Another Lost Product Key Code....

by cyberion Jun 17, 2004 1:53PM PDT

I was running WinMe before I formatted. Like other unfortunate souls I seem to have forgotten that I needed that oh so precious Product Key Code. My question is this: If before formatting I copied the HD contents to CDRW is there any place I can look to find the Key code? I had to install Win98 so I could at least get here. Any thoughts or help is welcomed. Thanks in Advance!

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Re: Another Lost Product Key Code....

by Kees Bakker Jun 17, 2004 9:15PM PDT

It's in the registry: c:\windows\system.dat. Have a good look (with Notepad, if it isn't the current registry), and you'll find it.

Toni's lengthy post http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-6121-0.html?forumID=45&threadID=25861&messageID=290112&tag= tells some more about it.

Hope this helps.

Kees

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Re: Another Lost Product Key Code....

by Cursorcowboy Jun 17, 2004 10:31PM PDT

y'all....

I was running WinMe before I formatted.
My question is this: If before formatting I copied the HD contents to CDRW is there any place I can look to find the Key code?

If you note the file named System.1st (that is a numeric one) as being on the CD mentioned, -- not sure if "ME" will have such but Win9x did - use the line below at the MS-DOS command prompt to search it for the information in question:

Notes:

a. the redirection following the right-arrow can be any qualifying path and filename

b. you cannot copy this information for pasting at the command line -- write it down and type as shown with proper spacing

find /i "productkey" c:\system.1st >c:\key.txt

Bill Gaston

Pardon ma ACKsent, ah'm frum Austin, Tex_As, USA

....its been my policy to view the Internet not as an 'information highway,' but as an electronic asylum filled with babbling loonies.

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Re: Another Lost Product Key Code....

by cyberion Jun 21, 2004 3:58AM PDT

Just a short note to follow up....
Thanks so much for the info! I did try the command line suggested, however it did not work for me. It more than likely was "Operator Error". The good news is that indeed the info I was requesting did reside in the "System.1st" file. Although this file displayed as mostly gibberish, I was able to find the product key code in it. So, was the file supposed to look like mostly gibberish? And if so, why? Again, thanks for your time and info, it really does help!

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Re: Another Lost Product Key Code....

by Cursorcowboy Jun 21, 2004 4:04AM PDT

The line I gave you works perfectly for me and yes, the file will have lots of unreadable code.

Happy computing.

Another Lost Product Key Code....

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