Missing Product Key for 98

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Jim - 29 Jun 2004 04:02 GMT

I bought my system from Gateway in 98. It came loaded
with 95 and they upgraded for free to 98. They gave me
the disk but no product key. I had a fatal error and had
to reboot. Its mostly so my 4 year old can play games.
With no product key, i'm dead. I do have the original 95
disk and key, but that just launches into a dozen missing
drivers and a missing explorer.exe file.
Any thoughts on a legitimate key replacement?

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Ron Badour - 29 Jun 2004 05:05 GMT

The W98 ProductKey is generally found on the Windows user manual, the
certificate of authenticity, a sticker on the PC or a sticker on the sleeve
or jewel case the Windows CD came in. The 25-digit key is 5 groups of 5
alpha/numeric characters. The Key might be available from the system:

If the system is working in either safe or normal mode:

Open regedit.exe to this key and look in the right pane for the entry
ProductKey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

If the system is not working, start the computer with a floppy startup disk.

At the A: prompt, type: C:\Windows\Command\Find /N "ProductKey"
C:\Windows\System.dat
(Note: ProductKey must be typed in upper and lower case letters as shown
and there is a space after: "Find" after: "/N" and after:
"ProductKey"

If the hard drive has been formatted or replaced, US customers can contact
Microsoft at: 1 800 642-7676. They will issue retail and OEM product keys
after verifying data located on the W98 CD.

Signature

Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

> I bought my system from Gateway in 98. It came loaded
> with 95 and they upgraded for free to 98. They gave me
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> drivers and a missing explorer.exe file.
> Any thoughts on a legitimate key replacement?

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