Tech Tip: Find your Windows product key
Lost the product key that comes with your Windows installation disk? Not to worry – it is lurking deep inside Windows.
From your Start menu, choose Run, then type regedit in the box and click OK.
For Windows 95
– navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion and look for an entry in the right pane called ProductId.
In Windows 98 and ME
– navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion and look for an entry called ProductKey.
In Windows 2000 and XP
– there are in fact two entries, both called ProductKey. One’s under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion, and the other is in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWinNTCurrentVersion.
Your product key is a 25-digit number.
Thanks to Mike Soma for the tip!