Recovering a Windows XP License key

Posted by Fortyrunner on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Fortyrunner
Published on 2009-08-30T12:37:30Z Indexed on 2010/05/22 1:32 UTC
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windows-xp

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license

I threw out a Windows XP machine a while ago (the motherboard failed). I kept the hard drive and the XP installation media.

Problem is the license key was on a sticker on the machine - doh! The original manufacturer has gone bust (Evesham) and I suspect that Microsoft will be of little help.

Is there any easy way to get the license key off the hard disk? Can I just find the file with the registry data in it and get the key using a hex editor?

I really need a spare XP key for use in a Windows VM.

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