Retrieving and Changeing Office/Windows XP Serial Keys.

[BT]

I'm carrying out a software license audit at work and need to find out if
there is a way to retrieve both Windows XP and Office XP licence keys from
the workstations. I also need to know how to change the licence (without
re-installing the software) if the wrong one has been installed.



We have an open licence for Windows XP Upgrade, Office XP Full and Upgrade
and quite a few licences that are tied to particular PC's. I need to have
some way to track these, as I don't know how many of each type has been
used, especially with the open ones. In addition, the wrong CD may have
been used to re-install a faulty PC.

[CQMMAN]

"BT" <ian.wills@camb-labs.com> wrote in message
news:bu5vkv$gde$1@sparta.btinternet.com... I'm carrying out a software license audit at work and need to find out if there is a way to retrieve both Windows XP and Office XP licence keys from the workstations. I also need to know how to change the licence (without re-installing the software) if the wrong one has been installed. We have an open licence for Windows XP Upgrade, Office XP Full and Upgrade and quite a few licences that are tied to particular PC's. I need to have some way to track these, as I don't know how many of each type has been used, especially with the open ones. In addition, the wrong CD may have been used to re-install a faulty PC.

Are you looking for the product key name?

A quick search on my workstation found:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Registration


Depends on what audit tool you are using but SMS can pull registry keys so
you could do a report with all machines, and the registration code for each
workstation. Then compare this with what you are expecting to have.

Some open licences will let you reimage an OEM licence (so you can use
upgrades), others won't (so you need to purchase a full licence). It is very
complicated by Microsoft have a licensing department who should be able to
clarify it all for you.

[BT]

I've now found a program called Beallarc Adviser, which retrieves the
product keys. I now just need to know how to change the incorrect ones.
"CQMMAN" <cqmman@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:bu6346$e5bnk$1@ID-215193.news.uni-berlin.de... "BT" <ian.wills@camb-labs.com> wrote in message news:bu5vkv$gde$1@sparta.btinternet.com... I'm carrying out a software license audit at work and need to find out
if there is a way to retrieve both Windows XP and Office XP licence keys
from the workstations. I also need to know how to change the licence
(without re-installing the software) if the wrong one has been installed. We have an open licence for Windows XP Upgrade, Office XP Full and
Upgrade and quite a few licences that are tied to particular PC's. I need to
have some way to track these, as I don't know how many of each type has been used, especially with the open ones. In addition, the wrong CD may have been used to re-install a faulty PC. Are you looking for the product key name? A quick search on my workstation found: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Registration Depends on what audit tool you are using but SMS can pull registry keys so you could do a report with all machines, and the registration code for
each workstation. Then compare this with what you are expecting to have. Some open licences will let you reimage an OEM licence (so you can use upgrades), others won't (so you need to purchase a full licence). It is
very complicated by Microsoft have a licensing department who should be able to clarify it all for you.

[CQMMAN]

Legally, you probably have to reinstall. If you are going to all the
trouble, you might as well do it properly!! :)


"BT" <ian.wills@camb-labs.com> wrote in message
news:bu6bg8$b9i$1@hercules.btinternet.com... I've now found a program called Beallarc Adviser, which retrieves the product keys. I now just need to know how to change the incorrect ones. "CQMMAN" <cqmman@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message news:bu6346$e5bnk$1@ID-215193.news.uni-berlin.de... "BT" <ian.wills@camb-labs.com> wrote in message news:bu5vkv$gde$1@sparta.btinternet.com... I'm carrying out a software license audit at work and need to find out if there is a way to retrieve both Windows XP and Office XP licence keys from the workstations. I also need to know how to change the licence (without re-installing the software) if the wrong one has been installed. We have an open licence for Windows XP Upgrade, Office XP Full and Upgrade and quite a few licences that are tied to particular PC's. I need to have some way to track these, as I don't know how many of each type has
been used, especially with the open ones. In addition, the wrong CD may
have been used to re-install a faulty PC. Are you looking for the product key name? A quick search on my workstation found: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Registration Depends on what audit tool you are using but SMS can pull registry keys
so you could do a report with all machines, and the registration code for each workstation. Then compare this with what you are expecting to have. Some open licences will let you reimage an OEM licence (so you can use upgrades), others won't (so you need to purchase a full licence). It is very complicated by Microsoft have a licensing department who should be able
to clarify it all for you.

[Paul DeGroot]

Actually, I wouldn't make a big deal about reinstalling the software or
changing the license numbers. What you do need to do is prove that you
have enough licenses to match the number of workstations using a
product. As long as you can do that, with invoices showing that your
company purchased the required number of licenses, and possibly an
authorization number under a volume license agreement, you're covered.
That's really what a license audit involves. If things don't match,
then, yes, they'll perhaps require some deeper analysis to figure out
just what software is on the machines, but if you have the proper
business records and the number of licenses your company purchased is
not less than the number of machines that are using that software,
there's rarely any reason to go further.

