Find out product key for XP after activating Windows 7 upgrade

You upgraded from XP to 7? If so the only key your going to find is the 7 key. That is unless its saved in the old folder somewhere.
 
claptonman said:
Try Magic Jelly Bean, like he linked. It really is magic.

And you can download and install the windows 7 .ISOs straight from microsoft. They can be found here.

And you do not need the XP one anymore.
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I tried Jelly Bean and it was much better than the others. :) Only found my W7 key as expected but at least I am doubley sure that the key I had saved is correct and know Jelly Bean is better than the other tools I tried. :)

strollin said:
Your Win 7 upgrade is not physically tied to your Win XP license, only legally tied. You will not be asked for the XP product key to reinstall Win 7.

Look back in this thread to where I posted a link to how to do a clean install of Win 7 using upgrade media.
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Oh ok thanks :) I don't know how I didn't see that part of your comment before, sorry. I thought that it was legally tied but I'd still need the XP key to begin with (a post in another forum made it sound that way). When I googled I couldn't find an official document saying I wouldn't need the XP key.

So legally this license is tied to the motherboard of this computer (in terms of how they enforce it?) I read somewhere that you can use the same copy on multiple drives as long as it's plugged into the same computer. Not sure if that's correct. I don't actually want to do that permanently, just don't want to touch my HDD until I'm sure my SSD installation was successful!

I am hoping that I can just unplug my HDD, put the SSD in its place and use my Windows 7 upgrade disc + key to install successfully. Not sure if I have to reorder stuff in the BIOS (I have done this before but totally forgotten why and how!) but at least I stuck little stickers on my HDDs last time so I know which is which ^.^ as I nearly made a little error last time in removing/wiping the wrong one. :p

Ok, time to do some reading on the installation. :)

This isn't exactly relevant but is interesting

"the Upgrade licence remains transferable, but if you want to move it to another computer, that computer still needs a previous Windows version licence to upgrade from. And yes, the Upgrade licence replaces the original licence, unless and until you reinstall the original OS with its licence, at which point the Upgrade licence becomes eligible for use on another computer. In other words, they're not permanently coupled together."

So they're temporarily tied, which seems best. Perhaps everyone already knew that but I was wondering. :)

claptonman said:
The key can be used on either 64-bit or 32-bit.

You do not need the key if doing a fresh install. You will be deleting XP when doing that.
Click to expand...

Time to say goodbye forever to Castle of the Winds which only works on 32-bit *sniff*. I hope that's the only game/program I have with problems... I guess I should check. :S
 
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I phoned up microsoft to double check whether I'd need my XP key to do a fresh install and he kept saying I wasn't allowed to do a fresh install with the same license. I was like, it's the same computer (he kept saying I wasn't allowed to move it to another computer and I was like no... same computer)... I said, none of the guides mentioned it being a problem, it will be the same motherboard, I wasn't even phoning about that, but asking about the product key! It became a bit of a stalemate with me being confused as to why I wouldn't be allowed and he passed me to customer service.

When I explained that I had everything activated (and thus valid and legal) but didn't know about finding out my key before upgrading to W7 she said to get in contact with the supplier. When I said the computer was built by somebody I used to know and so that wouldn't be possible but look it's clearly valid because I'm using it she gave me another key for the Home Edition XP disc I own (even though I'm not sure that is the disc for that specific computer). ^.^

So now I feel extra secure in my upgrade. :) Just need to figure if I want to use 32bit or 64bit! :)
 
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