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How to find out who the OS is licensed to

I have a new client that has 2 servers running W2K3. I don't see any retail boxes for the OS or any licensing info. How can I find out if the licenses are legit & who they're registered to?

thanks

Jason Watkins

There are numerous ways and programs to do this, but one of the most efficient ways is through a program called "Belarc Advisior". An evaluation version will tell you many pieces of information about the sever.

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caddlady

Ask the client.

menreeq

ASKER

Caddlady, thanks for your insight. Please don't bother helping.

menreeq

ASKER

Firebar, thanks - Belarc does provide me w/ the keys but I need to know who the OS is registered to. I'm basically trying to figure out if the license is legit and registered to the client. The client has gone through some personel changes and nobody seems to know. Any ideas?

Jason Watkins

The system properties and computer information section of the "Help and Support" applet usually give this information, but only if it was entered during setup. You could open up IE and go to the help section and see if there is an option called "Is this copy of Windows legal?", like in Windows XP. This may inadvertantly raise an unwanted flag between your organization and Microsoft, but this sounds like what you are trying to find out.

Another program called "RegScrub XP" has an option to change the registered owner of Windows. It cannot do this without of course finding the current owner. RegScrub is a registry scrubber, and I do not recommend running on a server, but it is safe enough t odeduce the info you are looking for.

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caddlady

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caddlady

More great information:

http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?ln=en-us&x=10&y=11&prid=5827&gprid=36987

menreeq

ASKER

Thanks caddlady - sorry for the misunderstanding. I will award you the points.