What do you guy's do when......

[zalternate]

So my product key sticker on the box and product key in the mobo are different.

It's an OEM version of XP.

Used BelArc Advisor and magic jelly bean.

So heres the answer to my own query.

Q: Why doesn't the product key returned match the one on my sticker?

If you purchased your PC with Windows already installed from a large manufacturer such as Dell or HP, it's likely that Windows was installed using an OEM key instead of the actual key for your PC. This saves them (and you) money because it's much more efficient for these large companies to install Windows once and then clone the drive.

[mudmanc4]

Roco whered ya go man ? I was lookin for some feed back on that one  :haha: 

[mudmanc4]

I called microsoft about this today, I explained everything just as I did here, and talked to someone that spoke english , imagine that, because I refused to have them tell me something I couldnt even understand there broken english ( they should really train these people to be able to speak the language )

aar, I went over the legalities here, and there's nothing illegal about looking in the disk, but trying to change something is where they get all uptight. Only company that doesn't seem to want any outside assistance, I'm not getting into that right now because it's not entirely true.

So the sum of the discussion was ( too frickin bad for me ) , I was told that it was my responsibility to keep track of the key, no matter wether it was stolen or no, I also said that I was doing what is stated on the label ( place sticker on the machine ) look and see, it's there. Thats where this person had no idea what to say, so they just kept trying to sell me another key ( I see a winning court case in there) because I did follow what they said, and now the key is gone. Because of what they said , directly following the instructions. It's called an incidental, not in my control, or there's , so the buck stops at the last control , which was to affix the key to the machine that the software is installed on.

Although I have the machine running, I did whatever I had to do to get the software that was purchased running. I will continue this "thing"  another step by advancing the case with MS on the grounds in the above paragraph.

So as to the legalities of looking for the key ? There are none, I was informed that there's absolutely nothing in microsofts eye's with looking at the contents of the CD, as they already have what they feel "proprietary " to the company , hidden under loops and layers of encrypted spaghetti.

Again, to MS, changing the code is where they get funny, you can do whatever you want other then change it or some other words that I wrote down illegibly during the conversation lol So this thread is in the clear.

I'll keep looking for the key, and post up when I find out how to find it.

[starship_troopers]

i remember calling microsoft when i didnt have an internet connection at the time and had to activate windows xp. well...they tried telling me to reformat every 30 days or pay for a net connection. on top of saying that the number provided on the activation page wasnt for activating windows....so i hung up took the tower to a neighbors house and activated it from their connection 

but this was a while back

[Roco]

author=mudmanc4 link=topic=26302.msg304038#msg304038 date=1242176418]

No, nothing of the sort of hacker and I'm curious where you got that idea, if you don't know the answer, thats fine, but please don't make those accusations. It's simple, when you buy the CD, you get the KEY< THIS MEANS THAT YOU CAN INSTALL THE SOFTWARE, THERE'S NOTHING ILLEGAL ABOUT LOOKING FOR YOUR KEY.Geeze

There's all these software versions that make it possible to get the key when the OS s installed, I'm looking for a way to get the key BEFORE it's installed, remember , I PAID FOR IT. And what then would be the difference between looking for the key from all the other ways. Nothing.

I already have it anyhow.

wel, I was done and out on this , and as I said the key is not on the disk , maybe ? microsoft ain't tha stupid ,

good to see you took my advise Mudmance 4, and phoned Microsoft, good luck with the legalities ,

The question ,is the key on the CD, has been the subject on many a forum over the last 6 years  ,as I am sure you well know that so far no mere mortals have found it,

BTW , lets clear the air here ,my comment "    Bro , I think we are entering Hacker zone here " was a opinion not a accusation,

if I was making an accusation it would have been done in PM,

    Roco whered ya go man ? I was lookin for some feed back on that one  :haha: 

You got to remember Bro , I live in your tomorrow (time zone thing ) and contra to popular belief I need to sleep occasionally 

and the world don't revolve around EST,  but good old GMT, (Greenwich mean time  )

But my main point of this post , for those that found what looks like the lic.Key in the "unattended TXT folder" is no to rely on it being  activation key ,

It Ain't GOING TO WORK , otherwise you will be kissing MS 's ass ,.keep the key safe ,store it in the family vault if need be ,

sure check it with a keyfinder , check it with the label , write it on the disk ,( I do That ) but don't loose it

Just my thoughts

fixed your quote

[mudmanc4]

Right on Roco my friend

  Look, the key has to be on the disk, look at it logically.

