Retreiving 95's Prod.ID# in DOS (W95)

[Mocha]

Hi,

Is there a way to retreive Win95's Product ID# in DOS? I know there is for 98, but that's a Key. I'd just like to know, if it's possible.

Thanks,
Carol

[BertImmenschuh]

Carol, would it work using this batch file
C:\Windows\Command\Find /I "ProductKey" C:\Windows\System.dat"
but changing the ProductKey to ProductID ? I don't have a Win95 up just now to check but will have in a couple of hours.

[reghakr]

Bert's right, I looked over my notes and this is the command according to Doug Knox:

Finding the CD (Product) Key from DOS

If you can't boot into Windows at all, then you can boot with a Startup Disk (CD support is not required) or into Command Mode Only and type the following command:

For 95:

C:\Windows\Command\Find /I "ProductId" c:\windows\system.dat

The first line of the screen dump will look like this:

ProductKeyXXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX where the X's are your actual CD Key.

This page last updated 08/26/2001 16:57
All material © 2001 - Doug Knox

reghakr

[Mocha]

Thank you Bert and Reghakr,

Someone said they'd tried substituting ID for Key in that command. It turned up all kinds of product ID's, since all these other programs have ID's, also??

I'll try it sometime myself.

Carol

[Mocha]

Bert,

I was wondering if you happened to check that out? Not that you need to, it's just a curious thought.

I would think there's gotta be a way, but when I try it, I don't get the OS product ID. Instead a list of devices shows up, such as secondary IDE controller, hard disk, CDRom and a lot of info. on each one.

At the top of the list, I'm not sure what that's all about. It shows BBND-Partner IDQwest-Digital product ID, etc. Qwest it the name of my ISP! Strange.........

Carol

[BertImmenschuh]

No, I haven't tried it yet. I use a DOS program called DOS Manager to look in the system.dat and many other files.

[reghakr]

Mocha,

Regarding your question, you are probably right, that's why Doug Knox noted the ProductKey would look like this:
XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX where the X's are your actual CD Key.

If i did my Win98 in DOS, I would have two entries as I have two keys with ProductKey as the name.

As to why yours are scrambled, no idea.

reghakr

[Mocha]

Reghakr,

Well, I wouldn't call it scrambled; actually it displayed the info. very nicely. :) It displayed those four items with all kinds of info. on each...filled the screen.

There was a 20 character ID listed at the top by that BBND, whatever that's referring to. (95 is 20 characters) Interesting!

Carol

[reghakr]

Carol,

That's good then. The 20 digit number may be an OEM install. I think the retail boxed versions are the ones with 25 digits.

Jim

[Mocha]

It's not the right number, though! When I right click MY PC, AND in the registry...it's not the same, totally different. In fact, OEM is included in the number. Yes, I do have an OEM version.

Btw, what's interesting is that Partner ID QWest is the one with that 20 character number. Like I said Qwest is my ISP???

Carol

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Mocha on 05/16/02 17:14.</FONT></P>

[BertImmenschuh]

There is a difference between Win95 and Win98 in the CD Key. And there's at least 2 differences in the Win95 CD Key.

The OEM version of Win95 uses a scheme of xxxxx-OEM-xxxxxxx-xxxxx.
The retail uses xxx-xxxxxxx, as does the retail upgrade.

Right-click My Computer in Win95, Properties, and look at the registration number, if it DOES NOT have OEM in it, it is a retail version and the CD Key will usually be the xxx-xxxxxxx in the middle. Only thing it doesn't tell is if it is full version or upgrade.

Office 97 uses either the OEM scheme or xxx-xxxxxxx or xxxx-xxxxxxx scheme.

All of Win98/ME/2000/XP and Office 2000/XP use the 5-digit, 5-group scheme.

The kicker to all this? There may be another scheme or two floating around.

[Mocha]

Bert,

We'll just leave this as a mystery. Maybe it's not possible with an OEM version, or needs a different approach. Who knows......

Carol

[Nana]

Hello everyone,
I'm here catching up on my reading & noticed that you had said:

"All of Win98/ME/2000/XP and Office 2000/XP use the 5-digit, 5-group scheme."

I have an OEM version of WinMe (not an upgrade) & the Key/ID, when I right click My Computer, is in this format:

xxxxx-OEM-xxxxxxx-xxxxx

But, when I used Doug Knox's VBS programme to find my WinMe product key/ID, it came up in this format:

XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

The two sets of numbers/letters are about as different as one could find. I'm obviously being really dense here, but what's going on? Are they both referring to my WinMe? If so, why the huge discrepancy?
This site is great! You answer questions in depth & with words that the newbie in me can understand.
Thank you.
Nana

[Mocha]

Hi Nana,

I'm not Bert, but it's only in Win95, that you can locate the product ID by right clicking My Computer.

