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.
![[Warning]](/Files/Warning.png)
This application will not generate license keys, it will recover them from your system. It will not help you pirate software.You can download Product Key Finder here.
how can i find more serials with the product key finder that you made.
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.
thank you 😀
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
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/
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.
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
hi..i have installed media player 11 on xp sp2 bt its nt orking saying that ur copy of windows iis not genuine….
Assuming you’ve legally purchased Windows XP, you’ll need to contact Microsoft.
Any plans to support retrieval of the MAK key on Windows 7?
Thanks
sebus
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.
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
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
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
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.
Just a normal MAK key, activated online (NOT KMS)
Where the normal keys are encrypted in DigitalProductID there is just 0000000000000000
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.
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
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.
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
How bizare. Where are you getting the MAK key from? – If it’s MSDN / Technet I’ll try and reproduce the problem.
It is Select, but any Enterprise MAK on x64 will be the same
sebus
mcafee enterprise virusscan 8.7i detects this as a virus
http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_101226.htm
🙁
How frustrating. It’s probably because I UPX compress the binary to reduce its size.
Their ‘Contact us for removal’ link is broken too.
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!
Ah okay, since posting that, i’ve done some more googling and it seems to be because it’s a MAK key!
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
So there is no way to decode BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB that I get for for my Windows 7 Enterprise ! ;-(
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.
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
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.
For sure mate, if i come up with anything, ill let you know also.
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
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!
Glad you found it useful! – And thanks for letting me know you solved your problem
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)
Can you right-click ProductKeyFinder and choose “Run as Administrator” ? The “Load Hive” button should then be enabled.
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
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.
Hi Ed,
Can you contact me directly (see the Contact menu link) and I’ll provide you with some steps we can try
Thanks
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.
Hi,
MAK keys cannot be recovered, as they’re not stored in the system.
Thanks
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.
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.
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
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
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
Dude, thanks very much. This was beginning to look like a hopeless situation, but now I’ve got all the keys to the software I had installed and assumed we still had the boxes for, but didn’t! Saved me a major headache. Thanks.
Hi Dave,
Great product you have here. Thank you for being free.
Let me suggest that it would be great if it was possible to scan remote computers (various) at a time.
For example one would create a text file with a list of remote pc’s to query and at the command line we just pass that file as an argument. The result would be a report of all those remote computers.
A slightly different approach could be the text file filled with the network range to scan for (e.g.: 192.168.1.0/24).
Just a thought.
Thank you.
Hi Luis
Thanks, glad you found it useful. Product Key Finder is really only designed for standalone use. I produce a commercial product (Free for small businesses) and ad-supported/small fee for larger ones which supports network license tracking. You can find it here http://aporah.com/products/network-license-reporting
Ups! Sorry.
It was not my intention.
I didn’t know that a comercial version of this product had already this functionality… My bad.
Anyway, appologies made, thank’s for the feedback
No problem! It’s free for small businesses (and in fact there’s nothing physically stopping larger companies use it for free, other than the license terms. There are no license keys etc). Give it a go, it’s a free download.
Hey Dave,
I don’t know anything about anything, but was wondering if you could help with a problem I have. I recently upgraded to Windows 7 Pro from Windows Vista and although I backed everything up, I forgot to get the CD key for office 2007. When I reinstalled Office and was prompted for the CD key, I was shocked because I had lost the key and didn’t extract it before the upgrade. Anyways, I have the Windows.old file in the file system and was wondering if there was anyway to find the CD key if it is even located in the Windows.old file? If you can help, that would be great. And because I am slow, if you would give me a step by step walk through on how to do it (if possible) that would be great as well. Thanks so much!
David,
If you have the Windows.old file you should be able to use the latest version of Product Key Finder and just point it at the SOFTWARE file. If that doesn’t work, e-mail me (via the contact form on this website) and I’ll see what I can do to help.
Thanks
Hi, I am in a similar situation as described, and have downloaded your program. I’m afraid I don’t really understand what you have written here, could you describe step-by-step, I’m afraid I’m a computer novice!
Thank you
Hi Tara, Can you describe the problem for me? Not sure what it is you’re having problems with.
Hi Dave, Is there any way to retrieve MAK key. B’coz i lost the key. It’s a original. I got the key through my University from MSDN/Technet. Since i am not a student any more, i couldn’t get any support from my Univ.
