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Product Key Finder now supports network cd key recovery

The latest version of Product Key Finder now supports recovery of product keys (CD keys) from network computers.

Usage is simple, run the program with the /remote argument, like so.

CPP-ProductKeyFinder.exe /remote Dave-Win2k8
The keys will be logged to a txt file in the working directory in a file named whatever the computer name is, in this case Dave-Win2k8.txt.

Any errors will be logged to Errors.txt in the same directory.

This application will not generate license keys, it will recover them from your system. It will not help you pirate software.

 

Comments

• Faiz says:

  how can i find more serials with the product key finder that you made.

  Reply
• Dave says:

  Hi Faiz,

  Firstly, make sure you’re using the latest version which you can find here:

  http://davehope.co.uk/projects/product-key-finder/

  If that still doesn’t detect your license, drop me an e-mail and I’ll see what I can do.

  Reply
• Faiz says:

  thank you

  Reply
• SHAHID says:

  Hello faiz I purchased windows vista but unfornunately I lost my cd product info and I have laptop but which i compatable windows vista but once more bad thing that the product number of my machine is omitted so If I give you the details of my laptop can you retrieve my product key of my compaq machine.
  I am waiting for your reply
  thank you

  kind regards
  shahid

  Reply
• Dave says:

  Hi Shaid,

  If Windows Vista is already installed and activated on you Compaq machine, you can recover the license by running the latest version of ProductKeyFinder on it, which you can find here:

  http://davehope.co.uk/projects/product-key-finder/

  Reply
• John L. Galt says:

  Dave,

  I just installed the Windows 7 Ultimate RTM x64, and the key being reported by your keyfinder is not the same as the one that I entered (as it is a Technet subscription download, I am able to go online and verify).

  Thought you would like to know.

  Reply
• Dave says:

  Hi John,

  This could be for a few reasons. Does Product Key Finder show it as the x64 windows key? – It might be incorrectly detecting your OS as 32bit.

  Other possibilities include:

  – You’ve not entered the license key yet, so the non-activation key is showing up. Does yout windows show as activated?

  – You’re using a MAK key?

  – You’re somehow running on an OEM system.

  Thanks,

  Dave

  Reply
• rizvi says:

  hi..i have installed media player 11 on xp sp2 bt its nt orking saying that ur copy of windows iis not genuine….

  Reply
  • Dave says:

    Assuming you’ve legally purchased Windows XP, you’ll need to contact Microsoft.

    Reply
• sebus says:

  Any plans to support retrieval of the MAK key on Windows 7?

  Thanks

  sebus

  Reply
  • Dave says:

    Hi Sebus,

    I’ll take a look at how the MAK keys are stored and see if I can add support into the next release.

    Reply
• sebus says:

  Would be great, but I expect that MAK keys installation might be the same like running slmgr -cpky
  But digitalproductid & digitalproductid4 are still in registry, so maybe not…

  sebus

  Reply
• Dave says:

  Sebus,

  From what I understand, MAK keys are pretty much identical to license keys from the Windows XP days. For example if you’re a Microsoft Partner you may get a Vista volume license allowing for 25 machines, however you’ll be able to activate that key about 500 times before having to call Microsoft. MAK keys are just licensed for multiple activations, so should be stored in the DigitalProductID key.

  The only scenario you’d not be able to get your key back is if you were using a KMS server.

  Can you give me more information on your setup where it’s unable to recover the key? – Feel free to e-mail me directly

  Reply
• lett says:

  u seem very helpful. i need help in activating my vindows. i recently install this windows and don’t have the key/code to activate it

  Reply
• Dave says:

  Lett,

  I’m assuming you’ve entered your product key from the product packaging or the COA sticker?

  If so, you’ll either need to activate online or call Microsoft (as indicated in the activation wizard).

  If you don’t have a product key, you’ll need to buy a license for Windows.

  Reply
• sebus says:

  Just a normal MAK key, activated online (NOT KMS)
  Where the normal keys are encrypted in DigitalProductID there is just 0000000000000000

  Reply
  • Dave says:

    I can’t seem to reproduce that. Are you on a 64bit system by any chance? – If so, the standard DigitalproductID registry key will decode to BBBB-BBBB….

    ProductKeyFinder will show a seperate x64 entry.

    Can you drop me an e-mail (dave at davehope dot co dot uk) with details of the edition andarchitecture of the version of windows you have ?

    Recovery of MAK keys works fine for me.

    Reply
• Suchen says:

  Hi Dave,

  Just executed your keyfinder program but it finds only Vista Ultimate key. I did a Vista Ultimate clean install from home premium. hence my MS Office 2007 is lost. It did move everything to Windows.Old directory. I have the software to install but can’t find the product key. How do I make your program search everything.