You type in a set of numbers, the system either says ok, or not valid, it has nothing to do with whether or not your connected to the internet, at the time of installation, your drivers are not on the hard drive for the network card anyhow, so in order for the system to know if what you typed in is correct, or a match to what is on the disk, it must be in the disk itself.

Besides someone made a comment about a manufacturing nightmare, well, look, there's been random number generators for as long as there's been computers, they go together like well, computers go with computers.

It;s not a question of whether it's on the disk, that's a given, but where, and I have found where it's located, but I haven't come close to figuring how to decrypt it yet.

edit : hey Roco, go back and look to see in my post where I stated that the key in the "unnatended.txt" file , is the key that the OS installation managers at MS install the OS by the dozens, the key is worth nothing more then that.

[Roco]

Right on Roco my friend

  Look, the key has to be on the disk, look at it logically.

You type in a set of numbers, the system either says ok, or not valid, it has nothing to do with whether or not your connected to the internet, at the time of installation, your drivers are not on the hard drive for the network card anyhow, so in order for the system to know if what you typed in is correct, or a match to what is on the disk, it must be in the disk itself.

Besides someone made a comment about a manufacturing nightmare, well, look, there's been random number generators for as long as there's been computers, they go together like well, computers go with computers.

It;s not a question of whether it's on the disk, that's a given, but where, and I have found where it's located, but I haven't come close to figuring how to decrypt it yet.

edit : hey Roco, go back and look to see in my post where I stated that the key in the "unnatended.txt" file , is the key that the OS installation managers at MS install the OS by the dozens, the key is worth nothing more then that.

indeed you are true on that, the unatended file may be the clue , but notice the legit key is near the end of the install ,

after the the polling of the computer system , why is it not at the start of the install ?, belive me there is a reason , ?

as I said MS ain't stupid , , Bill needs tha cash $$$, if you beat the system Bro ,PM me 

BTW it's now 2pm UK and dinner is calling 

[thndr143]

Let

[mudmanc4]

Let

[mudmanc4]

indeed you are true on that, the unatended file may be the clue , but notice the legit key is near the end of the install ,

after the the polling of the computer system , why is it not at the start of the install ?, belive me there is a reason , ?

as I said MS ain't stupid , , Bill needs tha cash $$$, if you beat the system Bro ,PM me 

BTW it's now 2pm UK and dinner is calling 

Roco my fine feathered UK friend, not trying to per say " beat " the system, just learning, yo u know ?  How was that dinner anyhow, what do you UK'ers eat over there for dinner anyway ?

[thndr143]

Let

[mudmanc4]

And I appreciate that you did that thndr143, thank you 

[Roco]

Hmmm , I think , pot calling the kettle black.? I saw your starter post back in 2006

as I said "done with this "  and no reply  truly  from me , I guess I saw the forum as being more than this ,  my bad I guess , I won't reply or make the same mistake again ,

Regards

Roco ........UK

[tdawnaz]

just an fyi...the owner of this site has asked us to remind our members as need be...to give credit where credit is due...meaning if another site or author is being quoted that source needs stated...not necessarily for legalities usually just out of respect...

there was no disrespect intended toward anyone...

having said that...carry on

[mudmanc4]

Hmmm , I think , pot calling the kettle black.? I saw your starter post back in 2006

as I said "done with this "  and no reply  truly  from me , I guess I saw the forum as being more than this ,  my bad I guess , I won't reply or make the same mistake again ,

Regards

Roco ........UK

May i ask what this post means ?

just an fyi...the owner of this site has asked us to remind our members as need be...to give credit where credit is due...meaning if another site or author is being quoted that source needs stated...not necessarily for legalities usually just out of respect...

there was no disrespect intended toward anyone...

having said that...carry on

Zacly 

[Roco]

May i ask what this post means ?  Zacly

I would have rather talked this out in P.M. but as you are asking I will reply ,

you asked in the help thread , "how to find the lost key , was it lost ? ,I see no explanation from you how you subsequently found it .

several members of the forum took interest in this topic , me included , personaly I spent about 5 hours trying to find the answer ,

I did a back up and reloaded a spare computer , and found that indeed what looked like the key didn't work , so I searched on  google , and found a word perfect post on another forum,from back in 06 ,but then I ain't no Geek of Geeks ,

then thndr143  posted a further clue , and he was right ,

Let

[mudmanc4]