I don't think Microsoft or the Business Software Alliance will come down
hard on a small firm that has made a good-faith effort to legally
purchase enough software for its computers.

Under all volume license programs, multiple copies of software can be
installed from a single disk (not a retail disk; volume media don't use
the same "activation" bits) using a single "volume license key" (VLK),
so there's no way to tell one machine from the other by looking at the
reg key. The volume license key is matched to an authorization number
that says how many licenses were purchased. In this case, if Microsoft's
records show that 10 copies of Windows XP Upgrades were purchased under
the authorization, and the company has no more than 10 XP machines that
have the correct VLK (associated with that authorization), it's legal.

Yes, you can use volume licensing media to "reimage" the OEM copy of
Windows XP on your machines. However, you can't use this to upgrade (for
instance, put Windows XP on a machine with an OEM version of Win98, for
example). However, this is most often used when a new machine comes
through the door, and a company has a disk image that they want to put
on all new machines. Because this will normally force you to reinstall
all your software on existing machines, it's a big step to take with
existing machines, and for the reasons outlined above, I don't think
it's necessary.

For more information on this, go to
http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/resources/volbrief.asp and read the
brief under the heading "Re-imaging Licensed Microsoft Software Using
Volume Licensing Media."

(A disclaimer: I don't represent Microsoft, so I can't speak for them.
But I know a great deal about how their volume licensing programs work.
I recently co-authored an 80-page report for our customers on MS
licensing. Microsoft uses our report to train their own executives. For
an outline and excerpts, see
http://www.redcomm.com/sample/DOMIS/research/2003/12dec/nav.html)

Paul DeGroot
Licensing Analyst
Directions on Microsoft
Independent Research on Microsoft Strategies and Directions
www.directionsonmicrosoft.com


CQMMAN wrote: Legally, you probably have to reinstall. If you are going to all the trouble, you might as well do it properly!! :) "BT" <ian.wills@camb-labs.com> wrote in message news:bu6bg8$b9i$1@hercules.btinternet.com...I've now found a program called Beallarc Adviser, which retrieves theproduct keys. I now just need to know how to change the incorrect ones."CQMMAN" <cqmman@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in messagenews:bu6346$e5bnk$1@ID-215193.news.uni-berlin.de..."BT" <ian.wills@camb-labs.com> wrote in messagenews:bu5vkv$gde$1@sparta.btinternet.com...>I'm carrying out a software license audit at work and need to find outif>there is a way to retrieve both Windows XP and Office XP licence keysfrom>the workstations. I also need to know how to change the licence(without>re-installing the software) if the wrong one has been installed.>>>>We have an open licence for Windows XP Upgrade, Office XP Full andUpgrade>and quite a few licences that are tied to particular PC's. I need tohave>some way to track these, as I don't know how many of each type has been>used, especially with the open ones. In addition, the wrong CD may have>been used to re-install a faulty PC.>>Are you looking for the product key name?A quick search on my workstation found:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\RegistrationDepends on what audit tool you are using but SMS can pull registry keys soyou could do a report with all machines, and the registration code foreachworkstation. Then compare this with what you are expecting to have.Some open licences will let you reimage an OEM licence (so you can useupgrades), others won't (so you need to purchase a full licence). It isverycomplicated by Microsoft have a licensing department who should be able toclarify it all for you.

[CQMMAN]

"Paul DeGroot" <pauldg@hotmail.nospam.com> wrote in message
news:bunsct01gt0@enews3.newsguy.com...

Yes, you can use volume licensing media to "reimage" the OEM copy of Windows XP on your machines. However, you can't use this to upgrade (for instance, put Windows XP on a machine with an OEM version of Win98, for example). However, this is most often used when a new machine comes through the door, and a company has a disk image that they want to put on all new machines. Because this will normally force you to reinstall all your software on existing machines, it's a big step to take with existing machines, and for the reasons outlined above, I don't think it's necessary.

Has this changed recently? I was looking at this a year or so ago and EA or
Select customers could reimage OEM products, but other volume licence
agreement members couldn't..

[Paul DeGroot]

CQMMAN wrote: "Paul DeGroot" <pauldg@hotmail.nospam.com> wrote in message news:bunsct01gt0@enews3.newsguy.com...Yes, you can use volume licensing media to "reimage" the OEM copy ofWindows XP on your machines. However, you can't use this to upgrade (forinstance, put Windows XP on a machine with an OEM version of Win98, forexample). However, this is most often used when a new machine comesthrough the door, and a company has a disk image that they want to puton all new machines. Because this will normally force you to reinstallall your software on existing machines, it's a big step to take withexisting machines, and for the reasons outlined above, I don't thinkit's necessary. Has this changed recently? I was looking at this a year or so ago and EA or Select customers could reimage OEM products, but other volume licence agreement members couldn't..
I was told personally by Microsoft that it also applied to Open
licenses, and we include that information in our licensing report, which
has been read and checked by Microsoft. I'd have to check my sources on
it, but the product use rights documents might outline it. The brief
should also have been upgraded to include Open.

Paul