This may be useful if you have misplaced your key that you had written down, or if you never wrote it down in the first place.
I have successfully used a program called 'Produkey' to extract my Windows XP serial from a Windows.old folder. You can get the application from : ProduKey - Recover lost product key (CD-Key) of Windows/MS-Office/SQL Server |MG| ProduKey 1.35 or ProduKey - Free software downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com
Once the file is downloaded, run the application, there is no need to extract it, unless you think you may need it again.
Step 1 : Go to File and select 'Select Source'
Step 2 : A new box will open, with a whole bunch of options to load the hive from, we're interested in 'Load product keys from external Windows directory' Click 'Browse' locate your Windows.old folder (Usually C:\Windows.old) Once you have located it, make sure you choose the sub-directory 'Windows' (E.G. C:\Windows.old\Windows Press OK
Step 3 : Write down your key for your Windows XP version, make sure it's the Product KEY and NOT the Product ID.
I have successfully used a program called 'Produkey' to extract my Windows XP serial from a Windows.old folder. You can get the application from : ProduKey - Recover lost product key (CD-Key) of Windows/MS-Office/SQL Server |MG| ProduKey 1.35 or ProduKey - Free software downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com
Once the file is downloaded, run the application, there is no need to extract it, unless you think you may need it again.
Step 1 : Go to File and select 'Select Source'
Step 2 : A new box will open, with a whole bunch of options to load the hive from, we're interested in 'Load product keys from external Windows directory' Click 'Browse' locate your Windows.old folder (Usually C:\Windows.old) Once you have located it, make sure you choose the sub-directory 'Windows' (E.G. C:\Windows.old\Windows Press OK
Step 3 : Write down your key for your Windows XP version, make sure it's the Product KEY and NOT the Product ID.
