HP Laptop owners: 2nd location of COA on HP Laptop

[jagman55]

Most of my COA on my HP Laptop is not readable and I am reaching for straws. The barcode is mostly intact and trying to figure who might in town might be able to read my barcode of my COA. Any ideas?

Some have suggested I look inside the battery cover for a COA but was also told there is only one and that is on the paper label outside.
The COA appears to be 25 digits, letters and numbers.

Inside the battery lid is a 25 digit number with only numbers and is labeled: PC ID.

Anyone know that number is?

It doesn't appear to be a Microsoft number, but maybe the COA used by HP?

 

[Bongo]

Tried downloading and installing Speccy - System Information - Free Download there's a good chance it will show your COA key number.
Look at the screenshot below.

Jerry
View attachment 277748

 

[jumanji]

I hate to write a negative post, but forced to, for time and again I see posts advising people with Royalty OEM laptops to use a keyfinder to read the product key, when the COA key affixed to the laptop is unreadable.

It is suffice to say again the key one can find using any Keyfinder on a Windows 7 Royalty OEM laptop is a generic OEM-SLP key and is not the unique COA key on the affixed label..

(I can straight away post the OEM-SLP key of the OP's HP laptop with Ultimate ( which SPECCY will find) but that is not going to help him in anyway.)

 

[Bongo]

OK

Have a look at Option 5 in this tutorial http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/153626-product-key-number-windows-7-find-see.html

Jerry

 

[jumanji]

OK, I have read it (honestly for the first time ) but then I have also seen what is stated at the very beginning of Option 1 (again even though it is the first time I am seeing it) quote
" 1. For a OEM Product Key on COA Sticker
NOTE: These will be store bought computers that came with Windows 7 preinstalled on them. The product key sticker will usually be on the back of a desktop, and on the bottom or under the battery of a laptop and notebook. The sticker key number may be different than the key number reported in one of the programs below. If so, the key number on the sticker is the one that's unique to your computer, and that's the one you'll need to input should you ever clean install Windows. The different extracted key is just a master key used at the OEM factory."

Amen.

 

[whs]

jumanji is right.

1. The product key that you can find with a keyfinder program on an OEM PC is a generic key that the OEMs use to activate thousands of Windows installation (with the same key). It is only good if you reinstall with your own recovery disc or an OEM provided installation disc.

2. The key you find under the battery cover is usually the chassis number of the PC - has nothing to do with the OS.

3. The key on the COA sticker is a unique OS license key and can be used to activate the OS regardless from which source it was installed.

 

[jagman55]

COA for a HP Laptop

Thanks guys. Everyone seems to agree, you get the COA in ONLY one place [one copy] when you buy a COA from Microsoft and HP. NEXT time, I have learned my lesson and warned all my friends.

I purchased a HP desktop and a HP Laptop when I retied from IBM as i had to return mine.

gregrocker convinced me to try the OEM load posted here in this forum on both my PC's to improve performance. I have reloaded my Desktop and VERY happy I took his advice.

The Desktop COA is on the side of the desktop SIDE and therefore protected and OK.

But, the Laptop, they stupidly placed on the 'setting side aka bottom of the Laptop" is non readable for the first, about 10 digits or so, but the bar-code maybe readable. Microsoft should have them engraved if you have no backup for them and put them on the "setting" side.. THE battery lid or INSIDE would require tooooo many smarts on their part.

Thinking about finding a person, cell phone, repair shop, etc that can read the bar-code and SAVE my COA on the Laptop.

 

[DavidE]

The Desktop COA is on the side of the desktop SIDE and therefore protected and OK.

In your other thread http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...ing-windows-7-os-home-premium-ultimate-3.html
you said the desktop did not have a COA, and were told it legally must have a COA ...

Glad to see you finally found it

 

[jagman55]

Hidden SOA

It was near the back on the left side and another PC was up against it and difficult to move and I just missed it.

 

[jumanji]

....... you get the COA in ONLY one place [one copy] when you buy a COA from Microsoft and HP. NEXT time, I have learned my lesson and warned all my friends.......

You are absolutely correct. Inasmuch as that COA key was not used to activate the OEM system, you will not find it anywhere neither in the Registry nor elsewhere in the OS.

Whenever my close friends buy a Royalty OEM (such as Dell, Acer, HP,Lenovo ....) laptop, I advise them two tings.

1. to back up the OEM activation with any software that is freely available on the net, so that if need be it can be restored in exceptional circumstances. ( Please note the OEM activation will go through automatically only if you have a valid OEM embedded SLIC on your machine, So there is no piracy or illegality in it.).

2. to take a snapshot of the COA sticker and then remove the sticker. ( Anyone who copies the COA key can activate any other system with the same OS edition, and you will be left high and dry when you use it.. Not a cock and bull story but has happened and can happen as long as there are unscrupulous elements. )

And, yes, store them on atleast two media for redundancy.

 

[jagman55]

You stumped me?

. to back up the OEM activation with any software that is freely available on the net,

I though you entered a number when asked? You need software? Is it an automatic thing?

When I loaded the OEM, it asked me for the COA, I think, but Gregrocker said to enter after the load and later.

Can you give an example? of one? or what it is like or how to search for it?

I assume this software, we enter our COA number in it? Like on a flash drive and exe and it activate the OS with our COA we entered into it?

 

[derekimo]

. to back up the OEM activation with any software that is freely available on the net,

I though you entered a number when asked? You need software? Is it an automatic thing?

When I loaded the OEM, it asked me for the COA, I think, but Gregrocker said to enter after the load and later.

Can you give an example? of one? or what it is like or how to search for it?

I assume this software, we enter our COA number in it? Like on a flash drive and exe and it activate the OS with our COA we entered into it?

Partial quote from gregrocker in your other thread,

There is a method to back up the OEM-SLP key from the factory preinstall so it can be reinstalled after Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 but it is not supported here by order of the Admin, so you'd have to research it for yourself.

http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...7-os-home-premium-ultimate-3.html#post2468897

 

[jumanji]

Yep, jagman55, as derekimo rightly pointed out, Greg has already told you that you have to research yourself. ( I hadn't seen that other thread)

I did that when I got my DELL laptop. I read all about OEM activation and during that course of my own research I came across various ways of backing up and restoring the OEM activation ( the OEM-SLP key and the digitally signed MS certificate ), manually as well as through software from a running OEM installation. I even came across many discussions on official Microsoft Forums as well as the OEM forums (which I have bookmarked and kept), where these software tools are mentioned as a means of doing a clean install preserving OEM activation and also changing over from 32bit to 64bit (same edition) and vice versa.

I regret I can't be more helpful than what is aforesaid except repeating make your own search on backing up and restoring OEM activation as greg had advised.