lost product key - Windows XP

[Mike M.]

Hi, please tell me how I can get the needed product key
to reinstall my Windows XP (an "oem" version). Either I
have permanently misplaced the product key or the company
who sold it me never gave me the product key and they
went out of business shortly after I bought my computer
from them, so I can't ask them for help.
Mike

 

[Tom Porterfield]

Hi, please tell me how I can get the needed product key
to reinstall my Windows XP (an "oem" version). Either I
have permanently misplaced the product key or the company
who sold it me never gave me the product key and they
went out of business shortly after I bought my computer
from them, so I can't ask them for help.
Mike

For an OEM built computer there should be a sticker on the side of the
PC that has your product key. If that is missing and XP is in a running
state on the PC, you can use EVEREST Home Edition to tell you this and
much more. Available as a free download at
http://www.lavalys.com/index.php?page=product&view=1.
--
Tom Porterfield
MS-MVP MCE
http://support.telop.org

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.

 

[hermes]

Before the MVP (M$ Victim Poster) Hermes responded, Mike M. typed:

Hi, please tell me how I can get the needed product key
to reinstall my Windows XP (an "oem" version). Either I
have permanently misplaced the product key or the company
who sold it me never gave me the product key and they
went out of business shortly after I bought my computer
from them, so I can't ask them for help.
Mike

If Windows XP is still installed and ruinning on this system, install
Belarc. It can retrieve the key for you from the registry.
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

You may also want to look on the sides, back or bottom of your computer as
it may have a COA sticker on it. Good luck.

--
hermes
DRM sux! Treacherous Computing kills our virtual civil liberties!
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html

Windows XP crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.

Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

Hi, please tell me how I can get the needed product key
to reinstall my Windows XP (an "oem" version). Either I
have permanently misplaced the product key or the company
who sold it me never gave me the product key and they
went out of business shortly after I bought my computer
from them, so I can't ask them for help.

You can find the Product key with any of these:

ViewKeyXP www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/ViewKeyXP.exe

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

Magical Jellybean www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml

Belarc Advisor www.belarc.com/free_download.html

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

The Windows 25-character Product Key (required to perform the
installation) is stored on the CD packaging on a bright orange sticker
that says "Do not lose this number." If it was an OEM (factory
installed) license, it's stored on a label that the PC manufacturer
affixed to the exterior of the PC case, or on the bottom of a laptop.

To recover a lost Product Key:

If your system still runs, you should be able to use Belarc
Advisor from http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html to find the
Product Key. (If you have a factory-installed OEM license, and
haven't since reinstalled the OS, the revealed Product Key is probably
of the drive image used at the factory and not _your_ specific Product
Key; therefore, it probably cannot be -- and definitely should not
be -- used for a re-installation.)

If it was a retail license and you have proof of purchase:

How to Replace Lost, Broken, or Missing Microsoft Software or Hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;326246

If it was an OEM license, you should contact whomever sold you the
PC; although very few manufacturers/vendors keep records of the
Product Keys they've sold, it's worth a try before you have to buy a
new license.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:




You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH