Need to extract Word 2000 serial/Product Key before reinstall of Win98SE -I have original disk and Original System; what do I need to extract it?

Yes, it would be very interesting to see the results when installed on another computer.  It would also be very interesting to use one of those utility programs which intercepts the setup and tracks file, folder and registry additions, deletions, or modifications for later analysis.  I used to use a program named WinDelete (version '97) for this purpose, and latterly used another named InstallWatch.

Actually, I believe I HAVE a way that you MIGHT be able to find your CD-Key, but it all depends on HOW the application's setup was run from CD.  Here's what I have discovered from the setup log files created on different Win98se computers on which I ran Office 2000 Premium setup using the same CD, but using different methods.  I do realise that your CD is only MS Word, but I think there may be a lot in common with the setup processes and the creation of a log file.

Method 1
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I created a "transform" file (*.MST) using the Office 2000 Custom Setup Wizard and burned a new CD that ran a completely unattended installation without any user input. For more info about this, see here:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/assistance/HA011380251033.aspx
http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/assistance/HA011380261033.aspx
http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/assistance/HA011380271033.aspx
Basically, you run the "custwiz.exe" program, tell it to load DATA1.MSI from the CD, and then go through the sections and tick boxes to choose how you want the installation to proceed.  You then modify the setup.ini from the root of the Office CD and add a line that tells it to use the *.mst file that you created.  Additionally, you can control the level of logging and choose something other than the default name for the logfiles that the Office Setup creates.

Unlike a Windows XP setup "answer file" or a Win9x "msbatch.inf" file, you cannot add the CD-Key to the *.MST file and have it enter this without any user interaction.

In this scenario, having installed Office 2000 from my new custom CD, I was prompted for the CD-Key (after a very short delay) on opeing the first of the Office Applications. This is by design, because this method is really intended for doing exactly the same setup on multiple computers, but which require different CD-Keys.

Because the Office 2000 setup uses an *.MSI file (DATA1.MSI) as the setup data source, it is installed by the "Windows Installer" (MSIEXEC.EXE).  The LogFiles created by this installation (I THINK in the Windows folder, but maybe in the root of C:), were named:
"Office2K_Premium_Setup_CD1_(*).txt" (as I set it in "setup.ini")
and
"Office2K_Premium_Setup_(*)_MsiExec.txt"

where the * is an automatically assigned 4-digit number, eg. (0002).

The default logfiles would probably have been
"Office 2000 <Version> Setup(*).txt"
and
Office 2000 <Version> Setup(*) MSiExec.txt"

Now, a fully automated setup like this DOES NOT prompt for the CD-Key during setup, and therefore neither of the  logfiles save any user input, including the typing in of the CD-Key as would be the case during a standard attended setup.

If YOUR Word CD performed some sort of semi-automated installation, where either the CD-Key was inserted without user intervention, or where you had to insert it on forst run, then my findings unfortunately WILL NOT help you.

Method 2
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This IS the method that may allow you to retrieve the CD-Key.  In a standard setup from CD, depending on how verbose setup.ini instructs it to write the logfile, IT SHOULD capture the user-input of the CD-Key.  In fact, I have saved the setup logs from the original installation of my Office 2000 install, and also the ones created again when I had to reinstall it:

Office 2000 Premium Setup(0002).txt
Office 2000 Premium Setup(0002)_MsiExec.txt
Office 2000 Premium Setup(0004).txt
Office 2000 Premium Setup(0004)_MsiExec.txt

The Setup(0002)_MsiExec.txt log files are much more comprehensive than the basic Setup(0002).txt ones, and I I found my originally entered CD-Key lurking DEEP within it.

I suggest that you open setup.ini in the root of the Word install CD and see if you can determine the name of the logfile that it would have created.  It would normally be at the end under a [Logging] section header something like this:

[Logging]
; a lot of commented-out
; lines here explaining the
; switches used with the
; line that begins with
; "Type=.
;
Type=ficewarmup+
Template=Office 2000 Premium Setup(*).txt

Yours would obviously refer to MS Word, which is why I am suggesting that you look here first.  IF there is a semi-colon in front of the "Template=" line AND the "Type=" lines, then the installation WAS NOT LOGGED.

OK, so do a search for files named    *setup(*.txt  
The absence of a space between "setup" and the opening bracket would find the log files IF they exist in that format.

Alternatively, although it WILL take a long time, is to search for files "Containing Text"  and specify    PIDKEY

IF you manage to find a setup logfile (the "Setup(000x)_MsiExec.txt" one), then you have a lot of scrolling to do after it opens in Wordpad, so use the word search for PIDKEY.

Here's an example of the lines that are relevant (where the x's shown below replace the real numbers and letters for obvious reasons):

Property(C): PIDKEY = ?????????????????????????
Property(C): USERINITIALS = BD
Property(C): USERNAME = Bill DL
Property(C): ProductID = 50106-xxx-xxxxxx-xxxxx
Property(C): PIDTemplate = 50106<````=````=````=````=`````>@@@@@

Your CD-Key should be the one against PIDKEY, but is shown without the hyphens to group each of the 5 characters.  Convert it to PIDKEY = ?????-?????-?????-?????-?????

The "user-related" lines are obvious.

The PIDTemplate line seems to establish the accepted format of the "ProductID", and I have shown the digits in front of the < because this appears to be how the PrductID relates to the CD-Key.  The 5 x @'s are probably random.

I expected the "ProductID" line to be that which shows in your registry under the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Registration\ProductID
but it is not.  This may have been confused because I installed MS Publisher (not on the "premium" version) from a "Small Business Edition"?? Version, and that may be the ProductID from that install.  Anyway, you don't need that.  The value against "PIDKEY" is what you are looking for.

I am still trying to ascertain the significance of values logged against other lines, namely
Property(C): DigitalProductID = very long string of continuous letters and digits
Property(C): PackageCode = {xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}
Property(C): ProductState = 5
Property(C): ProductToBeRegistered = 1
Property(C): RUNONCEENTRY = string of 31 letters and digits
but that is another story :-)

I also found the following references, after discovering the contents of my logfiles and searching google:

--------------------------------------------
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=842566
Method of running setup from a command that logs installation to C:\Install.txt and allows you to specify the CD-Key so that it doesn't have to be entered manually:

setup.exe /L*V C:\install.txt PIDKEY=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx /qb

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I forgot to copy the url's to the following:

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Adding the CD-Key to setup.ini to do the same as the above.
Modify setup.ini from the original CD as follows, then add it to the files to burn to a new CD:

USERNAME=Your Name
PIDKEY=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Don't include the hyphens that group the CD-Key numbers in 5's.
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Specify the PIDKEY in a BATCH File (SETUP.BAT) to run setup (ie. it passes that to setup as a parameter):

setup.exe TRANSFORMS=C:\Options\Moss\Setup.MST PIDKEY="putcdkeyhere"

Before I added the PIDKEY= line in the setup.bat file, I was prompted for the CD Key after opening Office, Word, Excel, or Powerpoint.  The PIDKEY= line run from a batch file resolved this issue.
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Hopefully you will find this information useful, but as I said - it all depends on HOW the installation was originally done.

Bill