  Suchen

  Reply
  • Dave says:

    Hi Suchen,

    I should be able to get that back for you. Firstly, you will need to download the latest build from here:

    http://files.davehope.co.uk/CPP-ProductKeyFinder-2.1.0.1050.exe

    To recover from a registry hive, you’ll need to do:

    CPP-ProductKeyFinder-2.1.0.1050.exe /hive C:\Windows.Old\System32\Config\SOFTWARE

    Where C: is the letter of your Windows install. You’ll need to run a command prompt as administrator (right click the entry in the start menu and choose Run as administrator) then ‘cd’ to the directory containing the downloaded application and run the above command.

    Reply
• sebus says:

  On x64 even the latest version reads the key as:

  Microsoft Windows – x64,JVF76-6TMPY-98BXW-76FY6-YG26V

  which has nothing to do with the actual MAK key used for the activation!

  In fact it is Invalid Product Key

  If you look around this key is supposed to be Microsoft Office 2010 TP1 (something that never happen to be on this machine!)

  sebus

  Reply
  • Dave says:

    How bizare. Where are you getting the MAK key from? – If it’s MSDN / Technet I’ll try and reproduce the problem.

    Reply
• sebus says:

  It is Select, but any Enterprise MAK on x64 will be the same

  sebus

  Reply
• Ankit says:

  mcafee enterprise virusscan 8.7i detects this as a virus
  http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_101226.htm
  

  Reply
  • Dave says:

    How frustrating. It’s probably because I UPX compress the binary to reduce its size.

    Their ‘Contact us for removal’ link is broken too.

    Reply
• Paul says:

  I’m running Vista Business and the key isn’t detected. I’ve tried other apps and it appears as BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB

  I’m pretty sure it’s an OVS license – any ideas?

  Thanks!

  Reply
• Paul says:

  Ah okay, since posting that, i’ve done some more googling and it seems to be because it’s a MAK key!

  Reply
  • Dave says:

    Hi Paul,

    Sorry about that. It’s a known issue that I’m working to solve. At present nobody out there is able to recover MAK keys.

    Cheers

    Reply
• Alan says:

  Key recovery.
  Love your program, it’s been a great help.
  Any idea how long before a MAK key can be recovered?

  More than happy to help with testing if you need.

  THanks

  Alan.

  Reply
  • Dave says:

    Hi Alan,

    No idea I’m afraid.

    I’ve done plenty of investigation, but the key isn’t stored in the same way. I know exactly what changes, but decrypting with the same way (Base-24 Integer) doesn’t yeild the correct key.

    Using slmgr does show the last 5 characters, so I’m sure it’s stored somewhere but nobody seems to know how to access it yet.

    If anyone out there reads this and wants to help decrypt the information, or see a copy of what I have so far drop me an e-mail

    Dave

    Reply
• Shane says:

  Hi Dave,

  I run CPP-ProductKeyFinder.exe /remote ATLNHOServ but I receive nothing back. Should the text file be in the same directory I run which is c:\batch\vbscripts

  Great product. Ran perfect locally

  Reply
  • Dave says:

    Hi Shane,

    Yep – that should work. The file will be created with the hostname of the remove system in the working directory.

    You’ll need to make sure the user the application runs over has rights to the remote system, and that the registry can be accessed remotely.

    Cheers

    Reply
• Fred says:

  Heres what I get on a windows 7 (x64) Enterprise MAK (some editing done just in case)

  Microsoft Windows – BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB

  Microsoft Windows (x64) – JV??6-6???Y-9??X?-??F?6-YG2?V

  That is NOT the key used to install, nor is it the KMS Key

  Version 2.2.0.26

  Reply
  • Dave says:

    Hi Fred,

    Unfortunately Microsoft have changed the way that the license keys are stored for MAK Keys in Windows and Office 2010. It’s impossible to recover the license key when a MAK key has been used. I’ve spent quite a lot of time with others who know far more about reverse engineering than me and they’ve not been able to come up with anything.

    The closest you can get is running “slmgr -dli” to get back the last 5 characters.

    Thanks

    Dave

    Reply
• Prosenjeet says:

  So there is no way to decode BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB that I get for for my Windows 7 Enterprise ! ;-(

  Reply
• Dave says:

  Unfortunately not. The encrypted product key isn’t stored in the same way for MAK keys, I’ve taken a look at reversing the value stored buy haven’t had much luck.

  Reply
• Oz says:

  Hi Dave.

  A friend of mine and i, well he is the coder, has written a lil app, that finds all Windows and office Keys, including 2010.

  If you have had any further luck in discovering how MAK keys are stored, would you mind emailing me please mate, so we may implement those also.

  be great if you could.

  Oz

  Reply
  • Dave says:

    No problem, but I don’t think it’s possible I’ve worked with a few different people now and we’ve all come to the same conclusion. Feel free to e-mail me any findings you have and I’ll add them to my information.

    Reply
• Oz says:

  For sure mate, if i come up with anything, ill let you know also.

  Reply
• Xavier says:

  Hi, I’ve tried to use your application to retrieve my Product Key from Windows.old but it just gives me the same Product Key for the Trial Version for Office 2007 I downloaded.

