Product Identification

[BobS]

Some genious in our small office (10 people) decided that it was best to
store all software at a central location rather than with the PC. People
and computers have come and gone and we now have a cabinet full of software
that no one knows what software goes with what computer. Using Belarc
Advisor I can identify the product code and software license key from each
machine. My question is, how do I identify the associated CD (Windows and
Office) with information obtained from each computer?

Thank you for your assistance.

 

[Bob I]

CD's are immaterial, only the Version is important.

 

[shawn]

I don't know about yours, but our discs have the product keys on the box or
sleeve they come in. So, once you figure them with Belarc, you can match
them up with the actual CD's.

I do think it's best to store the software in a central location, so you
always know where it is and it won't get lost. Also there's less hands on
the software, meaning nobody is going to damage it, move it, take it home
and copy it, etc.

What we do is create a label that goes on every computer.. it has simple
informaton in case it's ever needed: IP address of that machine on the
network, etc. Once you figure out which software goes to what machine you
can label them 1, 2, 3, 4, etc, and put that on the corresponding computer
as well.

 

[BobS]

Problem is product or license info was not written down when installed and
most all software came bundled with PC. Then put in storage with no, or
little, documentation. All before my time here, but I'd like to clean out
the old stuff and get things organized. Can you put the XP or Office CD in a
drive and pull these codes?

 

[Bob I]

No, nothing is contained on the CD. For example you can use one Windows
XP PRO OEM CD for all 10 PCs and use the individual code found on the PC
case to activate.

 

[BobS]

OK, I guess I'll just leave everything as is. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Daave]

Some genious in our small office (10 people) decided that it was best
to store all software at a central location rather than with the PC.
People and computers have come and gone and we now have a cabinet full
of software that no one knows what software goes with what computer.
Using Belarc Advisor I can identify the product code and software
license key from each machine. My question is, how do I identify the
associated CD (Windows and Office) with information obtained from each
computer?

Need more information. What kind of computers? Are these Dells or some
other big-name OEM PCs? Or were they built to order by a system builder?
Are any of the disks Upgrade CDs? The answers to these questions will
determine the kind of licenses you have. That is, they might be Retail
licenses. But more likely, they are OEM licenses. But you need to tell
us first.

Keep in mind that these disks are often interchageable anyway. That is,
there is nothing unique about them -- there is no product key hard-coded
in the CDs themselves. Your keys should already be on COA (Certificate
of Authenticity) stickers affixed to your PCs. Then again, the keys
don't even enter the equation if, for instance, your situation is
similar to ours (our small office also has ten people/PCs). In our
situtation, most of our PCs are Dells. Most have XP Pro. That means we
can use *any* Dell Reinstallation CD -- as long as it's for XP Pro. So,
even if one particular PC came with XP Pro, SP1 pre-installed, we can
use another Dell CD -- one with SP2, as long as it's for XP Pro.

And because of Dell's unique System-locked Preinstallation setup, there
is no need to ever enter a Product Key. Theoretically, if I were to use
a generic (non-Dell, like a System Builder's) OEM XP installation CD,
then I would need to use the Product Key from the COA sticker.

Programs like Belarc Advisor are useful in determining licenses and
keys. However, keep in mind that this will only come in handy if you
have Retail or Generic OEM installation CDs. If that is the case, by all
means, run the program and write/print the keys on stickers that you can
affix to the PCs.

So in order to get a more useful answer, please tell us about the PCs.
And describe the disks in detail. Some disks are Recovery/Restore disks.
Some are Upgrade CDs. And some PCs don't even come with CDs; instead
they have a hidden recovery partition on the hard drive. So, more info,
please!

 

[Twayne]

Some genious in our small office (10 people) decided that it was best
to store all software at a central location rather than with the PC.
People and computers have come and gone and we now have a cabinet
full of software that no one knows what software goes with what
computer. Using Belarc Advisor I can identify the product code and
software license key from each machine. My question is, how do I
identify the associated CD (Windows and Office) with information
obtained from each computer?
Thank you for your assistance.

Just swagging mostly here:

I've found a free app called SIW does a more thorough job of getting
more info for software on a machine.

Some of it doesn't matter: e.g. all the windows XP Pro disks are
identical. The product keys aren't part of the CDs so you can more or
less randomly assign those to machines with labels.
If the machine itself has a keycode on it, and there is one on the
envelope/case the CD is stored in, those can be matched up and just
assign the rest you can't match up randomly. Remember, this is for all
the same type of OS; all Home, all Pro, all 64 bit, whatever. It's the
keycode that matters, not the CD, as long as the CD is the same version
installed on the machine.

Office is a different animal. SIW will get you the keycodes, but if
there's no keycodes or matching data with the CDs I'm not sure how to
match them up. Since everything is going to have to have been activated
perhaps MS could help you with how to identify the disks to the keycodes
or someone here will know.
I think, but I am not certain, the keycodes or part of them are on
the CDs but I've no idea where to look for them and they're likely
compressed if they are there.

Have you scoured the server and client machines to be sure there wasn't
some sort of record on those? I keep a complete but encrypted log of
every installed program that requires a serial number or keycode or
whatever.

Don't be too surprised if you find some missing install CDs and maybe a
couple pirated installs on the machines. That kind of system if prone
to those kinds of problems from the git-go.

And congrats for your due diligence in wanting to set things right.
There needs to be more like you.

HTH,

Twayne

 

[shawn]

To get the XP CD Key, I use Magic Jellybean Keyfinder. As far as getting the
office key, I am not sure how to do that.

 

[shawn]

I thought you said you used some program Belarc to find out the keys?

Anyway, like I just replied.. use Magic Jellybean Keyfinder to find your
Windows XP keys and match the up with the CD's.

Here's a link to it:
http://magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

If the CD's themselves do not have product keys with the, write down what
Jellybean shows you and put it with a CD. If the CD's are all the same then
it doesn't matter what CD you use.. long as you use each key only once. For
example, all our machines in our office are Dell and they all came with the
same software. It doesn't matter which CD we use, long as we use the right
key.

I am sure there's some program to tell your Office key (similar to
Jellybean), but I personally have never done it, so I'm not sure.

 

[BobS]

Thanks to all for the replies!!!! All PC's are Dell and all I don't believe
any of the software are upgrades. So, I guess what you're saying is as long
as we have at least one XP CD and Office 2003 CD we're OK. As older PC's
are replaced we'll do a better job of keeping the software with the machine.
Thanks again to all!

 

[Bob I]

Important! As long as ALL versions are the SAME. OEM vs Retail in NOT
the same. Likewise Office 2003 Standard VS Professional.

 

[shawn]

I have had problems in the past with a key not working.

I own a copy of Windows XP Pro. My CD is scratched and doesn't work. I
borrowed my friends Windows XP Pro and it did not work. I needed a specific
version. Probably OEM Vs. Retail.

Dell machines have service tag numbers on them. That enables the to pull up
all the information about your computer, but I doubt it keeps keys. Mostly
just hardware stuff so you can order parts and what not.

 

[Daave]

I'm not sure about Microsoft Office, but if these PCs are all Dells that
came with XP Pro, then you need a Dell XP Pro Reinstallation CD. If you
have any that came with XP Home, then of course you would need a Dell XP
Home Reinstallation CD. If you ever need to reinstall XP, I would use
the CD that has the latest Service Pack.