Lost product key. Am I hosed?

[hanshotfirst]

OK....I'm pretty sure I'm hosed, but here is my situation:

My laptop (Compaq f755US) came with Vista. I received a legal copy of Windows 7 Ultimate from a guy I worked with, at the time, who had a subscription to MSDN. It is a download that was put on a disk. Now my laptop has crashed. Cant even get into it in Safe Mode. I need to re-install the OS, but I cant find the product key ANYWHERE.
Does anyone know if there is anything I can do? Or am I as hosed as I think I am?

 

[karlsnooks]

WIN + Pause/Break key combo

You will see Product ID there. Is that what you desire?

WIN is the key with the wavy flag.

 

[karlsnooks]

Hanshotfirst,

Oh yes, Welcome to SevenForums.

If that doesn't give you what you want, then use Belarc Security Advisor.
Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit

 

[logicearth]

It is not a legal copy of Windows 7. MSDN software keys are non-transferable.

Furthermore using an MSDN activated version of Windows can only be used:

Many MSDN subscribers use a computer for mixed use—both design, development, testing, and demonstration of your programs (the use allowed under the MSDN subscription license) and some other use. Using the software in any other way, such as for doing email, playing games, or editing a document is another use and is not covered by the MSDN subscription license. When this happens, the underlying operating system must also be licensed normally by purchasing a regular copy of Windows such as the one that came with a new OEM PC.

 

[hanshotfirst]

logicearth -
That is news to me. He told me they were his to use as he saw fit as long as he didn't sell them. Seems a little odd to me that he would be given a large number of licenses for all of those products if they could only be used in that manner.

karlsnooks - I had Belarc Advisor. Unfortunatwely I cant get past the blue screen of death. Even in Safe Mode. So I have no access to it

 

[karlsnooks]

Make a system repair disc. This everyone should do.

Boot into SafeMode.

Go to an elevated command prompt and run SFC /SCANNOW

Keep running it until you get a clean bill of health from SFC

 

[pparks1]

logicearth -
That is news to me. He told me they were his to use as he saw fit as long as he didn't sell them. Seems a little odd to me that he would be given a large number of licenses for all of those products if they could only be used in that manner.

karlsnooks - I had Belarc Advisor. Unfortunatwely I cant get past the blue screen of death. Even in Safe Mode. So I have no access to it

Trust me, he is telling you the truth. First off...when you buy MSDN or Technet...you cannot give your keys away to other people. Even people who work at your company. These are personal keys. If multiple people need to use the software, multiple copies of of MSDN need to be purchased.

And as you can see, MSDN is not a free-for-all to do whatever you want with the software. These licenses are intended for development use.

 

[hanshotfirst]

Make a system repair disc. This everyone should do.

Boot into SafeMode.

Go to an elevated command prompt and run SFC /SCANNOW

Keep running it until you get a clean bill of health from SFC

How do I make a system repair disc for a machine that wont boot up at all? Is it possible?

 

[karlsnooks]

Get back to me when you've run SFC /SCANNOW three times.

 

[Gameover]

Use Magic Jellybean www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

It even works in Safe Mode

 

[Bill2]

Considering your win7's legality is questionable, you can try going back to Vista. You have the following options.

1) Download Vista repair disks (no these are NOT install disks), you can run various recovery options after booting from that disk. Its a ~120 mb download.

Windows Vista Recovery Disc Download — The NeoSmart Files

2) If you created recovery disks for the Vista oem install, boot from them and let them do their stuff. This will restore factory default state. You can also do this from the hidden recovery partition but depends on whether you deleted that during win7 install.

3) If you dont have a Vista install dvd, borrow one from a friend or download from a clean site. Then, activate by calling MS.

 

[mborner]

Wow! I'm really shocked nobody else has mentioned this. If all you need is your Vista product key, and you have a Compaq laptop, why not look for your product key where nearly every laptop manufacturer puts it permanently? Stuck to the bottom of your laptop!!

