Windows.old - can't find product key

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

  1. MrGordita
    Posts : 8
    Windows 7 Pro 64bit
       New #1

    Windows.old - can't find product key


    Hi,

    I had an issue with new motherboard and my old hard drive. It would not boot into windows so I did a reinstall on it. I had what I thought was the product key from when I originally downloaded Windows 7 from MSDNNA or however it exactly was before Dreamspark.

    They key I had written down is actually the product ID and not the product KEY.

    I have run Produkey in an attempt to find it using this line i read in another thread,

    F:\Windows.old\Windows\System32\config\software

    It gave me the correct key for my other program however for Windows 7 it gives me a default key that is not valid. Did I do something wrong with this or am I completely out of luck? I don't have access to the .edu email I used to get Windows 7 from the website 4 years ago.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  3. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       New #2

    Do you happen to have an image of your old installation ??
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  4. MrGordita
    Posts : 8
    Windows 7 Pro 64bit
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    I do not believe so unless it created one during install I do not.

    I guess I should note that I didn't reformat the drive just reinstalled Windows 7. Which is why I have Windows.old I believe.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  6. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       New #4



    Note:
    The manual techniques used to locate the product key for the perating systems like Windows 95 and Windows 98 will not work in Windows 7. Those manual procedures will only locate the product ID number, not the actual product key used for installation. Lucky for us, several free programs exist to help find product keys.

    Source: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/produc...dows-7-key.htm

    Unfortunately you cannot apply those keyfinder programs to windows.old - at least I don't know any way to do that. Maybe somebody else has an idea.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  7. MrGordita
    Posts : 8
    Windows 7 Pro 64bit
    Thread Starter
       New #5

    Unfortunately I feel as if I am out of luck. I contacted the activation support number for Microsoft however they were very unhelpful. I gave them all of the information, school, email address, name and they said they could send a new link to the email however once I graduated I was moved to an alumni email and it is separate from my student email that I no longer have access to.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  8. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       New #6

    You really seem to be out of luck. That's why I always preach to make frequent images. With an old image it would be a breeze to find the key. I am really sorry.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  10. MrGordita
    Posts : 8
    Windows 7 Pro 64bit
    Thread Starter
       New #7

    Can you link to good instructions on doing that?
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  11. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       New #8

    This is my favorite imaging program (tutorial)

    Imaging with free Macrium
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  12. NoelDP
    Posts : 21,482
    Win 7 x64 Home Premium (and x86 VirtualBox VM)/Win10
       New #9

    MrGordita said:
    It gave me the correct key for my other program however for Windows 7 it gives me a default key that is not valid. Did I do something wrong with this or am I completely out of luck? I don't have access to the .edu email I used to get Windows 7 from the website 4 years ago.
    What were the last 5 characters of the Key you found?
    It would be very unusual to find a default key there in a 'working' installation.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  13. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       New #10

    NoelDP said:
    MrGordita said:
    It gave me the correct key for my other program however for Windows 7 it gives me a default key that is not valid. Did I do something wrong with this or am I completely out of luck? I don't have access to the .edu email I used to get Windows 7 from the website 4 years ago.
    What were the last 5 characters of the Key you found?
    It would be very unusual to find a default key there in a 'working' installation.
    The problem seems to be that you don't find the key in Windows.old of Windows 7but it gives you the product ID. That was different with older Windows distros.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

 
Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

  Related Discussions
How to Find and See the Windows 7 Product Key Number The Windows 7 product key number is a sequence of 25 letters and numbers divided into 5 groups of 5 characters each (ex: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX) that is used to activate either the 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7 edition that you...
How do I find my product key from windows.old?
in Windows Updates & Activation

Hi I recently helped my cousin reformat his laptop and he cannot remember where he put his license key. Is there a way to find it out through windows.old that was created when laptop was formatted? Thanks
Find out product key from PID
in Backup and Restore

hello guys. i'm take the note of my product key but it was PID. i format windows 7 but the key doesnt work because its PID. i look up on internet and write random key. im gonna format again and i need my product key. the PID is like this: 12345-OEM-1234567-12345 thank you and sorry for my...
Cannot Find Windows 7 Product Key
in Installation & Setup

hello all. I have a laptop here that cannot restore Windows. My cousin gave me her son's lap top because she said it was running really sluggish. I only got to actually look at it this morning and upon booting it up there was no Windows installation, it booted directly to the...
Find my Windows product key from Linux
in Windows Updates & Activation

My computer crashed. Windows won't start but I can start it and access the hard drive from a Linux live CD (Linux Mint 12). I need to re-load Windows. I have a disc but how can I find my product key from Linux? My Windows copy is legit but the disc is not from Microsoft.
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 7 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 7" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

 © Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:51.
Find Us