Registration Key Id

[Guest]

Hi,

I am helping a friend to get their computer going again. It was installed
with Windows 98 and it broke down. She took the computer (system box only) to
a computer shop to get repairs done. As part of the service(so I'm told),
they installed XP Pro(as a favour...free of charge...huh!!!), and returned
the system to her. She then relocated to a new area and hadn't used the
computer for some time since picking it up from the shop. Upon booting, XP
Pro states it is required to be activated...the problem is there is no
CD...and therefore no Registration Key Id to use to activate it. I explained
to her that every Microsoft OS installation belongs to the purchaser(retail)
or the computer(OEM), and that the shop should have given her the CD after
installing it for her. If she had a CD, we simply send the Key id and
register.

Before I take on this shop, I need to know if a shop has authority to
install XP Pro into a computer, and not give the CD to the system owner.
Because I am treating this as a case of casual copying or fraud and I am
looking at how best to handle this.

Also, does every edition of XP Pro have to be activated? In other words has
there ever been an edition that didn't require activating either with a
retail copy or OEM copy?

Thanks for your help

Adam

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Adam,

1) The key would not be on the CD, so having one wouldn't help. It would
have been used during installation, and therefore would already exist in the
system registry (though in a format not easily recognizable).

2) If they installed it, they should have provided for either a recovery
partition, or included some recovery software. This may not include a full
regular version of WinXP, it may only be an image.

3) Has she tried simply activating it? It might be a legitimate installation
(though I seriously doubt it from your description).

4) If you believe it to be a case of piracy, then she needs to bring it
here:
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/default.mspx

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Guest]

Thank you for you response.

Response in line

Hi Adam,

1) The key would not be on the CD, so having one wouldn't help. It would
have been used during installation, and therefore would already exist in the
system registry (though in a format not easily recognizable).

The key would not be on the CD? But...but...if I install on a new hard
drive(ie old one dies), where do I get the id (assuming I have a CD)? And
when it was installed by the shop...where do they get it from? Are you saying
shops have a priviledge to install XP Pro on systems without handing over the
CD to system owners?

2) If they installed it, they should have provided for either a recovery
partition, or included some recovery software. This may not include a full
regular version of WinXP, it may only be an image.

Thanks heaps for this...I'll follow that up.

3) Has she tried simply activating it? It might be a legitimate installation
(though I seriously doubt it from your description).

We have used Magic Jelly bean to extract the Key id. She entered the numbers
and it returns "Unauthorised Number".

4) If you believe it to be a case of piracy, then she needs to bring it
here:
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/default.mspx

If I get into a dispute with the shop...that's exactly what I'll do.

 

[frogspawn]

Your Product Key should be on a label on the outside of the computer case.
It measures about 1" x 2" and is shiny. Key is 25 alphanumeric characters
separated by hyphens. You can get the machine to tell you the key:
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml

This does not explain why the XP was given at no charge without a CD. Kinda
suspicious, but "nice" of them not to charge, regardless of the legality.