I have an HP machine that has had the case replaced (meaning the sticker is no longer stuck to the side of the case.) It also didn't come with any media (the restore partition is corrupted.) All I need to do to fix the booting problem is run a repair but I cannot get into Windows to retrieve the CD key. I've tried copying certain sections of the registry to another computer but all I've managed to do is break another computer. Does anybody know how to retrieve a Windows XP CD key when you can't get into the OS. I have The Ultimate Boot CD For Windows so if you can think of a way to get it that involves tinkering with the registry I can do that. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I don't think you'll find it in the registry directly but there are some tools that will find it for you. I found one using Google - haven't tried it though so scan with av program before using it.

http://www.updatexp.com/xp-key.html

If you can't boot to windows, you might have to contact hp with your purchase information to get this sorted. Even if you had the key from the side of the machine, sometimes these don't actually work anyway. It's because the systems are mass produced using a different key and this is just a license number that they are authorised to give out with the clients.

Hi,
http://www.infopackets.com/channels/...e_registry.htm

The above link offers a way to get into the Registry when you can't get the computer to boot to windows. I have not tried this method, but it might be worth a try in finding the XP key for your computer.

Hi, Darth_Tanion! As far as I know, there is an easy-to-use boot CD: Windows Key Finder 1.3. It can retrieve lost product keys from your problem computer. You can download it from this link:
Windows Key Finder 1.3 - Windows Key Finder is the ultimate rescue & recovery boot CD that enables you to...