My laptop which runs windows 7 has a corrupted registry and will no longer boot up. I’ve tree everything I know to recover it, unfortunately it didn’t work. The only thing I Have left is to re install windows onto the computer… unfortunately the sticker with the CD key has fallen off and I need to find the CD key this OEM version was installed with.
I have access to another computer, and can access the command prompt Oh the broken computer (through setup repair, not safe mode)… so, how can I get the CD key before I wipe the drive and reinstall?
Download and burn a Linux Live CD with the following utility using these instructions. (note to mods: this is fully legal and legit). It should work as long as you have access to a CD burner and another fast internet connection.
You can also just try calling Microsoft if that doesn’t work. Customer service may be able to tell you what yours is or give you a workaround. They don’t like to lock users out of a legitimate copy of Windows.
Thanks Shagnasty, I’m downloading the program now. However, before I use a disk to burn a DVD, I notice that the program info doesn’t say anything about recovering a CD Key, it seems to be more about bypassing a password. I know all the passwords on the user accounts on the computer, I’m just trying to get the CD key that was used on installation.
Oh, And for others, I’ve figured out how to remove the hard drive, I’m going to try and see if Magic Jelly Bean will work when I hook it up to my desktop. But, if anyone has any other ideas, I would appreciate it!
Is this a self-built or custom built PC? If it came from a manufacturer like Acer, HP etc then you should have a recovery partition that will re-install Windows without the need to enter a CD Key.
Are you just trying to recover the key used to register Win7? I just had to do that this past weekend for my stepson, but with XP. We used Magical Jellybean Keyfinder. Their page says it doesn’t do windows 7, but another program “Recover Keys” does. Looks like the latter is commercial. KeyFinder | Magical Jelly Bean
I’m kicking myself for not thinking of it earlier, but how about contacting the manufacturer? You’ve got the laptop, so can give them the serial number of the laptop and its components. So they should be able to supply you with the license key with which it shipped.
I don’t know about OEM versions, but if you boot from the CD, W7 normally gives you the option to repair an existing copy of windows. If the OEM doesn’t do this, you can use any W7 install cd to do the repair (it might matter which version you have but it shouldn’t matter for repairs).
If repair doesn’t work, there is also the option of doing a restore or using a backup (if you had it set to make an image backup).
Thank you for all the help, but while I was trying to backup the data to my other computer I found Oh that the problem is actually the hard drive. It is full of bad sectors, and has corrupted many of the files. Since it is still under warrenty, I’m sending it back to the manufacture so they can replace the hard drive and reload the os.
If someone else finds this thread later, what you want to do is boot with a LiveCD and copy the registry files from Windows/System32/config, reinstall Windows on the machine without a key, reboot with the Live CD, replace the registry files, grab the cd key with something like ProduKey, reinstall Win7 again with the CD key.
Actually, ProduKey can be pointed at any folder as a Windows folder, so loading the copied registry files into something like “FakeWindows\System32\config” would be better than trying to replace the registry files with a LiveCD and booting. You could also do all of this on a different computer to save a Win7 install.