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#1
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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. |
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#2
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License key query
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 |
#3
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License key query
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/ |
#4
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License key query
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. |
#5
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License key query
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 |
#6
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License key query
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 |
#7
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License key query
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 |
#8
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License key query - more info
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#9
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License key query - more info
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 |
#10
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License key query
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 |
#11
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License key query - more info
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 |
#12
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License key query
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 |
#13
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License key query
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. |
#14
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License key query
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 |
#15
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License key query
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 |
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