lost product key?

  • Thread starter Thread starter playround
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playround

I lost my windows xp product key, and I found one online
is this legal? If now what do I do?
 
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, and someone has removed/destroyed the
label, you should contact you the computer's manufacturer; 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
 
playround said:
I lost my windows xp product key, and I found one online
is this legal? If now what do I do?
Click to expand...

heh.
Right - and I believe this is a legitimate question... uh huh.
You bought the Washington Monument with that key too, huh?
 
Are you saying that factory installed OEM XP machines are done with disk
image HDDs ? In other words, cloned HDDs are installed?
 
Wayne said:
Are you saying that factory installed OEM XP machines are done with
disk image HDDs ? In other words, cloned HDDs are installed?
Click to expand...


If you are asking everyone - I would say "yes" in many cases. Depending on
the OEM, they likely just have a bunch of already cloned HDDs lying around,
slap it in the new PC, ship it.
 
Yes, that is what I was getting at. Do you know what manufactures do this?
I bet Gateway and Compaq/HP would be on this list.

Thanks
 
Wayne said:
Are you saying that factory installed OEM XP machines are done with
disk image HDDs ? In other words, cloned HDDs are installed?
Click to expand...


Shenan said:
If you are asking everyone - I would say "yes" in many cases.
Depending on the OEM, they likely just have a bunch of already cloned
HDDs lying around, slap it in the new PC, ship it.
Click to expand...
Yes, that is what I was getting at. Do you know what manufactures do
this? I bet Gateway and Compaq/HP would be on this list.
Click to expand...

I don't have a list, no - but I bet HP/Compaq, IBM, Dell likely do it. They
sell enough computers that it would be very practical for them to install
this way. Make an image that works (thanks to Sysprep and other OEM VAR
tools) on all of your systems, start applying that image to all your hards
drives and then put them in machines and ship as desired. Fast and
efficient.
 
Greetings --

Well, on the assembly lines I've observed, the hard drives was
already installed in the PCs as the conveyor belt moved up to the
imaging servers. This means that the hard drives are cloned _after_
they're installed.

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
 
Greetings --

Any large scale OEM would use this method; nothing else makes any
sort of sense, from a business or efficiency point-of-view.

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
 
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