Windows XP Serial Number

[Mark]

I shifted house about 6 months ago and I lost my Windows
XP Serial Number when shifting house. I now need to
reinstall Windows XP because it is playing up. Could
someone please help me.

 

[Ron]

call microsoft, they should be able to identify your
validity based on your current windows settings. if not,
too bad, you will need to re-purchase another copy of
windows.

cheer up!

 

[Rob B.]

or become really good friends with someone who has the corporate key.

 

[Mike]

I presume Xp is still operational on your computer. Go to the
magicaljellybean site, and down load the key finder program from it. It will
give you the key for XP and also Office Xp if you need that. The program is
very small, and is free.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

I shifted house about 6 months ago and I lost my Windows
XP Serial Number when shifting house.

You can find the Product key with any of these:

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

http://www.aida32.hu/aida-download.php?bit=32

http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml

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

I now need to
reinstall Windows XP because it is playing up.

"Playing up"? Although this "need to reinstall Windows" is an
often-repeated legend, it isn't true. With a modicum of care, it
should never be necessary to reinstall Windows (XP or any other
version). I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95,
Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, each for the period of
time before the next version came out, and each on two machines
here. I never reinstalled any of them, and I have never had
anything more than an occasional minor problem.

It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical
support people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to
almost any problem they don't quickly know the answer to is
"reformat and reinstall." That's the perfect solution for them.
It gets you off the phone quickly, it almost always works, and it
doesn't require them to do any real troubleshooting (a skill that
most of them obviously don't possess in any great degree).

But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You
have to restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all
your programs, you have to reinstall all the Windows and
application updates,you have to locate and install all the needed
drivers for your system, you have to recustomize Windows and all
your apps to work the way you're comfortable with. Besides all
those things being time-consuming and troublesome, you may have
trouble with some of them: can you find all your application CDs?
Can you find all the needed installation codes? Do you have data
backups to restore? Do you even remember all the customizations
and tweaks you may have installed to make everything work the way
you like?

Occasionally there are problems that are so difficult to solve
that Windows should be reinstalled cleanly. But they are few and
far between; reinstallation should not a substitute for
troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only
after all other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person
have failed.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I shifted house about 6 months ago and I lost my Windows
XP Serial Number when shifting house. I now need to
reinstall Windows XP because it is playing up.

get the free Aida 32, enterprise edition from
http://www.aida32.hu/aida-download.php?bit=32
which is an excellent general System Info tool, and its Software -
Licenses page will tell you the one used for Windows and ones for
several other items.

Note that if the machine came with XP installed, this will probably give
a key used in producing an original image, then cloned to all machines
they make. So it is not the one for a reinstall. But then the key will
be on a label on the case of the machine

 

[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 AIDA32
Enterprise from http://www.aida32.hu/aida32.php 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