Windows 7 Keycode

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Hello all.

I recently performed a Fred Langa no reformat reinstall of Win 7 Prof 64 bit after first using Magical Jelly Bean to ascertain my keycode. Upon completion of the reinstallation I attempted to activate Windows using the keycode.
Activation was refused. A MS person told me that my keycode was invalid. I accepted that because I cannot remember how I got my cooy of Win 7. So I purchased a new copy of the software, with keycode and downloaded, installed, and successfully activated it.

MS is happy. I am happy. However, Magical Jelly bean keyfinder reports that my keycode is “BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB”. I downloaded a different keyfinder and ran it, with the same result.

J now wonder what will happen if I find the need to do another reinstal in the future.

I would appreciate any suggestions.

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Avoid the problem by cloning or imaging your hard drive to an external hard drive so you have a full backup of your OS in a working state.

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Avoid the problem by cloning or imaging your hard drive to an external hard drive so you have a full backup of your OS in a working state.

Yeah,thank you Calimanco!

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I have windows 8.1 and have reinstall
Just use the same Windows using the same key code.
I did buy windows 8.1 for each CPU and did not use on any other CPU
I have use windows 2000 on more than one CPU and was warn of try to use windows 8.1 more than one CPU

Dave

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Thank you Dave!

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See if Speccy http://www.piriform.com/speccy shows the correct key. I never had good luck with Magic jellybean.
Joe

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See if Speccy http://www.piriform.com/speccy shows the correct key. I never had good luck with Magic jellybean.
Joe

Joe S – Never heard of speccy, so I gave it a go. It’s very impressive, but it didn’t come up with the keycode. I appreciate your input – thank you!

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Joe S – Never heard of speccy, so I gave it a go. It’s very impressive, but it didn’t come up with the keycode. I appreciate your input – thank you!

In Speccy, expand Operating System and it should be listed as Serial Number at the top of the page – but I prefer Belarc Advisor for product keys.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

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…Magical Jelly bean keyfinder reports that my keycode is “BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB”. I downloaded a different keyfinder and ran it, with the same result…

Try ProduKey.

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Thank you Coochin. The good news is that Produkey found a Windows product key.
The bad news is that it is NOT the product key I used to activate. The sad news is that I’m now more confused than ever. Strangely enugh, Belarc will show only the last five digits of the code, and they match the code I entered. I think I’ll let sleeping dogs lie.

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Thank you Coochin. The good news is that Produkey found a Windows product key.
The bad news is that it is NOT the product key I used to activate…

That’s odd.

I’ve used ProduKey many times since sometime in 2006; mostly on XP, but also several times on Win7.

Maybe if you create a system image, then go to Control Panel/System, in the “Windows activation” section (at the bottom) there should a “ask for genuine Microsoft software” logo, and a “Change product key” link. You could try the new product key you have and see what it does (worst case you can always restore the image).

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Thanks again Coochin – I do a system image each Monday, so I will try it then.

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I have had bizarre results from Magic Jellybean, also.

Somewhere I found this VBS script (priductley.vbs) that parses and decodes the stored registry value.   (See below.)  It has worked correctly for me.

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
MsgBox ConvertToKey(WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DigitalProductId"))

Function ConvertToKey(Key)
Const KeyOffset = 52
i = 28
Chars = "BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789"
Do
Cur = 0
x = 14
Do
Cur = Cur * 256
Cur = Key(x + KeyOffset) + Cur
Key(x + KeyOffset) = (Cur \ 24) And 255
Cur = Cur Mod 24
x = x -1
Loop While x >= 0
i = i -1
KeyOutput = Mid(Chars, Cur + 1, 1) & KeyOutput
If (((29 - i) Mod 6) = 0) And (i <> -1) Then
i = i -1
KeyOutput = "-" & KeyOutput
End If
Loop While i >= 0
ConvertToKey = KeyOutput
End Function

[Moderator edit] added code to a code block to preserve quotes. You can now copy/paste directly.

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Tested VBS provided by @Tem. Doesn’t give the right value on my 8.1 box, but Belarc Advisor free does.

cheers, Paul

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BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB is a “by design” response when Windows is activated using a MAK (volume licence) key. It’s done to prevent unauthorised use of the keys, e.g. by a staff member running a key finder tool on their work laptop.

1 user thanked author for this post.

wavy

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