  I just recently upgraded from XP to 7.0. I downloaded the Trial Version for Office thinking I could find the install disk (and Product Key). Couldn’t find it and now I’m stuck. Thanks

  *I downloaded 2.2.0.26

  Reply
• Xavier says:

  Oh NVM, I tried clicking on ‘Load Hive’ and manually looking for Windows.Old\Windows\System32\config\Software. Worked just fine. Super thanks for developing this very useful application. Cheers!

  Reply
  • Dave says:

    Glad you found it useful! – And thanks for letting me know you solved your problem

    Reply
• taslyn says:

  Hi dave,
  i tried to recover my cd key from windows.old for ym windows 7 home edition. however the version which i dl from ur site v2.2.1 does not allow my to click on “load hive” option. Can i get a version which i can “load hive”? sorry to trouble u :O)

  Reply
  • Dave says:

    Can you right-click ProductKeyFinder and choose “Run as Administrator” ? The “Load Hive” button should then be enabled.

    Reply
• JimG says:

  You are a genius! I’ve had Microsoft and my software retailer telling me I need to buy Office 2007 all over again, when the key’s been sat in the windows.old file all along!

  Thank you very very much!

  Jim

  Reply
• Ed says:

  I am trying to find a product key for Microsoft Office 2007 in the Windows.old file.

  I located Windows.old\Windows\System32\config\software using load hive but all that it returned was the Microsoft windows 7 professional key.

  Reply
• Dave says:

  Hi Ed,

  Can you contact me directly (see the Contact menu link) and I’ll provide you with some steps we can try

  Thanks

  Reply
• astErisk says:

  hello dave..i install my win 7 from our IT department. they use enterprise key for all student since it retail buy by our university from Microsoft. i want to reinstall back because my win7 corrupted. i try to recover it using keyfinder but it gave BBBBB …..mean it was MAK righ..did u know how to retrieve it back? thanks.

  Reply
  • Dave says:

    Hi,

    MAK keys cannot be recovered, as they’re not stored in the system.

    Thanks

    Reply
• Peter says:

  I ran into the same problem where I had five machines running on a Virtual server had the key show up as BBBBB-BBBBB…
  I needed to recover the installation key as part of internal software tracking. The command slmgr /dli gave me enough of the key to track it down on the MS volume licensing site. I appriciate the info about the command and I really liek t he tool you created. It works well.

  Reply
• Jonathan says:

  Hi, I hope I’m not too late to post.

  If I understand correctly you are looking for a way to decode a Product Key stored in the Windows registry hives, and that the key type you are looking to decode is a MAK Key?

  I found this page by doing a Google search on the first portion of a key I decoded from an install.wim file from a Windows 7 installation disc.

  The key I found slightly differs from the one I found on this website, and I was wondering if it was another MAK key. The program algorithm actually looks like it would be quite simple to the regular person but the math is actually very complex. I am actually wondering if it is because I am using a 64-bit machine that it is actually able to decode?

  The key that I got was JVF76-6TMPY-98BXW-76B7Q-TCGTV.

  The actual script that I wrote (with the help of an online resource and another programmer over the internet) is made with pure JavaScript and the actual contents can be trimmed to make the file very small. The source code is publicly posted on the internet and can still easily be found on google by doing a search for “javascript product key”. It should be at the top of the list on webdeveloper.com.

  I successfully rewrote the program in C++ (learning the language as I went). Both the JavaScript and the C++ version compliment each other in the fact that the Javascript version extracts the current Product Key on the system and the C++ version can extract the key(s) stored in a registry hive from an offline system in a command prompt interface (useful in recovery and multi-booting scenarios).

  Anyways, if you use the JavaScript version you can easily modify it to read from a different location of the registry. Couple it with a .cmd file and the reg.exe utility with the load/unload parameters and you can even view the registry of an offline registry hive.

  I used Microsoft ImageX to mount the install.wim file off of the Windows 7 Installation disc to a folder on my harddrive (using the image identifier 2 for Home Basic). Then I copied the software registry hive file from windows\system32\config to my harddrive. I mounted it to the registry using the command-line “reg load” and told my .js file to point to a subkey of my loaded hive “HKLM\\TempHive\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\DigitalProductId4″. The key regular one appears to be a plain old “trial” key, kept around since the beta stage.

  Reply
• Dave says:

  Hi Jonathan

  Thanks for your post. ProductKeyFinder will recover keys from windows.old files no problem.

  MAK Keys are not stored on the system, so it’s not possible to recover them.

  Thanks

  Dave

  Reply
• johny why says:

  hi, i’m having the same problem as above: doing the hive recover on windows.old only gives me the windows vista key, not the office key. what should i do? -thanks

  Reply
• Dave says:

  Hi Johny,

  Can you try this version I’ve just compiled, it might fix your problem:

  http://davehope.co.uk/Temp/Johny-ProductKeyFinder.exe

  Thanks

  Dave

  Reply