How to find product key?

[Bill818]

Purchased a new HP notebook yesterday and to my surprise there's no product key on the unit. Called HP and according to them, that's the new way of doin' biz..no longer placing product key on chassis.
Anyone know how to find the product key?

 

[Hopachi]

(also @Hopachi)
For interest (amonst other things) could you provide a LicensingDiag report??

Please open an Elevated Command Prompt window (in Start, type 'Command' - a Command Prompt icon will appear, right-click on it, and select Run as Administrator)
At the Prompt, type

Licensingdiag.exe -report %userprofile%\desktop\report.txt -log %userprofile%\desktop\repfiles.cab

(note the spaces!)
two files will be put on your desktop -
open the 'report.txt' file in Notepad, and copy/paste the results to your response - you can ignore the repfiles.cab file for the moment, as it's only backup data

Here it goes:

<DiagReport><LicensingData>
  <ToolVersion>6.2.9200.16384</ToolVersion>
  <LicensingStatus>SL_LICENSING_STATUS_LICENSED</LicensingStatus>
  <LicensingStatusReason>0x00000000</LicensingStatusReason>
  <LocalGenuineState>SL_GEN_STATE_IS_GENUINE</LocalGenuineState>
  <LocalGenuineResultP>1</LocalGenuineResultP>
  <LastOnlineGenuineResult>0x00000000</LastOnlineGenuineResult>
  <GraceTimeMinutes>0</GraceTimeMinutes>
  <TotalGraceDays>0</TotalGraceDays>
  <ValidityExpiration></ValidityExpiration>
  <ActivePartialProductKey>XXXXX</ActivePartialProductKey>
  <ActiveProductKeyPid2>xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-AAOEM</ActiveProductKeyPid2>
  <OSVersion>6.2.9200.2.00010300.0.0.101</OSVersion>
  <ProductName>Windows 8</ProductName>
  <ProcessorArchitecture>x64</ProcessorArchitecture>
  <EditionId>Core</EditionId>
  <BuildLab>9200.win8_rtm.120725-1247</BuildLab>
  <TimeZone>Romance Standard Time(GMT+01:00)</TimeZone>
  <ActiveSkuId>9e4b231b-3e45-41f4-967f-c914f178b6ac</ActiveSkuId>
  <ActiveSkuDescription>Windows(R) Operating System, OEM_DM channel</ActiveSkuDescription>
  <ProductUniquenessGroups>55c92734-d682-4d71-983e-d6ec3f16059f</ProductUniquenessGroups>
  <ActiveProductKeyPKeyId>33549371-cfd1-9746-74f7-8ceeaac15056</ActiveProductKeyPKeyId>
  <ActiveProductKeyPidEx>05426-01796-022-052496-02-2067-9200.0000-3012012</ActiveProductKeyPidEx>
  <ActiveProductKeyChannel>OEM:DM</ActiveProductKeyChannel>
  <ActiveVolumeCustomerPid></ActiveVolumeCustomerPid>
  <OfflineInstallationId>432126060756252321193106033258797043275905976041007647539094080</OfflineInstallationId>
  <DomainJoined>false</DomainJoined>
  <ComputerSid>S-1-5-21-57894158-964095248-1080764433</ComputerSid>
  <ProductLCID>2057</ProductLCID>
  <UserLCID>1033</UserLCID>
  <SystemLCID>2057</SystemLCID>
  <CodeSigning>SIGNED_INFO_PRS_SIGNED</CodeSigning>
  <ServiceAvailable>true</ServiceAvailable>
  <OemMarkerVersion></OemMarkerVersion>
  <OemId></OemId>
  <OemTableId></OemTableId>
  <Manufacturer>Hewlett-Packard</Manufacturer>
  <Model>HP ENVY dv6 Notebook PC</Model>
  <InstallDate>20121027131434.000000+120</InstallDate>
</LicensingData>
<HealthCheck>
  <Result>PASS</Result>
  <TamperedItems></TamperedItems>
</HealthCheck>
<GenuineAuthz>
  <ServerProps>GenuineId=55c92734-d682-4d71-983e-d6ec3f16059f;OemId=0000064397;OptionalInfoId=pZjZ2ONpTePpyYPjcYRSW47X+pdbUWFo1WXc2rXLVfBVc5Ys41D8jyDQAUOKyocJ;Pid=SruZH6q04AfwnyPNK7zkcw9Xl0AMnRWlcUWUWGUm/BE=;SkuId=9e4b231b-3e45-41f4-967f-c914f178b6ac;TimeStampServer=2012-10-27T15:29:27Z;</ServerProps>
</GenuineAuthz>
</DiagReport>