Hi, Unfortunately it’s not possible to recover MAK keys. They’re not stored on the system
Hi Dave-this is an awesome product but I’ve come across one little problem which I’m hoping someone could solve. I have a factory installed (Toshiba) Vista Home Premium which wont boot. Used your product to find code but the program identifies it as Windows Vista Ultimate. I was just wondering if this will be an issue when trying to reinstall Vista as I really do need to have the original code to register it legally-thanks
Hi Jules
If this is an OEM system, it complicates things slightly. You’ll need to look on the bottom/back of the system for the COA. This is a Microsoft sticker with the license key on.
Once you’ve got that, you’ll need to get an OEM Windows Vista CD. You can probably pick these up off eBay for very little. The OEM CD key from the COA will not work with a retail disk bought from shops.
Thanks
Hello..I just downloaded Publisher 2007 and it is asking me for the Product Key..How can I find the Product Key with the Product Key Finder you made?..Thank you..
From the sounds of it, you’re asking to generate a product key that you don’t own. That’s illegal, you’ll ned to purchase a license. Product Key Finder only recovers license information, it does not make license keys.
Hi
I am trying to do the same as others, in that I had to re-install Vista and so lost my Office installation. I can see the files in Windows.Old but can not get the key out of there trying the /hive command prompt as mentioned. Any thoughts?
BTW – I also get the Vista key (which matches what is on the bottom of the laptop!)
Hi Rob
How weird, If you right-Click the downloaded program and choose “Run As Administrator” then click “Load Hive” and point it to the software hive does it recover it ok?
Feel free to use the contact form on my site to get in touch and we can work on this.
Cheers
mine says the same, but i used RAZ0R’s O2ACK to get office 2010 professional plus edition, and whe i run O1.6.exe (the O2ACK it tells me the product key ends completely different. i am confused by this, yet i dont really care to be honest, because it works, but i am curios of why its like that
*mine says the same a sebus’s
Eric,
If you purchase Office 2010 and then let me know what it shown I’m happy to help. I’ll provide no assistance to users of pirated software.
Thanks
Hey Dave
i am running the program as administrator on a windows 7 64 bit system and after loading the software file it just gives me two rows displaying microsoft windows 7 home premium (and the key)
No office key tho.
Any ideas?
Thanks for the help
Hi Bridite
That’s unusual, Can you e-mail me that file and I’ll see if I can manually recover it for you.
Thanks
sure, but not sure where to send it.
thnaks for the prompt reply
Hi Bridite
If you use the contact page, I’ll reply with details of where you can send the file.
Thanks
hey Dave,
I sent it to your email.
i really apreciate all the help
Brigite
Dave,
thank you for your help.
I am also trying to recove a MAK key. To my knowledge there was no KMS server in place during activation (or so I was informed by messages on my screen.) I have Windows 7 Pro. Your link to the latest build is either broken or I cannot reach it. I am simply trying to reload my computer. It was loaded about 2 years ago and is showing signs of registry bloat due to decrease in speed. When I run most key finders I get the usual all ‘B’s. When I run yours I get “Microsoft Windows 7 Professional,Key Unavailable, a MAK/KMS key has been used”.
Hi Hugh,
The latest version is always available from the main Product Key Finder page linked from the top of the page.
The B’s means the cd key is not stored in your computer, so cannot be recovered. That can be due to a few reasons:
A MAK was used for activation;
SLMGR was used to remove the key from the windows registry, or
You’re running a pirated version of Windows.
Did Windows come with your computer? If so, check the computer for a COA (sticker with the CD key on). If it was purchased later on, check the DVD case the Disc came in for the sticker with the key on. Afraid those are your only options.
Thanks mate!
your app is simple and efficient.
I have a question. I had a windows error in xp pro. Somehow i lost my entire system32 file and I had to grab a different drive and reinstall windows on it. I had a valid Key on the old drive but had to scrounge around for a key for the new install on the second drive. I was wondering … does or can your program get the windows key off the old drive if its rigged as a slave drive on my pc ? i would really love to revalidate windows and use the products that require a copy that is legit.
Please help me I am at a loss of what to do about it.
Kris
Hi Kris
Connect your old drive so that it appears in “My Computer” along with your normal drive. Launch Product Key Finder and click the “Load Hive” button, then open the following file:
X:\Windows\System32\Config\SOFTWARE
Where X: is the drive letter for your old drive
Thanks
Dave
Hi Dave, I’m experiencing the problem as Ed and Johny Why with locating my Office 2007 product key.
I’ve inherited my laptop from my husband who’s installed all sorts on it over the past 2 years so I reinstalled Windows 7 in order to clean it up and didn’t even think to take a note of the Office product key and now I can’t find it anywhere.
