I built two computers at the same time, for myself and my mother, and kept the two copies of windows XP home (along with their packaging) together on my bookshelf.
My mother is having computer issues now, and I might have to reinstall windows. The problem is I can’t remember which cd key is mine, and which is hers! Does anyone have a suggestion for how to find out which windows activation key belongs to which computer?
What you need is this:
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/productkeysactivation/gr/mjbkeyfinder.htm
Allows you to find your product key, and all will then be well.
Direct link: KeyFinder | Magical Jelly Bean
That looks a bit dangerous to me, especially the “don’t worry if your virus scanners say this is a virus. It’s normal!” part.
Is there any way I can do it through the windows interface instead of with a third party program?
Er, where does it say that? I’ve used Magical Jelly Bean several times before without any problems. I don’t think there’s any way of getting the information without a third-party key-finder, but someone could come along and correct me in a minute.
It said that in the “cons” part of the first link you gave me.
I took your advice and tried the program out and it worked brilliantly. Thanks!
I need to update a thread I posted a while ago – I was rebuilding a computer and couldn’t find a couple (legally owned) keys. It turned out that Belarc Advisor did the trick for a few different programs. It matched my Windows and Office Keys (I had that those on hand), and gave me back my lost Dreamweaver key. It also provides a slew of other useful information on your system.
I ran AVG, ZA, SpyBot and AdAware on it (not all at the same time) and none of them perked their ears up.
You’re welcome. I did some more digging around in the Microsoft Forums and came up with this: http://forums.microsoft.com/Genuine/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=3379914&SiteID=25
This seems to suggest that there’s no way of getting the key without resorting to a third-party product like Magical Jelly Bean or Belarc.
ETA: didn’t finish a thought.
I might be missing something here, but if I read this correctly, the OP has both keys, right? Is there any reason Mosier can’t try the one key, and if that doesn’t work, try the other? I’ve mistyped keys before, and Windows doesn’t blow up or report you to Microsoft as being a thief trying to install an illegal copy, it just tells you that the key is incorrect and lets you try again.
Heh, I’m old fashioned, I mark the package and the CD.
BelArc if I did not ever have the key…
As far as YOU know.
I second (or third) the recommendation of Belarc Advisor. It’s well-known and reliable and will get you the product key (among many other useful facts about your hardware and software). I run it regularly on my computer and keep the resulting HTML file.
And some of the other information provided by Belarc Advisor will be helpful when it comes to rebuilding the system. Like when you need to update the video, network or audio driver but are not quite sure what model is installed so you can get the appropriate driver. But I strongly recommend having a copy of the network driver at least before wiping the system, because without it, you may find it difficult to get online to update everything.