What's the issue, if I may ask?

 

[Hopachi]

Hi Hoppachi

I hope your does not FAIL.

It can fail? Hmmm... What can the reason be?
Thanks for noticing this.

I didn't tried it yet (battery still not yet used, I'm with the laptop on the desk) and asks for battery. I'll keep the battery new for now.
Too bad I can't skip this part.

Well they say you need the pc in AC power + battery in, and the media can be a USB stick or a few DVD's.
I hope it will not fail, but don't intend to do the disks now as it can take a few hours.

I ordered my Win7 disks (2 disks in total) two years ago and those work pretty well.

 

[theog]

What's the issue, if I may ask?

How do you reinstall, if your Recovery disc fail with no COA.

Big ISSUE.

 

[Hopachi]

I always thought that OEMs were required to have the sticker? If it doesn't provide a license key, how can a user expect to be able to freshly reinstall the OS without first having pre-installed bloatware bogging down the system? Just going through and de-installing them doesn't always make the system clean and fresh.

I always prefer to reinstall a laptop's come-with OS with a fresh copy by inputting the key on the sticker so I have a truly fresh experience where I choose what goes in or out of it. If systems are starting to do this, then is this the end for any user's choice of installing fresh without extra software?

Well, you're right. They did install some extra junk there. But we can still recover the key with some info program jellybean... how was that called, and then backup your key for later usage.

 

[theog]

You can not use the factory OEM-SLP activation method Product Key that Belarc, may/may not find to reinstall Windows.

System Locked Pre-installation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hi there
try BELARC advisor -- Free for home users and should list Windows / Office etc installed product keys for you.

Here

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html



Cheers
jimbo

As above.

 

[NoelDP]

(also @Hopachi)
For interest (amonst other things) could you provide a LicensingDiag report??

Here it goes:

<DiagReport><LicensingData>
   <ActivePartialProductKey>M7RD6</ActivePartialProductKey>
  <ActiveProductKeyPid2>00179-60220-52496-AAOEM</ActiveProductKeyPid2>
   <ActiveSkuId>9e4b231b-3e45-41f4-967f-c914f178b6ac</ActiveSkuId>
  <ActiveSkuDescription>Windows(R) Operating System, OEM_DM channel</ActiveSkuDescription>
  <ProductUniquenessGroups>55c92734-d682-4d71-983e-d6ec3f16059f</ProductUniquenessGroups>
  <ActiveProductKeyPKeyId>33549371-cfd1-9746-74f7-8ceeaac15056</ActiveProductKeyPKeyId>
  <ActiveProductKeyPidEx>05426-01796-022-052496-02-2067-9200.0000-3012012</ActiveProductKeyPidEx>
  <ActiveProductKeyChannel>OEM:DM</ActiveProductKeyChannel>
   <ProductLCID>2057</ProductLCID>
  <UserLCID>1033</UserLCID>
  <SystemLCID>2057</SystemLCID>
   <Manufacturer>Hewlett-Packard</Manufacturer>
  <Model>HP ENVY dv6 Notebook PC</Model>
  <InstallDate>20121027131434.000000+120</InstallDate>
</LicensingData>
  <ServerProps>GenuineId=55c92734-d682-4d71-983e-d6ec3f16059f;OemId=0000064397;OptionalInfoId=pZjZ2ONpTePpyYPjcYRSW47X+pdbUWFo1WXc2rXLVfBVc5Ys41D8jyDQAUOKyocJ;Pid=SruZH6q04AfwnyPNK7zkcw9Xl0AMnRWlcUWUWGUm/BE=;SkuId=9e4b231b-3e45-41f4-967f-c914f178b6ac;TimeStampServer=2012-10-27T15:29:27Z;</ServerProps>

