I have also used the Nirsoft software without problems, but I have also used others.
I think that both Belarc Advisor and SIW will report keys. Belarc Advisor http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html System Information for Windows http://www.gtopala.com/ I have also used http://www.magicaljellybean.com/ https://www.gearboxcomputers.com/products/product-key-finder/ http://www.winkeyfinder.com/ HTH. max On Fri, Jul 1, 2011 at 7:57 AM, Jim Schneider <[email protected]> wrote: > My past experience, especially regarding Dell and XP is that the Key you > find in the installed OS comes from the factory media it was installed > from, > (and perhaps delivered with the machine) and will not require activation at > all if installed on a blank hard drive in the appropriate Dell machine. The > sticker on the bottom has a number that would work using other media, > possibly retail. > > It seemed that if the hard drive was not blank, then the Dell install media > would stop and ask for a key like you would expect, and the one on the > bottom would work. > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Michael Geary > Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 7:39 PM > To: Scott Matthews > Cc: thinkpad list > Subject: Re: [Thinkpad] ProduKey > > Hmm... I just checked my system, and the Office 2010 key matches, but the > Windows 7 key does not. And I see this note under Known Problems on the > ProduKey site: > > * If you bought your computer with installed operating system, you may find > the Windows product key appeared in ProduKey utility is different from the > product key on your Windows CD. This problem is mostly reported with Dell > computers. > > So I'm not sure what to suggest, sorry! > > -Mike > > On Thu, Jun 30, 2011 at 4:36 PM, Scott Matthews <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Should the ProduKey results be the same as what I would see printed? > > Or is the ProduKey result possibly some variation on the key? > > > > From what I can see of what remains on my sticker, it's not the same > > as what ProduKey says. And ProduKey also gives me the key for Office, > > which I checked against a record I have of that, and that seems > > different too. > > > > Is it expected that the keys extracted by ProduKey should look very > > different from the keys that would be printed on the sticker/CD case? > > > > > > > > On Thu, Jun 30, 2011 at 2:20 PM, Michael Geary <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On Thu, Jun 30, 2011 at 10:55 AM, Scott Matthews > > > <[email protected]> > > > wrote: > > >> > > >> Sorry, one other question: now that I'm looking, I can see that the > > >> windows key is totally worn off the bottom of my laptop -- is there > > >> a simple way to get that key back? > > > > > > There sure is - run ProduKey to display all your keys or save them > > > to a > > > file: > > > http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html > > > I've used ProduKey many times - great program. > > >> > > >> I gather I can perform a clean install with the Win7 upgrade, but I > > >> assume I'll have to enter that key? > > > > > > It will certainly do the clean install - don't know about the > > > activation problem that Chris mentioned, but at least you'll have > > > all your old > > product > > > keys if you do need them. > > > -Mike > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Thinkpad mailing list > [email protected] > http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad > > _______________________________________________ > Thinkpad mailing list > [email protected] > http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad > _______________________________________________ Thinkpad mailing list [email protected] http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad
