This will show you a whole bunch of keys in the right pane of the editor. I have blacked out the ones that will give out valuable information. The above box has the key in it but it is embedded and only part of this is the key. I whited out a lot of it to ensure that my key could not be compromised. Here is a guide to show you which numbers to write down you should end up with 30 characters. Start from the top and write all of the digits down.
You will need to type them back in sorry — cannot copy paste from here in the registry Once you have your 30 digits we are now ready to get our product key. If you have a preinstalled OEM version, you may not even need a product key if you use the reinstallation means provided by the manufacturer e. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site. Thanks for your answer. I am a bit confused, I used a utility to find my product key but the key was different from the one one the side of my computer?
Which one should I use? Is it safe to format my hard driv? In reply to jsknight's post on December 3, If you have a computer that came with Windows pre-installed, the "original equipment manufacturer" OEM almost certainly used a special generic product key that Microsoft allows the big OEMs to use in order to make and "pre-activate" their thousands of machines.
That key is what will be shown by a keyfinder utility The specific machine you bought has its own individual license, and that's what's on the sticker. If you reinstall Windows using a special "hidden partition" on the hard drive, you don't need to activate the computer at all. That method of restoring gets the computer back to the way it was when it first left the factory, i.
On the other hand, if you reinstall Windows using a "generic OEM" CD one not specifically for your brand of computer , you need the product key from the sticker in order to activate. The CD must be for the same version of Windows e.
If you bought a new version of Windows, it will have come with its own product key, and that's what you should use, not the one of the sticker or the one used by the original manufacturer. If necessary, the installation process itself will do that. Actually, you wouldn't be able to format the system drive from within Windows; you'd have to use a different tool to do that think of sitting on a tree limb while wanting to saw it off. Before you get yourself in trouble, perhaps you'd care to explain a why you think you need to reinstall Windows and b what method and what media you plan to use to do this.
In reply to LemP's post on December 3, I thought by re-installing XP the computer might run faster. Would this disk contain drivers for the hardware in my computer? In reply to jsknight's post on December 4, A "Windows XP disk created from a Dell machine" is a bit vague and it's also not clear to me if the old machine where you want to reinstall Windows is the same as the Dell that you used to create the CD.
Pages: [ 1 ] Go Down. Read times. Newish member. Love the eager support on this site. But got a question: I just built a new computer with the help of a couple of this board's members. We don't have the plastic package that the disc came in, as it was several years ago. But I have read you can find the Product key on the disc somewhere. I tried this method, but the product key it gave me did not work. I am confused as to why this method did not work, and I am tempted to just go a buy another copy of XP at the store, but would prefer to save some coin and use the OS that our household has already purchased.
Any other ideas? Hello mattman, I have tried this on several occasions with different computers. The product key is actually on the computer itself. It is a 25 digit code. Look at your installation disk, does it say "only for use with a dell, hp, gateway, etc. It will only work with the appropriate manufacturer.
However, you can contact microsoft and tell them what you are trying to do and they may send you an installation disk at a reduced cost. Usually cheaper than purchasing one at a big box store.
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