I’ve gone through the Load Hive option and manually browsed to the relevant file and also ran a command prompt – both as an administrator – but both options only return my Windows 7 Ultimate product key. Office was preinstalled on the laptop when my husband received it from Dell a couple of years ago and he doesn’t think a product key for Office was sent with it as it was already loaded.
Hope you’re able to help!
Many thanks in advance
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
Unfortunately if Windows has been re-installed in the way you describe there’s no way to recover the license key from the computer.
Thanks
Dave
Hi Dave
Thanks for your speedy response! Is this because Office was preinstalled already by Dell? Or because of how I reinstalled Windows?
I’ve still got a Windows.old\Windows\System32\config folder on my c:\ and I can still see the Microsoft Office folder in the Windows.old folder?? In your opinion, do you think Dell would be of any help?
Thanks again…
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
Dell are unlikely to be able to help. You can send me the SOFTWARE file from your Windows.old directory if you like and I’ll look over it.
Thanks
Dave
Hi Dave, that’s what I though with regards to Dell! I’ll send over the software file in a mo – thanks for your help, it’s really appreciated!
Sarah
Hi Dave,
I tried downloading and running your program, but the “Load Hive” button isn’t clickable for some reason.
I need to search my Windows.old folder for an Adobe key and I think the “Load Hive” button is my only hope.
Thanks for any help you might be able to lend…
JD
Hi Jeff,
If you right click the program after you’ve downloaded it and click “Run As Administrator” you should be fine.
Thanks
Dave
Cool. Thanks!
Now I’m not sure what a “hive” is, but I tried navigating to the Windows.old – Program Files – Adobe – Photoshop Elements 7.0 folder, but I can’t scan the folder, I can only choose individual files. I have no idea what file to look for to find the Adobe PSE product key.
Do you happen to know?
Jeff,
You probably want to point it to Windows.old\System32\Config
And open the file named SOFTWARE.
Thanks
It only found the Windows 7 key. I guess I’ve lost the Adobe key. Hopefully, I’ll find the information around here.
Thanks for your help!
Hi Jeff,
Which Adobe product is it? If it’s Photoshop or similar the license may be stored elsewhere. Do you have a copy of your old Program Files directory?
Thanks
It is Photoshop Elements 7. The Program Files are in the windows.old directory.
Hi Dave. Any miracle ideas to save my butt? 🙂
Hi Jeff,
Can you send me the file named ‘cache.db’ from Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Adobe PCD\cache ?
If that exists in your windows.old directory, I’ll need that one.
Thanks
Dave
how cna i know ms office 2010 home&business keys in my system, am trying with keyfinder but i can not get, can u please tell me the soluton, i heard last 5 digits we can see from comand prompt,
From the sounds of it, you likely have a MAK or KMS version installed? If so, Microsoft remove the license information thus preventing you recovering the keys
Thanks
Dave
Hello!
I have a question.
I’m not a reverse engineer but I wonder
where the last 5 character of MAK Key stored on Win7 Enterprise.
(I can access the partial of key thru slmgr.vbs)
Can I change that somehow?
Unfortunately not, the whole key is not stored.
Why don’t you take a snapshot of the system before activation and immediately after using MAK activation and see what it changes. I know about the productid in registry and am familiar with base24 decoding of it but it’s possible the key is written elsewhere
Tried that. The problem is the WMI options are used that strips the key from the registry. For an example of that, see slrmgr /cpk It’s just not possible and a snapshot doesn’t help in this instance.
So you reckon no one will ever be able to retrieve the MAK keys? Its a pity really! I guess microsoft are justified — and at least they provide the last 5 digits… Anyway it would make life a whole lot easier if MAKs could be retrieved, I’d be able to back up the tokens and keys and never have to activate the machine online again all through one program (autoit). I can still back up tokens but I have to embed the MAK keys into the program and compile a different version for each site, so management and security really suck because of that! ;/
It kind of makes sense when you think about what Microsoft target MAK keys for though – Offline activations with up to about 25 computers. More than 25 and you should be using a KMS.
I completely understand Microsoft’s interest in removing the MAK from the Windows registry, given its value to someone with nefarious intent.
Fair enough. We run sles servers at most of our client sites and only use windows server for RDP (to access shares on linux server lol – some clients are too insert-euphamism-here to use open vpn). Windows is a good client OS but server side is seriously lacking. The fewer windoze servers running, the easier server maintenace is! So stick to MAK keys, backup the token embed the key in encrypted form with the token and on reimage reapply token and reapply key. meh server/client management talk eh