What's the issue, if I may ask?

No issue - I'm simply trying to train myself in reading the reports for troubleshooting purposes.
To be able to do that, I need to know what the differences are between 'Retail/SystemBuilder' and 'Direct OEM' and begin to work out what the report is going to say when the fancy new activation process goes kerbluey

These are the first two I've had a look at, so it's VERY early days, yet!


Thanks for the data - as and when I discover anything 'interesting' I'll post it in an appropriate place.

 

[Hopachi]

What's the issue, if I may ask?

How do you reinstall, if your Recovery disc fail with no COA.

Big ISSUE.

You already tried this then! I didn't reinstalled. I "cleaned" the installed copy (removing startup items + bloatware) and I'm using it so far so good.

Never thought about a recovery media yet but there's an important notice you mentioned here.
They don't say much in the user manual but the BIOS probably has some built in SLIC table to get the original key in.

NOTICE:
When I first-installed and even recovered from the recovery media of Win7, It was already activated.
The Win8 OEM on the laptop WASN'T activated when I first used it. Had to go online, so there's an extra step to keep in mind here.

 

[Hopachi]

No issue - I'm simply trying to train myself in reading the reports for troubleshooting purposes.
To be able to do that, I need to know what the differences are between 'Retail/SystemBuilder' and 'Direct OEM' and begin to work out what the report is going to say when the fancy new activation process goes kerbluey

These are the first two I've had a look at, so it's VERY early days, yet!


Thanks for the data - as and when I discover anything 'interesting' I'll post it in an appropriate place.

Alright! Good luck there.
You're welcome.

 

[theog]

The Win8 OEM on the laptop WASN'T activated when I first used it. Had to go online, so there's an extra step to keep in mind here.

interesting

 

[Hopachi]

The Win8 OEM on the laptop WASN'T activated when I first used it. Had to go online, so there's an extra step to keep in mind here.

interesting

Yes.

We are usually activating online, but Win7 OEM was able to activate offline. I looked up why and came with some answer saying that BIOS SLIC contains licence table + probably key. Not sure I'm right about this step.

Win8 OEM also had the key preinstalled but not activated. Maybe this is (normal) part of the new procedure involving no key sticker on the case and maybe some other tricks. I checked the place under the battery: provides extra info like model + numbers and stuff but no key. And the Win8 logo is also on the back side...

Let's hope all is well. So far so good. Great pc.

 

[theog]

Yes, We will see in time with all OEM,s.

 

[theog]

Just find this.

What Is a SLIC BIOS Entry? | eHow.com

The information that your computer needs to activate a preinstalled Windows operating system is contained within system BIOS in a SLIC entry.

Read more: What Is a SLIC BIOS Entry? | eHow.com What Is a SLIC BIOS Entry? | eHow.com

 

[NoelDP]

Just find this.

What Is a SLIC BIOS Entry? | eHow.com

The information that your computer needs to activate a preinstalled Windows operating system is contained within system BIOS in a SLIC entry.

Read more: What Is a SLIC BIOS Entry? | eHow.com What Is a SLIC BIOS Entry? | eHow.com

That is the most unmitigated load of Tripe I have seen written about SLIC tables - and is mostly totally irrelevant to Windows 8

 

[NoelDP]

The Win8 OEM on the laptop WASN'T activated when I first used it. Had to go online, so there's an extra step to keep in mind here.

interesting

Yes.

