Finding my win 7 product key

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dgrin91

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Jun 20, 2011
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I want to move Win7 over from my hard drive to my solid state. I have already done the installation, but now I need to do the activation. However, I need my product key to this, and I of course no longer have it. So I searched the web for programs that can help me do this and I found this -

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/productkeysactivation/tp/topkeyfinder.htm

This didnt work though. After trying all of the options, most came back saying "cant find product key" or said the key was 25 'B's in a row - clearly wrong. The only Exception was Belarc Advisor which only gave me 20 'B's in a row followed by 5 more seemingly random characters (might be legit, no clue). Also LicenseCrawler came back saying "Microsoft Windows 7 Professional,Key Unavailable, a MAK/KMS key has been used."

Im not really sure what this means. Is this the reason why nothing can find my product key? If so, can I fix it? or is there a way to transfer Win7 over without needed the product key?
 
Solution
J


MAK (Multiple Activation Key) keys are One Time Use keys deployed in corporations over the server and are not stored directly on the system so No it can not be retrieved since it is never stored on the system and is instead tracked by the corporate server as each key is put into use. So you will need to contact your IT dept.

If you haven't already done the reinstall there is a thread here that details the process for backing up the activation files so they can be restored after reinstalling
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In order for those programs to find the key it has to be run on an install that had the key entered -- when you reinstalled you wiped out the information and installed without a key (MS gives you 30 days to activate and allows installing without a key) - Does the old HDD still have the old installation on it ? If so boot from it and then run the programs to find the key. (the install you just did probably has not had the key entered which is why you are getting those type of errors or no key found)
 
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It was on the list - didnt work :/



In order for those programs to find the key it has to be run on an install that had the key entered -- when you reinstalled you wiped out the information and installed without a key (MS gives you 30 days to activate and allows installing without a key) - Does the old HDD still have the old installation on it ? If so boot from it and then run the programs to find the key. (the install you just did probably has not had the key entered which is why you are getting those type of errors or no key found)
Click to expand...

Im not doing this on my new SSD, im doing this on my old HDD



When windows product keys are not stored in the registry like in volume licenseing keys it will not show with keyfinder software < The KEYFINDER software gives you the BBBBB because there is no key to find
Click to expand...

So do you know where I can find it?
 
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So you reinstalled the OS onto the old HDD first and are now looking for the key - If so then it will not be there since it was wiped during the reinstall - best chance is to find the product key sticker that should be on the case somewhere or in the disk case - If you can not find either try calling MS and explaining things and they will sometimes give you a new activation key - they'll ask for as much information as you can provide (ie. where it was purchased - when - details of the install disk - etc.) and depending on the CS rep you talk with and the info they get will decide if they can give you a new code.
 
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MAK (Multiple Activation Key) keys are One Time Use keys deployed in corporations over the server and are not stored directly on the system so No it can not be retrieved since it is never stored on the system and is instead tracked by the corporate server as each key is put into use. So you will need to contact your IT dept.

If you haven't already done the reinstall there is a thread here that details the process for backing up the activation files so they can be restored after reinstalling
 
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Solution



The thing is that Im not at a corporation, I am a student with a personal copy of Win7. I got this copy of MSDNAA (now DreamSpark). I suppose this means I have to contact them?
 
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Yep Just contact them and they should help (figure they provide it free as long as you are still enrolled in a qualifying program - so shouldn't be a problem to get it reactivated or a new copy to install)
 
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