Recovering Product Keys for Windows 7

Try:

(1) Belarc Advisor:  < http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html >

(2) The Magical Jelly Bean: < http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/ >

(3) Other: < http://pcsupport.about.com/od/productkeysactivation/tp/topkeyfinder.htm >

Yeah, Magical Jelly Bean is my favorite.

I appreciate the suggestions, but my question isn't regarding what software to use, it's why the software didn't work the same on both machines.

No one can answer that, truly.

What's the problem you are having?

If one of the systems has a volume license key, that would explain it.    VLKs are stored differently (and encrypted), so cannot be extracted by the programs that otherwise can tell you the key.     This is true not only for Windows, but also for Office.

I suspect the service pack could be a culprit. Both machines were installed with valid MSDN copies of Windows 7 (using different product keys). The only AV I'm running on both machines is MSE. I was primarily curious if the difference in hardware played any part in this (though I wouldn't have expected it to).

Most probable: What "Garycase" said regarding VL keys.  Hardware differences? No.

I believe MSDN license are protected in the same way as VLKs ... although that wouldn't explain why you were able to recover one of them.    Are you sure the recovered one was an MSDN key?   [Check it against you list of MSDN keys]

For a while, the ability to extract Win7/8 and Office 2010 keys was removed from the free version of 'Magical Jellybean' when it was purchased by its current owners, to push people to its paid version (RecoverKeys), and that's why Enchanted Keyfinder was developed.

Perhaps you used different versions of Jellybean (i.e. one using the pre-buyout or very-newest versions, and the one using a version with the Win7 extract ability removed) on the 2 different machines. (?)

@Darr247

Nah, I was doing this at the same time, so it was the same version of the software (it may have been MJ; I cannot rememeber).

@garycase

I might have misspoken. The software was acquired through the MSDNAA (MSDN Academic Alliance). I'm not sure if this is the same (or governed the same) as the MSDN that regular MS customers would use. I am no longer a student, so I do not have access to the site that lists out the product keys I was assigned. This is why I was attempting to use the key recovery tools.

> Nah, I was doing this at the same time,

If you were using it from a USB stick, then it wasn't the current Magical JellyBean, as running 'portable' is another function removed from the free version when it was purchased by the current owners.

For what it's worth, most jobs using any kind of skills will require you to be a "student" for the rest of your career; in most professions you'll spend far-more time learning new things during the next 25 years or so than you did prior to getting a degree.

Do you see anything in the output from your Keyfinder?

It's probably worth checking if the installation media for the two machines was the same.  I'm suspecting not as you should see the same behaviour with the Keyfinder.  With VL or Server Activation you should just get a series of X's

Try Microsoft's MGADiag tool to identify the ProductID details (These are separate from the Activation Key)
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012


Incidentally, students and faculty can retain all MDSN AA software (now called Developer AA) installed on their machines even after students graduate or when faculty members stop teaching.

I don't know whether the MSDNAA keys are treated as VLKs or not with regard to internal encryption -- but if the better key recovery utilities can't recover the key, that's the issue.

If that's the case, there's nothing I'm aware of that can recover the key [This question has been asked several times regarding VLK keys -- and nobody has found a utility that can recover them in any of those cases].

@Darr247

No, I wasn't running from a USB. I mean that I downloaded the same file from the same location onto both computers.

For what it's worth, most jobs using any kind of skills will require you to be a "student" for the rest of your career;

You're preaching to the choir, my friend  ;-)

@MASQUERAID

AFAIR, I used the same CD (.iso) to install both machines. The desktop did recover the key; the laptop returned all X's.

@garycase

Understood. My machines were starting to get sluggish, so I was contemplating a full reinstall. Of course, you need CD keys for that! They're not unusable, so I may just ride it out until I get new machines.

The service pack issue, which I cannot confirm as of now, seems the most logical culprit. C'est la vie, I suppose.