Product Key Number

How to See Product Key in Vista​


information   Information
The product key number is a sequence of 25 letters and numbers. The number is divided into 5 groups of 5 characters each. During Vista installation, you must enter the product key number to activate Vista.

This will show you how to find the product key number from a Windows sticker, or if you lost the product key and need to get it from within your installed Vista.

Note   Note

  • If you reinstalled Vista or did not activate or type in the product key number after you installed Vista the first time, then the program in this tutorial will not be able to show you the number from within Vista since you did not enter it.
  • A Express or Retail Vista can be installed on any one computer at a time for as many times as you like. A OEM Vista may only be able to be installed on the exact same computer as many times as you like. The product key number for the Vista 32 bit version is the same one for it's 64 bit version. You can only have the Product Key activated on one computer and version of 32 bit or 64 bit Vista at a time. If you had the product key activated on one computer and made some hardware changes to it (EX: Motherboard) or decided to use it on another computer, then you will have to remove it from the old computer and do a phone activation.
  • You can usually find the product key on the back of a OEM desktop computer, on the bottom of a laptop computer, or on the retail installation disc holder inside the Vista package. Look for a sticker that looks like one of these below.
  • For the license terms for Vista, see: Microsoft: License Terms for Software Licensed from Microsoft
Tip   Tip
You can tell if you have a OEM or Retail Vista by looking at the product key number. x = a random number or letter
  • OEM - xxxxx-oemxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
    NOTE: Will also include OEM on the Vista Product Key Stickers. See examples below.
  • Retail - xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
warning   Warning
The Product ID number displayed here in Vista is not your Product Key number.NOTE: To see this, right click Computer (in Start menu) and click on Properties; or open the Control Panel (Classic View) and click System. Scroll to the bottom.
Activated.jpg​
​





OPTION ONE
Find Vista Product Key Number on Product Key Sticker

​
1. For a OEM Product Key on COA Sticker​
NOTE: These will be store bought computers that came with Windows 7 preinstalled on them. The product key sticker will usually be on the back of a desktop, and on the bottom or under the battery of a laptop and notebook. The sticker key number may be different than the key number reported in one of the programs below. If so, the key number on the sticker is the one that's unique to your computer, and that's the one you'll need to input should you ever clean install Windows. The different extracted key is just a master key used at the OEM factory.​
​
COA.jpg​
​
OEM.jpg​

​
2. For a Retail Product Key on COA Sticker​
NOTE: These will be computers that a retail copy of Windows 7 has been installed on. The product key sticker will be in the included paperwork in the retail Windows 7 box.​
​
Retail.jpg​
​






OPTION TWO
To Use "Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder" to See Product Key Number in Vista


Note   Note
This option shows you how to use the free program Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder to see what the product key number is from within a Windows 7 that it has already been entered in (ex: activated). Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder will not show the product key number for Windows 7 Enterprise though.

​
1. Download and run the free Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder program towards the bottom of the link.​
​
2. In the left pane, click on Windows 7 (your edition). You will see CD Key in the right pane displaying the Windows 7 product key number.​
​
Magical_Jelly_Bean.jpg​
​




OPTION THREE
To Use "Speccy" to See Product Key Number in Vista


Note   Note
This option shows you how to use the free program Speccy to see what the product key number is from within a Windows 7 that it has already been entered in (ex: activated). Speccy will not show the product key number for Windows 7 Enterprise though.

​
1. Download, install, and run the free Speccy program.​
​
2. In the left pane, click on Operating System. In the right pane, you will see the product key number to the right of Serial Number.​
​
Speccy.JPG​
​




OPTION FOUR
To Use "ProduKey" to See Product Key Number in Vista


Note   Note
This option shows you how to use the free program ProduKey to see what the product key number is from within a Windows 7 that it has already been entered in (ex: activated). ProduKey will not show the product key number for Windows 7 Enterprise though.

​
1. Download, extract, and run the free ProduKey program.​
​
2. You will now see Windows product key listed.​
​
ProduKey.jpg​
​




OPTION FIVE
To Use a VBS Download to See Product Key Number in Vista

Note   Note
This option was provided by our member Konst at this link.

There you can see that the encrypted key is stored in registry key:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DigitalProductId
at Offset = 52

And that the key only includes this letters and numbers
BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789
And no "AEILNOSUZ015 allowed.


