License key query

Is there anyway to "recover" a license key where the sticker has become
hard to read? I'm specifically wondering if you can call MS and they'll
issue you a new one for an install. I have one here three of the letters
are just quesswork but sticker is obviously genuine.

On 14-Jul-2014 11:15, pjp wrote:


Is there anyway to "recover" a license key where the sticker has become
hard to read? I'm specifically wondering if you can call MS and they'll
issue you a new one for an install. I have one here three of the letters
are just quesswork but sticker is obviously genuine.


Try this;
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html

On 7/14/2014 11:15 AM, pjp wrote:


Is there anyway to "recover" a license key where the sticker has become
hard to read? I'm specifically wondering if you can call MS and they'll
issue you a new one for an install. I have one here three of the letters
are just quesswork but sticker is obviously genuine.

free:
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/

On 14/07/2014 16:15, pjp wrote:


Is there anyway to "recover" a license key where the sticker has
become hard to read? I'm specifically wondering if you can call MS
and they'll issue you a new one for an install. I have one here three
of the letters are just quesswork but sticker is obviously genuine.


No. The serial number on the sticker is unique to go with the OEM
CD/DVD you might have got it. Using any tools is not going to work if
(big IF) you haven't installed the OS using the serial number at the
back of the machine. The number you get by using the tools is not the
one you need because it is generic OEM serial number and it won't work
with the DVD you might have got it.

Have you got an OEM DVDS to install on your machine? I always thought
that these days you don't get from DELL, HP, Toshiba etc (big brands) .
They are not allowed to supply install DVDs these days. When I bought a
DELL Windows 7 desktop some years ago, I didn't get the DVD with it and
all I was required to do was to create a recovery backup DVD. I was
told by DELL UK that they are not allowed to supply the DVDs these days
because Microsoft wants everybody to start thinking about disposable PCs
and Laptops. Once they die, buy another. PERIOD. This is 21st century
capitalism. That is why cloud computing has started. Once the license
expired, buy another or stop using it.

On 14/07/2014 16:15, pjp wrote:


Is there anyway to "recover" a license key where the sticker has become
hard to read? I'm specifically wondering if you can call MS and they'll
issue you a new one for an install. I have one here three of the letters
are just quesswork but sticker is obviously genuine.

Do you mean the serial number something like this:
2HG87-AD9FR-89JNV-PRTG7-2H7M3

You can get this from the installed OS using Piriform's "Speccy". It's
a very useful little utility which will tell you everything you need to
know - and a lot you don't - about your hardware and software.

I used it to get the serial number of my Win7 laptop as the number on
the underside was illegible

--

Jeff

On 7/14/2014 12:22 PM, Jeff Layman wrote:
Do you mean the serial number something like this:
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

I hope you made up that key or something. As if it is your own, it is
now forever in the archives. Also Microsoft will flag it as a pirate key
and nobody will be able to use it (including yourself).

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Kingston 120GB SSD - Thunderbird v24.4.0
Centrino Core2 Duo T5600 1.83GHz - 4GB - Windows XP SP2

pjp wrote:

Is there anyway to "recover" a license key where the sticker has become
hard to read? I'm specifically wondering if you can call MS and they'll
issue you a new one for an install. I have one here three of the letters
are just quesswork but sticker is obviously genuine.

I associate COA stickers with "OEM" installations. (I suppose
there are other use cases, but since I've never used an [expensive]
Retail OS, I don't know what comes in the package.)

There are two kinds of OEM installations I know of

1) Royalty OEM - Dell would be one of these.
2) System builder OEM - I bought one of these to install WinXP

In the case of the Royalty OEM, there are two license keys.
There should be a "generic" key, caused by the automatic
activation due to SLIC BIOS based activation. If there were
six identical Dells on a Best Buy shelf, and I ran MagicalJellyBean
on them, they would all report the same key. I doubt the key
would be useful for re-installation.

But on the side of the Dell, there would be a COA sticker. Each
Dell COA sticker would have a unique key, different than the
generic Dell key. You can reinstall with that key. This is the
key that you cannot currently read. That key is only intended
for emergency reinstallation, where Dell media is unavailable,
and you use a regular Windows installer kit.