We are usually activating online, but Win7 OEM was able to activate offline. I looked up why and came with some answer saying that BIOS SLIC contains licence table + probably key. Not sure I'm right about this step.

Win8 OEM also had the key preinstalled but not activated. Maybe this is (normal) part of the new procedure involving no key sticker on the case and maybe some other tricks. I checked the place under the battery: provides extra info like model + numbers and stuff but no key. And the Win8 logo is also on the back side...

Let's hope all is well. So far so good. Great pc.

I'll try and explain how SLIC tables work(ed) in Vista and Win7....


The SLIC table contains a small encrypted license.
A Recovery disk, or large OEM's recovery partition, contains an embedded certificate and Key - when this is used to install Windows on a machine, it directs the machine *at every boot* to obtain the license from the SLIC table.
If the SLIC table gets damaged somehow (and it seems to be relatively fragile, compared to the BIOS proper) then the license becomes damaged, and self-activation fails.
At this point the backup systems come into play, and Windows warns that it's not activated, and asks you to activate - which fails because all OEM_SLP Keys are blocked from activation by anything other than the SLIC table.
OEM_SLP Keys cannot activate anything without the proper SLIC table in the BIOS (at least in theory - Activation Exploits notwithstanding)

Changing the Key in use to the one on the COA sticker gets around this problem - because this tells the machine to go first to the MS servers for a one-off activation (which the user can redirect to telephone activation if necessary)

COA Keys and retail Keys (including OEM System Builder, and Upgrade) totally ignore the SLIC table
MAK Volume License Keys totally ignore the SLIC table.
KMS Keys only get upset if the SLIC table is damaged - they will happily activate against the server without a SLIC table, but if one is present, then it MUST be 'functional' or activation will be refused.

What the exact situation with SLIC and Windows 8 is, has yet to be revealed.

HTH??

 

[Hopachi]

We can legally activate on pc's without SLIC.
SLIC comes with some OEM machines but not all pc have this (like some custom built rigs for example).

The information that your computer needs to activate a preinstalled Windows operating system is contained within system BIOS in a SLIC entry.

Yes, preinstalled is correct. But is irrelevant to Win8 (compared to Win7, 8 has some other technique since I had to be online first).

 

[Hopachi]

I'll try and explain how SLIC tables work(ed) in Vista and Win7....


The SLIC table contains a small encrypted license.
A Recovery disk, or large OEM's recovery partition, contains an embedded certificate and Key - when this is used to install Windows on a machine, it directs the machine *at every boot* to obtain the license from the SLIC table.
If the SLIC table gets damaged somehow (and it seems to be relatively fragile, compared to the BIOS proper) then the license becomes damaged, and self-activation fails.
At this point the backup systems come into play, and Windows warns that it's not activated, and asks you to activate - which fails because all OEM_SLP Keys are blocked from activation by anything other than the SLIC table.
OEM_SLP Keys cannot activate anything without the proper SLIC table in the BIOS (at least in theory - Activation Exploits notwithstanding)

Changing the Key in use to the one on the COA sticker gets around this problem - because this tells the machine to go first to the MS servers for a one-off activation (which the user can redirect to telephone activation if necessary)

COA Keys and retail Keys (including OEM System Builder, and Upgrade) totally ignore the SLIC table
MAK Volume License Keys totally ignore the SLIC table.
KMS Keys only get upset if the SLIC table is damaged - they will happily activate against the server without a SLIC table, but if one is present, then it MUST be 'functional' or activation will be refused.

What the exact situation with SLIC and Windows 8 is, has yet to be revealed.

HTH??

Thanks for the info. Great explanation!
Seems there a lot of stuff involved here. I only looked at a tree and not the forest.

 

[NoelDP]

I missed out a fair deal in an effort at simplicity, and being certain of what I said