How to find you Windows Install Key

So this has come up a few times for me over the years. I have had an installed version of Windows that I wanted to reformat, but I or the person I am helping doesn't have the install key for Windows. This may be because Windows came preinstalled on their computer and the sticker has worn off or they misplaced the key over the years. Either way, here is a neat trick that will get the key out of the operating system itself.

Now, remember this is not illegal. You are getting the valid key that you yourself own. If you try to get somebody else's key to use for yourself, then it becomes illegal.

This method uses a VB script. Copy and paste this text into a text editor like Notepad and save with a .vbs extension (you may need to set the format to All Files to do that). Find this file and run it like you would any program, a double click should do it. You will see a window pop up with the key displayed.

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
MsgBox ConvertToKey(WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DigitalProductId"))

Function ConvertToKey(Key)
Const KeyOffset = 52
i = 28
Chars = "BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789"
Do
Cur = 0
x = 14
Do
Cur = Cur * 256
Cur = Key(x + KeyOffset) + Cur
Key(x + KeyOffset) = (Cur \ 24) And 255
Cur = Cur Mod 24
x = x -1
Loop While x >= 0
i = i -1
KeyOutput = Mid(Chars, Cur + 1, 1) & KeyOutput
If (((29 - i) Mod 6) = 0) And (i <> -1) Then
i = i -1
KeyOutput = "-" & KeyOutput
End If
Loop While i >= 0
ConvertToKey = KeyOutput
End Function

That is it. This worked for me last month when I installed a new drive in my computer. Very simple and straight forward.