Need to get my windows XP cd key.....

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T9D

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2001
5,320
6
0
Hi. I need to find a way to get the windows CD key off a computer. It's actually a girl friend of mines computer. She had some guy she knew a while back build it for her but he never gave her the CD. I'm hoping it's all legit though. Anyway it's not letting her get some of the updates and is asking for a cd key. I know I've read on here before of a way to do that but I cant seem to find the threads now.

Thanks for the help :)
 
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bluestrobe

Platinum Member
Aug 15, 2004
2,033
1
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Sounds like MS tryed validating your CD key and couldn't so it wants it to be re-entered. If she didn't get the cd then the copy she has probably isn't legit.
 
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stevty2889

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2003
7,036
8
81
If it's not allowing her to get the updates...it's because it's not a valid CD key..so basicly she's got an illegal copy of windows on her PC..
 
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AwesomeJay

Senior member
May 18, 2004
202
0
0
her/your key is invalid and microsoft knows that.. thats why its asking for a valid key. this very thing happened when people first downloaded XP illegally and tried to install SP1
 
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MonkeyWrench4000

Member
Feb 2, 2005
153
0
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You do know, that you can simply register by phone, tell them you did an update, and that now it wants a registration key again, THEY WONT QUESTION YOU, AND WILL ALWAYS GIVE YOU A NEW KEY. THEY DONT CARE.

Trust me.

They want everyones copy of XP to work so you buy more of there software; MSN, Office, ect. They WANT to get your PC up and running.
 
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ssvegeta1010

Platinum Member
Nov 13, 2004
2,192
0
0
Originally posted by: MonkeyWrench4000
You do know, that you can simply register by phone, tell them you did an update, and that now it wants a registration key again, THEY WONT QUESTION YOU, AND WILL ALWAYS GIVE YOU A NEW KEY. THEY DONT CARE.

Trust me.

They want everyones copy of XP to work so you buy more of there software; MSN, Office, ect. They WANT to get your PC up and running.
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Yes, you 'can' do that, but it is frowned upon by most of this community. You may say Bill Gates doesnt need anymore money, but I say that the programmers and other thousands who work for MS do not need to be stolen from.

It all comes down to a personal decision. Morals or money? You think about it yourself.

(This is not to say that I have never pirated music, software, etc., but I do have remorse, and will attempt to abstain from it in the future.)

To the OP: the program listed above will most likely do what you are asking for, but if the key is invalid, as said above, it is your choice of what to do.
 
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bendixG15

Diamond Member
Mar 9, 2001
3,483
0
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ssvegeta1010

Please speak for yourself and not for the "community"

You make your moral judgements and I'll make mine.

 
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Injury

Lifer
Jul 19, 2004
13,066
2
81
Originally posted by: bendixG15
ssvegeta1010

Please speak for yourself and not for the "community"

You make your moral judgements and I'll make mine.
Click to expand...

In a forum filled with programers and IT professionals, we'd appreciate it if you kept pirating techniques far away from our forums. There is a reason threads and posts about pirating get edited out/deleted. Don't try and justify or brag about your pirating, because we don't give a damn.
 
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T9D

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2001
5,320
6
0
Ah ok thanks guys. Im thinking it is a probably an illegal copy because I went over there today and I saw the actual message. It's not a valid key. I will tell her she needs to buy a copy. If she buys a copy will she just be able to insert a new key in or will I have to reformat for her?

Man that guy that made her computer is lame. He only gave her 128 mb's or ram and it's shared ram. Im going to buy her some more ram tomorrow too.
 
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Injury

Lifer
Jul 19, 2004
13,066
2
81
Originally posted by: tk109
Ah ok thanks guys. Im thinking it is a probably an illegal copy because I went over there today and I saw the actual message. It's not a valid key. I will tell her she needs to buy a copy. If she buys a copy will she just be able to insert a new key in or will I have to reformat for her?

Man that guy that made her computer is lame. He only gave her 128 mb's or ram and it's shared ram. Im going to buy her some more ram tomorrow too.
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Provided the pirated version and the version you get for her are the same, it should work. It may work regardless, but it's hard to tell. You might have to give MS a call and have them work it out.

Good call on the RAM. ;)
 
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ronnn

Diamond Member
May 22, 2003
3,918
0
71
This should retrieve your cd key. (Haven't tried it, just googled it) Also you guys are full of moral bs. Windows would not accept my bought and paid for cd key just recently as I changed a hard drive and some memory. Just added up to, too many changes since I bought it (also had it installed on separate drives - so showed as 2 computers). So I phoned microsoft and voila they gave me a number (telephone verification), and all works fine. I assume that I will have to do this big brother call every time I reinstall, but such is the price for giving your money to Bill Gates. :beer:
 
CZroe

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
857
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I've always just generated keys so I could continue using the "illegal" version of XP that does not require activation instead of my legit CD keys. If MS ever finds a way to block it with SP3 or something, I'll just install the normal way and deal with the hassels of activation but until then I'll save myself the headache (It confirms itself as Genuine on MS' "Is it Genuine?" test). Of course, generating working keys for SP2 was a pain, but no where near the pain that activation has caused me in my otehr XP Media Center Edition 2005 PC. I was only allowed to activate ONE TIME before it required me to call MS! After complaining to the guy on the phone, he probably went ahead and banned any future activations when I have YET to make my clean install, activate and Ghost (image) it.

Anyway, I encounter pirated copies of XP Pro all the time. Nearly every non-Dell/HP/Gateway XP Pro PC I work on has a pirated non-SP2 compatible key installed on the illegal "corporate" version of the OS. Rather than give the customer their PC back without being protected with SP2, I just use The Magical Jellybean Keyfinder or the reactivation registry hack to give it a generated SP2 compatible key and fully update it. These are NOT instructions for pirating the OS but rather guidelines that techs should follow when encountering them; The user nearly never knows that their OS is pirated in the first place and all this does is let them continue using it. You're not the crook and they're probably not the crook (If they can install a pirated OS, they probably don't need you). Also, an SP2 key can only be generated through lots of hard work, false positives and trial & error NONE of which I revealed here.
 
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Injury

Lifer
Jul 19, 2004
13,066
2
81
Originally posted by: ronnn
This should retrieve your cd key. (Haven't tried it, just googled it) Also you guys are full of moral bs. Windows would not accept my bought and paid for cd key just recently as I changed a hard drive and some memory. Just added up to, too many changes since I bought it (also had it installed on separate drives - so showed as 2 computers). So I phoned microsoft and voila they gave me a number (telephone verification), and all works fine. I assume that I will have to do this big brother call every time I reinstall, but such is the price for giving your money to Bill Gates. :beer:
Click to expand...

They most likely gave you an activation code... NOT a CD key. The activation code is based off of your hardware, not the CD key.
 
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ronnn

Diamond Member
May 22, 2003
3,918
0
71
Certainly they gave me an activation code. And the op will likely have to do the same.
 
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ssvegeta1010

Platinum Member
Nov 13, 2004
2,192
0
0
Originally posted by: bendixG15
ssvegeta1010

Please speak for yourself and not for the "community"

You make your moral judgements and I'll make mine.
Click to expand...



Notice that I use the words 'most of the community'. As you said, you make you moral judgements and I'll make mine. I never forced anything onto the OP and onto you. I simply expressed my views and what I have seen earlier in other various forum posts. Then I backed it up with the reasoning that I have for using a legal copy of Windows XP.

This does not need to become an argument. Everyone has their individual views. They are free to express those views and you are free to ignore their views.
 
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