# Lost WinXP product key. Am I fucked? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 1, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-winxp-product-key-am-i-fucked/527253 "2010-02-01T16:05:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-winxp-product-key-am-i-fucked/527253/1 "2010-02-01T16:05:34Z")
I engaged in breathtaking stupidity last night. I decided to reinstall WinXP on my laptop. I’ve done this about four or five times since I’ve had it. This time, however, I cannot find my product key. I know exactly where I _thought_ I left it. But it’s not there. What’s that, you say? Download one of those product key finders to look in the registry? Oh, no no no. I’ve ALREADY formatted the HD and reinstalled Windows! :smack: Contact my laptop manufacturer? Look for the sticker on the bottom of the laptop? Uh uh. They installed Media Centre edition. I went and bought a vanilla Home edition (OEM, no less :o) and that’s what’s been on my machine since a couple of days after I bought the laptop. I have ONE hope. That Microsoft maintains a database matching all the product keys that have been activated, with serial numbers for the machines they’re on, and that if I ask VERY SWEETLY and give them my s/n, they will tell me what product key has been tied to this laptop four or five times in the last three years. Is this even remotely likely? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-winxp-product-key-am-i-fucked/527253/2 "2010-02-01T16:17:20Z")
A friend of mine ended up in a very similar situation. He called Microsoft and they were able to give him a new key over the phone. ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-winxp-product-key-am-i-fucked/527253/3 "2010-02-01T16:38:19Z")
Ask for your XP Media Center media to be shipped to you from the manufacturer. Install that. ---
**Author:** ![Aestivalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Aestivalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aestivalis)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-winxp-product-key-am-i-fucked/527253/4 "2010-02-02T05:20:04Z")
What model of laptop do you have? It’s possible to put together an [SLP](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=550306) based OEM install CD that will preactivate itself. The process is a bit involved if you don’t know what you’re doing though. The link below has some initial links to look at. > **[Creating an OEM XP Disk?](https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/851078-creating-an-oem-xp-disk/)** > > I have a private job to do for a friend who needs his PC rebuilt. Of course, as is always the case, he has lost all his CDs. I have to rebuild 2 machines: PC - Sony VAIO PCV-6603 (AIO) Windows XP Home Sony (According to the CoA) Laptop - Lenovo 3000... It reads information off the BIOS of the laptop to figure if it should require activation or not. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-winxp-product-key-am-i-fucked/527253/5 "2010-03-20T17:55:59Z")
So… anyway… I found it. :o In the early Carboniferous stratum of the paperwork on my desk. Amongst other key findings, in the Ordovician: 2 job advertisements and a PhD application form, all long past their deadlines, natch. I feel there is an important lesson to be drawn from these discoveries. I wonder what it could be. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-winxp-product-key-am-i-fucked/527253/6 "2010-03-21T00:31:04Z")
> [@](#): > > What’s that, you say? Download one of those product key finders to look in the registry? Oh, no no no. I’ve ALREADY formatted the HD and reinstalled Windows! What are these? I have a couple of laptops and the product keys are on stickers on the underside that are mostly worn out from being used on my lap. Can I actually find the key in the registry? While on the subject, what is this MS Advantage that wants to run every time I reboot? It doesn’t appear to offer any advantage to me, so I have never allowed it. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-winxp-product-key-am-i-fucked/527253/7 "2010-03-21T08:18:05Z")
A keyfinder is software that is able to look in the registry of Windows and poop out your key. However, if you’re already halfway through reinstalling Windows and only then do you realize that you don’t have your key then this kind of tool is not useful. Windows Genuine Advantage checks your Windows install to see if it is legit and if so leaves you alone and allows you to download software from Microsoft like the latest Media Player or Security Essentials. If your Windows install is not legit, Windows will nag you about it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-winxp-product-key-am-i-fucked/527253/8 "2010-03-21T16:12:00Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > What are these? I have a couple of laptops and the product keys are on stickers on the underside that are mostly worn out from being used on my lap. Can I actually find the key in the registry? > > While on the subject, what is this MS Advantage that wants to run every time I reboot? It doesn’t appear to offer any advantage to me, so I have never allowed it. My last two XP machines had it in the System Properties (You know, right-click on My Computer and click Properties.). But, if you need a separate program, try the open source [Magical Jelly Bean](http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/). ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-winxp-product-key-am-i-fucked/527253/9 "2010-03-21T16:50:26Z")
If you actually CALL the Microsoft Activation #, they will give you a new product key. They might ask you a couple questions just to make sure you deserve one (not specific details, just that you’re reinstalling from your original disc onto the same computer, but lost the key), but as long as you tell them the same truth you told us, you should be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-winxp-product-key-am-i-fucked/527253/10 "2010-03-22T01:19:50Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > My last two XP machines had it in the System Properties (You know, right-click on My Computer and click Properties.).. I did this and found a number of the form xxxxx-OEM-xxxxxxx-xxxx where all the x’s are numbers. It looks like one of those OEM numbers. Will that suffice if I have to reinstall?