disc was used and it's quite possible it's already
installed on another machine, but just in case it isn't. . . It appears
that the there is just one partition on the hard disk and that the
win2k was installed over the winxp because in the root of C there is
both a windows directory and winnt directory. The windows directory
does contain windows xp files and it appears to have been sp2.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Try Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit (version 7.0t)
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
 
I doubt this is possible because I know the windows xp product key is
stored in the registry, but maybe someone can still help me out with
this. In my place of employment I have a custom built pc that was
previously installed with windows xp. The previous employee, for
whatever reason, installed win2k as the default OS. It is configured to
dual boot, but the win xp won't boot. We are trying to upgrade all the
win2k to winxp's (finally!) and in an effort to not buy another license
of win xp we are trying to find the xp key off the custom built PC. I
don't know what disc was used and it's quite possible it's already
installed on another machine, but just in case it isn't. . . It appears
that the there is just one partition on the hard disk and that the
win2k was installed over the winxp because in the root of C there is
both a windows directory and winnt directory. The windows directory
does contain windows xp files and it appears to have been sp2.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

If Belarc does dot retrieve try the magical Jellybean key finder
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml
 
I doubt this is possible because I know the windows xp product key is
stored in the registry, but maybe someone can still help me out with
this. In my place of employment I have a custom built pc that was
previously installed with windows xp. The previous employee, for
whatever reason, installed win2k as the default OS. It is configured to
dual boot, but the win xp won't boot. We are trying to upgrade all the
win2k to winxp's (finally!) and in an effort to not buy another license
of win xp we are trying to find the xp key off the custom built PC. I
don't know what disc was used and it's quite possible it's already
installed on another machine, but just in case it isn't. . . It appears
that the there is just one partition on the hard disk and that the
win2k was installed over the winxp because in the root of C there is
both a windows directory and winnt directory. The windows directory
does contain windows xp files and it appears to have been sp2.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

If the installation is bootable there are a variety of tools to retrieve
the key. I don't know how it can be done if it isn't bootable.

ViewXP http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/ViewKeyXP.exe

AIDA32 http://www.aumha.org/freeware.htm

Belarc Advisor http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Magical Jellybean http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml
 
(e-mail address removed),
I doubt this is possible because I know the windows xp
product key is stored in the registry, but maybe someone can
still help me out with this. In my place of employment I
have a custom built pc that was previously installed with
windows xp. The previous employee, for whatever reason,
installed win2k as the default OS. It is configured to dual
boot, but the win xp won't boot. We are trying to upgrade
all the win2k to winxp's (finally!) and in an effort to not
buy another license of win xp we are trying to find the xp
key off the custom built PC. I don't know what disc was used
and it's quite possible it's already installed on another
machine, but just in case it isn't. . . It appears that the
there is just one partition on the hard disk and that the
win2k was installed over the winxp because in the root of C
there is both a windows directory and winnt directory. The
windows directory does contain windows xp files and it
appears to have been sp2.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

If Win2K was installed after XP, it may be possible to restore
the XP installation by following the procedure outlined here:

Courtesy of Doug Knox, MS-MVP
How do I install Windows 2000 after I've installed Windows XP?
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_2k.htm

Basically, what you have to do is restore copies of the XP
versions of Ntldr and Ntdetect.com. That can be done by copying
them from a working XP computer or extracting them from an XP
installation CD. Place the XP version of these files in the
root of C and restart the system. Hopefully, you'll now be able
to boot into XP.

Good luck

Nepatsfan
 
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