I would have rather talked this out in P.M. but as you are asking I will reply ,

you asked in the help thread , "how to find the lost key , was it lost ? ,I see no explanation from you how you subsequently found it .

several members of the forum took interest in this topic , me included , personaly I spent about 5 hours trying to find the answer ,

I did a back up and reloaded a spare computer , and found that indeed what looked like the key didn't work , so I searched on  google , and found a word perfect post on another forum,from back in 06 ,but then I ain't no Geek of Geeks ,

then thndr143  posted a further clue , and he was right , thndr143 is a member with 36 post to his credit

you then came back , ranting on about quotations ,

hence , my "pot calling the kettle  black"

he did say "just passing the message on " but if you need to be pendantic he didn't use quotation marks 

to get back on topic ,as I am still none the wiser "is the key on the disk  if not how did you overcome the problem ?"

BTW,

sure this has irritated me , it was in the help topic , and I took the time in my own small way, to try and find the answer, something I won't do again ,

well I am done letting of steam ,

Regards Roco ,

,

Sorry this thread irritated you so much Roco, I'll let this go cause I don't see this going anywhere ,( nor do I understand why you worked yourself over ) , or what the kettle being black has anything to do with the question) or having anything to do with what the thread is about. 

The key was found in the woods nearby the office where the computer was stolen, on the side of the machine where someone dropped so many things , they must have been planning to come back and get it.

But the question still remains, as to the exact whereabouts of the key (in any MS installation disk) . MS did say however that there was nothing wrong with me looking for it, they actually said something to the d=effect of, "good luck with that one "  :haha: So my quest stil stands, when I get a few free minutes, I look around, see what I can see, but I haven't totally as I had thought earlier, proven thats something was the key because of the severity of the encryption.

[tdawnaz]

oh my

[coknuck]

oh my

oh my

[mudmanc4]

Lions and tigers and bears.......

oh my

Lions and tigers and bears...

oh my

  :haha: :haha:

[tdawnaz]

damnit mud...i was gonna do that...i scroll down and there u stole my post

[Roco]

Nah , just a minor skirmish between the eagle and the unicorn ,

[tdawnaz]

huh??

[Roco]

huh??

Err,  it's a peace offering ?, the American Eagle and the Pagan Brit Unicorn ,and still part of our Royal crest ,

for my point, Mudmanc an me disagree at times , I guess it's a heritage thing ,maybe I see insults where they ain' intended ,

and same for Mudmanc , ? either way he will always have my respect , I hope he sees it the same way ,

Roco,

BTW , back on topic, I am sure the key isn't on the disk,  a limited is , but for valdation the full Lic key is needed

I have legit XP home and Pro , I always write the key on the disk ,it's normaly on the folder or box , and easy lost that way

I do that out of habit on all programs that require a licence key ,

I have Xp home that I dont use ,I put it on a spare computer a year or so back , got it validated , then forgot about the computer

( I scraped it for the parts , last year I put the XP home on my laptop, and it validated online OK , aparently there is a 180 day limit on the validation, I reloaded the laptop with M.E and gave it away , that was a year back, now I have a spare computer that is good for XP home  and I am about to upgrade it  to my X-p home disk, I just read  you can only do this online so many times ?

anyone any thoughts on the 180 days and limited # of times for a online validation , b4 I start ,

[mudmanc4]

First have a beer, thenrealise that you can only activate as you saty so many times, thy eare stingy strange like that, all you have to do  is call them , and go through there little hoop, then you'll be fine.

As far as the key not being on the disk, which one, there's a couple, one to allow yo uto complete the installation, and then there's the one that MS checks to see if the OS has been installed, and in use on how many machines compared the the licence that has been purchased with the disk.

Think about this for a second. 

Or better yet, do it !  Install the OS, it will ask you for an installation key, that's on the side of the machine ( if put there) or on the package when purchased, now you have to punch this key in to get any further, keeping in mind , the machine is not connected to the internet.

You punch in the key, so, if it weren't on the disk, then how could it possibly know if you typed in the correct sequence of digits and letters ? It can't.

When you activate, all it does is check that key, to see , as I said before, hoe many times it has been activated.

To me, there's nothing to figure out. Nothing to ponder. it's basic thinking. But then again, I never did think like most other people.