Reinstalling Home - Asks for Product Key???

[Charlie]

Hi,

Making a long story short -

Co-worker has a new laptop.
Friends "tweaked" and "played".
Screwed things up fairly bad.
Worked on it for hours - corrupted this and that. Deleted registry keys,
etc.
Decided to try a reinstall before wiping and starting fresh.
Booted from my Home CD.
Thought the install would search for the product key.
Guess not. Asks me to type in.

She has the key but not sure where it is. (OEM XP install disc)

Leaving for a week and stuck at the product key screen.

What do I do. Should I leave the laptop on for the week at this page? Will
shutting the laptop off corrupt everything? Can I back out of the install?
How do I locate the product key and start over?

Thanks...
Charlie

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Charlie,

Cancel the install. Then recover the Product Key from the registry.

This utility works for retail versions:
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/ViewKeyXP.exe

or try this one which just gives you the key for any version:
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml

You can also use the Belarc Advisor:
http://www.belarc.com

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Larry Samuels]

Look on the bottom of the laptop--most laptop manufacturers place the COA
key sticker on the bottom to maintain compliance with their OEM agreements.

--
Larry Samuels MS-MVP (Windows-Shell/User)
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -
Unofficial FAQ for Windows Server 2003 at
http://pelos.us/SERVER.htm

 

[Charlie]

Yep. You were correct. Found it and thanks....

 

[Larry Samuels]

You're welcome!

--
Larry Samuels MS-MVP (Windows-Shell/User)
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -
Unofficial FAQ for Windows Server 2003 at
http://pelos.us/SERVER.htm

 

[Guest]

The Belarc advisor is a great program. You will be surprised at the
information that you receive in its report. All may be useful in the future.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi,

Making a long story short -

Co-worker has a new laptop.
Friends "tweaked" and "played".
Screwed things up fairly bad.
Worked on it for hours - corrupted this and that. Deleted registry
keys, etc.
Decided to try a reinstall before wiping and starting fresh.
Booted from my Home CD.
Thought the install would search for the product key.
Guess not. Asks me to type in.

She has the key but not sure where it is. (OEM XP install disc)

Leaving for a week and stuck at the product key screen.

What do I do. Should I leave the laptop on for the week at this
page? Will shutting the laptop off corrupt everything? Can I back
out of the install? How do I locate the product key and start over?

Thanks...
Charlie

If it's an OEM license, the Product Key should be on a label
affixed to the laptop. Have you turned it over and looked at the
bottom of the laptop?

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Alex Nichol]

She has the key but not sure where it is. (OEM XP install disc)

Leaving for a week and stuck at the product key screen.

What do I do. Should I leave the laptop on for the week at this page? Will
shutting the laptop off corrupt everything? Can I back out of the install?
How do I locate the product key and start over?

*If* it is still in a state where you can crash out and then load the
system, get the free Everest Home edition from
http://www.lavalys.com/index.php?page=product&view=1
which is an excellent general System Info tool, and its Operating System
- Operating System page will tell you the one used

Otherwise crash out and restart when the Key has been found