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Thread ID: 80691	2007-07-02 04:38:00	Windows XP Pro key location?	borax (7078)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
564946	2007-07-02 04:38:00	I have a machine running XP Pro. I am in the process of reformatting the drive to do a bit of a 'spring clean'. I made a note of my genuine key (i lost the COA a while back) and then imaged my drive to another as a back up. I then formated my original drive and started re-installing, i got to the point of install where ia asks for the key and it rejected it, im guessing i wrote it down wrong :yuck: . SO, in order to find my key i was going to use magic jelly bean to find the key on my imaged drive, i put the imaged drived back in my PC and it wont boot, it gets to the Welcome screen and thats it, so i wont be getting the key that way. So what i want to know is where is the key kept on the image???, i can browse its contents OK	borax (7078)
564947	2007-07-02 04:51:00	The key will be stored somewhere in the registry. The problem is that the key is not in plain text, so just having access to it won't be too helpful. You can try using something like http://ubcd4win.com/ and running MagicJellyBean or a similar program inside the live CD environment (I haven't done this before).	somebody (208)
564948	2007-07-02 05:10:00	I think you can use the beta v2 of jelly bean to do that . . . Load Hive option - allows you to load the registry hive of another Windows installation . To use, put the hard drive in a working machine (must also be Windows 2000,XP or Vista) or use Windows PE (not tested, should work) and click Load Hive . Then point it to the dead Windows install . If you're using Windows Vista, Administrator rights are required for this feature . You may have to right click on the Keyfinder and run as Administrator . . magicaljellybean . com/beta/" target="_blank">www . magicaljellybean . com	bevy121 (117)
564949	2007-07-02 06:28:00	Download, install and run Belarc Advisor. It'll retrieve it for you. [edit] Ah sorry, didn't read that you couldn't install any programmes. Anyway the key and product ID are located in the registry at: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Registration, but yeah as mentioned it's encrypted.	Greg (193)
564950	2007-07-02 06:35:00	Download, install and run Belarc Advisor. It'll retrieve it for you. A good tip Greg - I also send a copy of this to my gmail account. Too late to find the key if windows goes belly up :eek:	sam m (517)
564951	2007-07-03 03:30:00	If you ring the nice man at Microsoft Support (0800 800 004), and explain your situation, he will give you new product key. I did this last week, having made the same mistake as you. When I got the number I wrote it on the CD cover and on the bottom of my case, just in case I get stuck again.	Boothienz (12290)
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