 

[Gameover]

Wow, im surprised that you didn't read it properly. he had vista, now he has windows 7. the sticker under the laptop will be for vista. /facepalm

 

[Bill2]

Wow, im surprised that you didn't read it properly. he had vista, now he has windows 7. the sticker under the laptop will be for vista. /facepalm

Wow! I'm really shocked nobody else has mentioned this. If all you need is your Vista product key, and you have a Compaq laptop, why not look for your product key where nearly every laptop manufacturer puts it permanently? Stuck to the bottom of your laptop!!

Gentleman, chill!

1) Since the laptop came with vista pre-installed, the key at the bottom is for Vista.

2) However, the bottom key is actually NOT the one used to activate the install, neither does it work for online activation. You need to call MS to activate if you reinstall with a generic install disk.

 

[Gameover]

Wow, im surprised that you didn't read it properly. he had vista, now he has windows 7. the sticker under the laptop will be for vista. /facepalm

Wow! I'm really shocked nobody else has mentioned this. If all you need is your Vista product key, and you have a Compaq laptop, why not look for your product key where nearly every laptop manufacturer puts it permanently? Stuck to the bottom of your laptop!!

Gentleman, chill!

1) Since the laptop came with vista pre-installed, the key at the bottom is for Vista.

2) However, the bottom key is actually NOT the one used to activate the install, neither does it work for online activation. You need to call MS to activate if you reinstall with a generic install disk.

THIS!

 

[mborner]

Wow, im surprised that you didn't read it properly. he had vista, now he has windows 7. the sticker under the laptop will be for vista. /facepalm

He already knows he can't install 7. Now he needs to re-install Vista but can't find his CD key, I told him where to find it. I guess you interpreted what he said differently than I.

Now my laptop has crashed. Cant even get into it in Safe Mode. I need to re-install the OS, but I cant find the product key ANYWHERE.
Does anyone know if there is anything I can do? Or am I as hosed as I think I am?

1) Since the laptop came with vista pre-installed, the key at the bottom is for Vista.

2) However, the bottom key is actually NOT the one used to activate the install, neither does it work for online activation. You need to call MS to activate if you reinstall with a generic install disk.

It's interesting because I just did a clean install on a Compaq laptop with no system discs. I dug up my full retail version and was able to install and activate using the CD key located on the bottom of the PC. No calls to MS needed.

 

[Bill2]

Wow, im surprised that you didn't read it properly. he had vista, now he has windows 7. the sticker under the laptop will be for vista. /facepalm

He already knows he can't install 7. Now he needs to re-install Vista but can't find his CD key, I told him where to find it. I guess you interpreted what he said differently than I.

Now my laptop has crashed. Cant even get into it in Safe Mode. I need to re-install the OS, but I cant find the product key ANYWHERE.
Does anyone know if there is anything I can do? Or am I as hosed as I think I am?

1) Since the laptop came with vista pre-installed, the key at the bottom is for Vista.

2) However, the bottom key is actually NOT the one used to activate the install, neither does it work for online activation. You need to call MS to activate if you reinstall with a generic install disk.

It's interesting because I just did a clean install on a Compaq laptop with no system discs. I dug up my full retail version and was able to install and activate using the CD key located on the bottom of the PC. No calls to MS needed.

Actually, this is not the first time I've heard this. Seems to be some kind of an (occasional) loophole in the scheme of things- MS disabled online activation of COA keys because of the rampant "pilferage" of such keys from boxes in computer shops, back in XP days.

 

[hanshotfirst]

Thanks for all the replies, everyone! Everything I tried didnt work, so I used an Ubuntu install disk to get it back on its feet. Now that I know (thank you) that I can call MS to activate Vista, it sounds like I just need to get my hands on a copy of Vista,which should be easy enough, and I'll be good to go. Actually, I like Ubuntu, but I'm looking to sell this machine, and I dont think it will be as sell-able with Ubuntu on it.

 

[pparks1]

Why bother selling the machine with anything on it. Let the person who buys the machine be responsible for putting an operating system on their machine.

 

[hanshotfirst]

Well, speaking only for myself, I'm not going to pay very much for a used machine, if I have to turn around and buy an OS that is almost as much as the machine was. Then your $200 notebook just became a $350 notebook. I cant see any intelligent buyer looking at it any differently. I want a fair price for it.