​
1. Click on the Download button below to download the file below.​
​
See_Windows_Product_Key.vbs​
​
download​
​

2. Save the VBS file to your desktop, run it, and approve running it.​
NOTE: The .vbs file does not install anything on your computer. You can also right click on the .vbs file and click on Edit to see what the script contains.​
​
3. You will now get a pop-up dialog box displaying the product key number used to activate your current Windows installation. Click on OK to close the pop-up when ready. (see screenshot below)​
​
VBS-example.jpg​
​




OPTION SIX
To Use "Belarc Advisor" to Find Product Key in Vista


Note   Note
You must be signed in as an administrator to run this program. This program will not find the product key of Windows 7 Enterprise since it's a volume license.


1. If you have not already, download and install the free Belarc Advisor program.

2. Run the program. When it displays the results in your default web browser, scroll down until you see your Windows 8 product key like below.
​
Belarc_Advisor.jpg​
​


That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

 

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Click to expand...

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Core 2 Duo E8400
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus
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    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS Silent EN8800GT (Nvidia)
    Hard Drives
    2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 750GB SATA2
    1x Maxtor 160GB SATA
Thank you Bad_the_ba,

Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Hi Shawn,

McAfee site advisor gives the download link in the tutorial a red light.

http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/rj...te=false&aff_id=0&locale=en-gb&os_ver=6.0.1.0

Ashampoo WinOptimser will display product key and contains a lot more useful tools. It's also free, just check get product key when you run it, and it takes to their site for a free key.

Ashampoo WinOptimizer 4 - Downloads - freeware, shareware, software trials, evaluation - Atomic v2.6 - Maximum Power Computing - www.atomicmpc.com.au


SIW2
 
Last edited:

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Vista
    CPU
    Intel E8400
    Motherboard
    ASRock1333-GLAN R2.0
    Memory
    4gb DDR2 800
    Graphics Card(s)
    nvidia 9500GT 1gb
  • Operating System
    win7/vista
    CPU
    intel i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    ballistix 2x8gb 3200
Hi SIW2,

I do not know about the other programs or links from that site, but this program is safe. I have ran a scan on both downloads with Avast, and I have had no alerts on them. A lot of other popular sites recommends this program as well.

Vista Product Key Viewer - Google Search

Thank you for bringing this up though.

Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Hi Shawn,

Just thought I'd better mention it in case someone visited the site and got alarmed by McAfee.

You won't be surprised to learn I use SIW to reveal my product and license keys, and a lot more besides. It's a small 1.5mb executable - you might like to check it out if you don't already know the program, it's also free.

SIW | System Information for Windows by Gabriel Topala


Thanks

SIW2
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Vista
    CPU
    Intel E8400
    Motherboard
    ASRock1333-GLAN R2.0
    Memory
    4gb DDR2 800
    Graphics Card(s)
    nvidia 9500GT 1gb
  • Operating System
    win7/vista
    CPU
    intel i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    ballistix 2x8gb 3200
Thank you SIW. I like that program better. The tutorial has been updated for it instead.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Brink said:
Thank you SIW. I like that program better. The tutorial has been updated for it instead.
Click to expand...



May I ask a quick question?

I have a laptop with a manufactured Vista OEM product key on the bottom of it. I just loaded the ISO vista sp2 on it that I downloaded from this website. It seemed to work. My question is this: Is there a limited number of times that I can reinstall (clean) this ISO on this laptop or would I be able to do a complete clean (reformatting all drives) 10 times a day if I felt so inclined to do so? In other words, would I be able to use my product key an unlimited amount of times as long as I use it on this same laptop?

Whew, this sounds confusing even when I read it.

Thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    gateway mt6821
Hello,

You could activate with your OEM key only on that specific laptop as long as it's only activated on one Windows installation and not multiple installations.

If you activate to many times in a recent amount of time, then it may flag it to where you would have to activate by phone.

Hope this helps, :)
Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Brink said:
Hello,

You could activate with your OEM key only on that specific laptop as long as it's only activated on one Windows installation and not multiple installations.

If you activate to many times in a recent amount of time, then it may flag it to where you would have to activate by phone.

Hope this helps, :)
Shawn
Click to expand...

Ok thanks, would twice in one day be allowed or should I wait several days before trying again?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    gateway mt6821
That should be fine, but if done to often could trigger having to activate by phone.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
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