In 98 and above, you have to locate it in the registry, and it's a Key rather than ID. I'm assuming it's the same in Me. So..that number you see in My PC isn't the Product Key.

Carol

[BertImmenschuh]

Right, that's exactly as it should be. The ProductKey/CDKey is only for installing. But it is kept in the registry. Win95 registrations could actually be used on other machines, maybe that's why Microsoft went to the 5/5 setup.

[Nana]

Mocha & Bert,
Thank you both for your speedy answers. My next question has to be - what's the number I saw on my System Properties when I right clicked My PC?

And, the number I retrieved using Doug Knox' VBS script - the 5/5 number - is that my Product Key/CD Key? If so, why doesn't it have OEM in it? My WinMe is OEM. It was installed by IBM when I bought the machine.

My next question is the biggie. what is the difference between 'Key' & 'ID'? Sorry about all these questions, but I'm thoroughly confused about these numbers now.

It seems every time I read a posting here, it starts me on a journey of my own where I learn something else new. It's a great trip, though!
Much appreciated,
Nana

[BertImmenschuh]

The WinME CD Key is the 5-digit 5-group item on the cover of the book or on the jewel case. When WinME installs, it creates the number you see in My Computer, Properties. The 5/5 number is REQUIRED to install Windows or sometimes re-installing. The OEM part may have been customized by IBM, they are allowed to do that because under the licensing arrangement with Microsoft, IBM supports the installation. All OEMs have similar agreements, sometimes Microsoft won't even talk with customers of the 'brands'.

The words ProductID and ProductKey mean the same thing but usage varies between versions of Windows.

[Nana]

Bert,
Thank you again for your help.
Re MS not talking to customers of the 'brands': I ran into that when my PC was under one week old. MS was very clear on that point. "Call IBM, we can't (won't) help you."
I guess MS would get more calls than they could manage if they answered every question, but it is their product for which they have been paid. It would be a computer query away to verify when the PC & OS were obtained by the caller (me), thus they would know if I was entitled to warranty coverage. Also, IBM offered only a 30 day warranty on the OS where, I think, MS offers 60 days to the direct purchaser of Windows. Hardly sporting of them, but we little guys can't fight city hall!
Thanks again,
Nana

[jackha]

I'm with Nana only now I'm realy confused I show Productid=XXXXX-OEM-XXXXXXX-XXXXX
Product key=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
running win98&gt; I know that this has nothing to do with the original question "win95" but while you're here,, "well you know" Oh another thing that I found out while trying to copy my reg. If I print the reg. the first page from the printer has all of the info. about my system on it sure saves a lot of time looking for it.. "oh yea you have to shut the printer off or it will be printing all day" Anyway I always thought that the prod.key was used to get the onto the computer so you could use the ProductId no. to regester it.. jackha

[james3mg]

and another "while I'm here"...

Any way to retrieve a forgotten key off a 98 install disk? I've managed to wipe out any place that would potentially have the key, so I can't install it again now. All these messages are (I think) pulling the info off the OS, any way to do the same off the CD itself?

[BertImmenschuh]

The only places for the key are in the registry or on the book/jewel case. It is not on the CD for obvious reasons.

[BertImmenschuh]

The Product Key or CD Key is only used for installing Windows, then Windows creates the number seen in System Properties. The Key is an encrypted code that is only recognized by the proper version of CD, i.e. the upgrade key can't be used for the full version, the OEM key can't be used on retail versions, etc. Win95 could actually be installed on a 2nd computer by using the number in System Properties.

The Key is not in WinXP registry, further preventing use by other computers.

[Mocha]

Bert,

I'm sorry I started this. /images/forums/icons/laugh.gif

Carol

[BertImmenschuh]

Don't be. There's a lot of information and no one can know it all. I was building computers back in the MS-DOS/Windows3.1 days and had a lot to learn when Win95 came out. Lots of changes and more to come.

I'm investigating a DOS thing: from the command prompt only on Win98, the Edit command seems to work on the registry when I copied system.dat to another place and removed the attributes. And Edit has a search facility. It worked once but I want to try some more. I have to be sure to use the Win98 version of Edit if I want it on a floppy because it does not need qbasic like the DOS 6.22 version does.