It doesn't seem like you read all of my post!
Dells have two types of Product Keys.
The generic Product Key (shared by thousands of other Dells) is the one
that is on your hard drive. If you intend to reinstall Windows and
choose to use a non-Dell XP installation CD, then that product key is of
no use to you. You would have to use the key that is on the COA sticker.
That key will *not* be on your hard drive currently.
However, if you were to reinstall Windows using a non-Dell XP
installation CD, then the key on your sticker will ultimately match the
one on the hard drive.
You cannot view the product key on the hard drive unless you use a
program like Belarc Advisor or Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder. Links:
http://www.belarc.com/
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/
If you do not have malware on your PC and if your anti-malware program
is warning you that these programs contain malware, that would be a
false positive and you can ignore it. If you are unable to install
either program, then surely there is something wrong with your system.
This leads us to the next question:
What specifically is wrong with your system?
If you choose to reinstall Windows using a Dell-branded XP installation
CD (Hopefully you have one! Do you?), then you don't even NEED to enter
a Product Key.
Hopefully, this explanation has cleared this up for you.
24ggirl wrote:
> Do you happen to know where I can look in my computer for the key code
> manually besides the sticker that's on there. Is it in the registry
> and if so how do I get to it and look at it myself?
>
> "24ggirl" wrote:
>
>> Thanks for this. I'll let you know if I need anything else.
>> Appreciate it.
>>
>> "Daave" wrote:
>>
>>> 24ggirl wrote:
>>>> I have this Dell desktop computer with Windows XP professional on
>>>> there and was just wondering if you can please tell me where I
>>>> would look to find the key code. I always wondered where it would
>>>> be stored on a computer. Would that be stored in the registry and
>>>> if so how would I get to it? Thank you!
>>>
>>> Dells come with two product keys:
>>>
>>> -- a unique one that represents your license which can be found on
>>> your Certificate of Authenticity (COA) sticker, which is probably
>>> on the side of your desktop PC
>>>
>>> -- and a generic one that is found on both the Dell-branded XP
>>> installation CD that may have come with your PC *and* on your hard
>>> drive if use a program like Belarc Advisor of Magical Jellybean
>>> Finder.
>>>
>>> If you reinstall XP on your Dell *and* use the Dell-branded
>>> installation CD, there is no need to enter a Product Key at all
>>> because of the System-Locked Preinstallation (SLP) method that is
>>> used.
>>>
>>>
>>> .