How to find Product ID or CD Key of your Windows and other software

October 14, 2009, Category: Software, System

Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder - find the Product ID or CD Key of your Windows and other software Are you planning to reinstall Windows on your computer? You may require the Product ID or the CD Key for your copy of the Windows. Many times, due to some virus-infection or some software or hardware malfunctioning, you’re left with no option but to reinstall the Windows. During the installation process, Windows may ask you to enter the Product ID or CD Key of your Windows software so as to confirm whether you’re using the genuine copy of the Windows. In fact, after reinstalling the Windows, you may have to activate your Windows again online, where the genuineness of your Windows’ Product ID may get verified. There are some other occasions, when you may need to know the Product ID of the Windows, for example, may be just for safe keeping. In a similar way, you may need to know the Product ID of your Microsoft Office or other software. How to retrieve the Product ID then?

Normally you should be able to find the Product ID of Windows or other software on the cover / box of the Installation CDs / DVDs. There may be a sticker on the CD box or cover. Or, if your computer / laptop / netbook came with a pre-installed Windows, your Product ID can be found on a sticker on the bottom or body of the computer / laptop. This sticker may also contain barcodes.

What if the above methods fail, i.e., if the CD Box / cover is lost or cannot be found and if your computer or laptop has no such sticker or the sticker has got damaged? How to find out the Product ID then?

Luckily, there is an excellent small utility available for retrieving your Product ID from the Windows installed on your computer. Yes, Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder is an absolutely free and open source utility (a SourceForge project) that can retrieve the Windows Product ID or the CD Key from your registry which was used to install your copy of Windows. This utility can find the Product ID of the following products:

  • Windows 95,
  • Windows 98,
  • Windows ME,
  • Windows 2000,
  • Windows XP,
  • Windows Vista,
  • Windows Server 2003,
  • Windows Server 2008,
  • Microsoft Office XP,
  • Microsoft Office 2003, and
  • Microsoft Office 2007.

In fact, Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder can also retrieve product keys for many other applications through a configuration file. Moreover, it can retrieve the Product Keys even from unbootable Windows installations. Once you’ve retrieved the Product ID of your Windows or other application, it allows you to print or save your this ID for safekeeping.

Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder (currently version 2.0.1) has a download size of about 330 KB. After downloading it, unzip the file and you’ll get the executable file. You don’t have to install this software and you can save it in any folder on your computer. Simply run this EXE file for finding out the Product ID of your Windows and other software. It will automatically display the Product IDs in its main window (see image below):

Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder - main window

Just click on the product / software name in the left pane of its main window, and Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder will show its Product ID in the right pane.

Since it is an open-source software (SourceForge project), you can trust it fully and rest assured that it does not contain any spam, spyware, viruses, or trojans. An optional config file, which is included in the downloaded zip file, gives you the ability to find out the Product ID of several other software.

I personally ran Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder on my laptop and found it to correctly tell me about the Product IDs of the Windows and other software installed thereon.

You can download this free utility in case you want to know the Product IDs of your Windows and other software.

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2 Comments so far
  1. Jamal October 14, 2009 11:29 pm

    Friend i have found many jellybean softwares but my AVG8.5 Tells Every thing has virus like trojans Is this virus free jelly bean

  2. Ashok October 15, 2009 12:07 am

    Because it is an open-source software, one can check its source code. Therefore, it is not possible for the developer of jelly bean software to include any virus such as a trojan in the software. If he does it, then those who can read the source-code, can easily notice it. Moreover, it is a project of SourceForge, which is a reputed repository of several good open-source software. Therefore, I don’t think such a software would include a virus in it. Moreover, I checked my copy of this software using AVG 8.5 itself, and I did not find any trojan or other virus in it. In fact, it also depends from which site we download the software. I had downloaded this software directly from the publisher’s site and it directed me to SourceForge site for the download. Therefore, my download came directly from SourceForge which can be fully trusted. However, if somebody downloads the same software from some third party’s download site, the possibility of the third party including a virus in it cannot be ruled out. Accordingly, it is always advisable to download the software directly from the publisher’s website or from some other reputed website (I have already covered this topic in my earlier article 10 Tips for safest way to download software).

    I may also add that I have not cross-checked about the other software of Jelly Bean software company as to whether these other software are also open-source software. Therefore, it may not be proper on my part to comment on that aspect.

    Therefore, my suggestion would be download this software directly from the publisher’s site (which will redirect you to SourceForge site, which is fully trustworthy, as far as I have experienced). While downloading the software, you may also try to check for any virus using AVG or any other good anti-virus software. I am hopeful that you may not notice any virus in it. However, if you still notice some virus, please do inform here for the benefit of others. Thanks for your comment.

    (Note: I have run this software on my computer. There is no virus noticed.)

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