The information in the previous two paragraphs, is for Win7 or earlier.
Windows 8 uses a different scheme (royalty OEM has no COA sticker,
unique Win8 key stored in every BIOS chip).

The System Builder OEM, there is only one key, and SLIC is not
involved. You install with the COA value, and stick the COA sticker
on the PC, and that's all you get. A check with MagicalJellyBean
returns the correct key. So if I use MagicalJellyBean on my WinXP
machine, the one-and-only key shows up and I can reinstall with
that value.

So my guess is, at the moment you're (1), MagicalJellyBean
returns a useless key, and you have no obvious way to regenerate
the COA key value. Maybe contacting Dell tech support, with
machine serial number in hand, they have a record of serial
number versus COA key, but that's a stretch.

If you have original Dell media in hand, no key is required,
as it auto-activates after restoration from the media.

Take a closeup photo of the COA sticker, Shoot it from
several angles. Crop the picture down, to show the three
unreadable letters, plus the adjacent two readable letters.
And post it on tinypic.com or similar. And we'll guess the value
for you :-) As a form of community OCR.

Paul

In article ,
says...

Is there anyway to "recover" a license key where the sticker has become
hard to read? I'm specifically wondering if you can call MS and they'll
issue you a new one for an install. I have one here three of the letters
are just quesswork but sticker is obviously genuine.


Problem is pc came with Vista but was downgraded to XP and recovery
partition was removed when repartitioned hard disk (not my doing).

So I need that key on sticker, I have a Vista install disk.

Does MS provide no help for this? After all, I'm legal I paid for it so
help me use it please!!! Is there not some telco number I can call?

Obviously any of the "key recovery" methods will not work as it's not
Vista on the pc now.

pjp wrote:
In article ,
says...
Is there anyway to "recover" a license key where the sticker has become
hard to read? I'm specifically wondering if you can call MS and they'll
issue you a new one for an install. I have one here three of the letters
are just quesswork but sticker is obviously genuine.


Problem is pc came with Vista but was downgraded to XP and recovery
partition was removed when repartitioned hard disk (not my doing).

So I need that key on sticker, I have a Vista install disk.

Does MS provide no help for this? After all, I'm legal I paid for it so
help me use it please!!! Is there not some telco number I can call?

Obviously any of the "key recovery" methods will not work as it's not
Vista on the pc now.

This is the nature of an OEM OS. The OEM is responsible for support,
not Microsoft. You need to phone the company that made the PC,
and have the serial number of the machine in hand.

Paul

pjp wrote:


Is there anyway to "recover" a license key where the sticker has become
hard to read? I'm specifically wondering if you can call MS and they'll
issue you a new one for an install. I have one here three of the letters
are just quesswork but sticker is obviously genuine.


It would be rare and a special case for MSFT to provide a product key
for an OEM machine (since the OEM is responsible for support and
providing that machine sticker key).

Even if the machine was bootable the only way that key would be present
for any key finder to reveal would be if that sticker key was actually
used to activate Windows, if not a generic factory key would be present
in the registry.

Contact the OEM manufacturer. If out of warranty they may require a fee
to entertain any discussion without guarantee of results.



--
...winston
msft mvp consumer apps

On 7/14/2014 1:33 PM, Paul wrote:
pjp wrote:
In article ,
says...
Is there anyway to "recover" a license key where the sticker has
become hard to read? I'm specifically wondering if you can call MS
and they'll issue you a new one for an install. I have one here three
of the letters are just quesswork but sticker is obviously genuine.


Problem is pc came with Vista but was downgraded to XP and recovery
partition was removed when repartitioned hard disk (not my doing).

So I need that key on sticker, I have a Vista install disk.

What do you want on it, XP or Vista? If XP, that Vista key would be
worthless for XP anyway. And if you want Vista, you might not need the
key at all if it is a Dell, Gateway, or some other major computer
manufacture.

Does MS provide no help for this? After all, I'm legal I paid for it
so help me use it please!!! Is there not some telco number I can call?

Obviously any of the "key recovery" methods will not work as it's not
Vista on the pc now.

This is the nature of an OEM OS. The OEM is responsible for support,
not Microsoft. You need to phone the company that made the PC,
and have the serial number of the machine in hand.

Paul

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Kingston 120GB SSD - Thunderbird v24.4.0
Centrino Core2 Duo T5600 1.83GHz - 4GB - Windows XP SP2

On 14/07/2014 18:37, BillW50 wrote:
On 7/14/2014 12:22 PM, Jeff Layman wrote:
Do you mean the serial number something like this:
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

I hope you made up that key or something. As if it is your own, it is
now forever in the archives. Also Microsoft will flag it as a pirate key
and nobody will be able to use it (including yourself).

Absolutely fictitious. Purely random character generation.

--

Jeff

On Mon, 14 Jul 2014 17:55:11 +0100, Good Guy wrote:

On 14/07/2014 16:15, pjp wrote:


Is there anyway to "recover" a license key where the sticker has
become hard to read? I'm specifically wondering if you can call MS
and they'll issue you a new one for an install. I have one here three
of the letters are just quesswork but sticker is obviously genuine.


No. The serial number on the sticker is unique to go with the OEM
CD/DVD you might have got it. Using any tools is not going to work if
(big IF) you haven't installed the OS using the serial number at the
back of the machine. The number you get by using the tools is not the
one you need because it is generic OEM serial number and it won't work
with the DVD you might have got it.

Have you got an OEM DVDS to install on your machine? I always thought
that these days you don't get from DELL, HP, Toshiba etc (big brands) .
They are not allowed to supply install DVDs these days. When I bought a
DELL Windows 7 desktop some years ago, I didn't get the DVD with it and
all I was required to do was to create a recovery backup DVD.




I was
told by DELL UK that they are not allowed to supply the DVDs these days
because Microsoft wants everybody to start thinking about disposable PCs
and Laptops.

^^^ that is a complete fabrication.


It's far more certain that Dell UK didn't want to spend the $1 for actual
install media.

In ,
DanS typed:
On Mon, 14 Jul 2014 17:55:11 +0100, Good Guy wrote:

On 14/07/2014 16:15, pjp wrote:


Is there anyway to "recover" a license key where the sticker has
become hard to read? I'm specifically wondering if you can call MS
and they'll issue you a new one for an install. I have one here
three of the letters are just quesswork but sticker is obviously
genuine.


No. The serial number on the sticker is unique to go with the OEM
CD/DVD you might have got it. Using any tools is not going to work
if (big IF) you haven't installed the OS using the serial number at
the back of the machine. The number you get by using the tools is
not the one you need because it is generic OEM serial number and it
won't work with the DVD you might have got it.

Have you got an OEM DVDS to install on your machine? I always
thought that these days you don't get from DELL, HP, Toshiba etc
(big brands) . They are not allowed to supply install DVDs these
days. When I bought a DELL Windows 7 desktop some years ago, I
didn't get the DVD with it and all I was required to do was to
create a recovery backup DVD.

I was
told by DELL UK that they are not allowed to supply the DVDs these
days because Microsoft wants everybody to start thinking about
disposable PCs and Laptops.

^^^ that is a complete fabrication.


It's far more certain that Dell UK didn't want to spend the $1 for
actual install media.

I heard something similar on the Dell newsgroup. And somebody mentioned
if you got a consumer Dell, they don't provide the DVD. If you got a
business class Dell, you got the DVD. The last Dells I have purchased
was business class Dells in Dec 2012 and they all came with Dell Windows
7 Pro DVDs.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Kingston 120GB SSD - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core2 Duo T5600 1.83GHz - 4GB - Windows XP SP2

In ,
John typed:
On Mon, 14 Jul 2014 12:15:25 -0300, pjp
wrote:



Is there anyway to "recover" a license key where the sticker has
become hard to read? I'm specifically wondering if you can call MS
and they'll issue you a new one for an install. I have one here
three of the letters are just quesswork but sticker is obviously
genuine.

Belarc Advisor : http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
It does loads of really good stuff. Also cleans windows, feeds the
cat, degausesses the telephone, dry-cleans your suits and cooks you a
fine meal.
It's a good piece of 'ware.

DO NOT, *N*O*T*, google it and download from CNET. Always go to the
real, One True Homesite.
CNET are evil, spamming, malware-pushing yucks.

+1

I always love Belarc Advisor.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Kingston 120GB SSD - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core2 Duo T5600 1.83GHz - 4GB - Windows XP SP2