Microsoft CD Keys, CD Key Generator, Genuine Advantage Validation
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With the advent of MS Office 2000 SR1 and all the XP and 2002 releases, MS seems to have gone the route of mandatory registration which makes reinstallations and such really difficult when you lose the old key. There is a program that seems to be able to test if a key meets the MS requirements and can also generate keys at random until it finds one that should work. It supports for Windows XP, Office XP and Visio XP. I have a copy called XPKey.exe. You can get a full set of all the programs at http://www.webspawner.com/users/windowsxpcracks/. For now you can get it at XPKey.exe (or if that fails try (XPKey.zip as some web servers won't support .exe files). Another source is http://rapidshare.de/files/14729585/JAS.zip.html. If none works check back in a day or so as I change web servers most every day. There are some way cool archives of my and other pages which have the old version of XPKey.exe. There used to be a version at: http://web.archive.org/web/20030413175219/http://balder.prohosting.com/bcarr/programs/XPKey.exe, but it got pulled. However, you might be able to find others which weren't published widely. You should check out the web.archive.org just on general principal.
If those links fails, you can probably find a copy on Kazaa.exe. My copy of XPKey.exe is 48K bytes, dated Jan 25, 2003, and has an md5sum of '4345bb04307870d17c6f44893a81f85e'. Here is a link to the typical Microsoft letter of complaint. I also run XPKeySP2.exe every day or so and you can choose your own key for the corporate edition of Windows XP from those generated keys. I use the VLK option which should work with SP1 CD's.
If you want to join in the fray, post a copy of XPKey.exe on the web and send me the URL at (brian@brian.carr.name). I will publicize it and MS will complain to your web server trying to get it removed. You may need to rename it to XPKey.zip (as some web servers won't post executables). Non U.S. sites are more difficult for MS to pressure (especially non-English). However, be warned that you should probably create a free web site as the result may well be that your account is closed down.
If you can get a copy of XPKey.exe, first run it in benchmark mode and see how long it might take to get a key you need out of it. That can take a couple of minutes. Then select 'Find Key', set number of searches to a high number, and set it to running ('Process!'). Once it finds a valid key, press on 'Show Log' to see the valid key it found. Please let me know how it works for you so I can put more definitive information about it here on this web page.
XPKey.exe can also be used to test if a key that you already have is the one you need for the application (to test out the pile of unlabeled CD cases you have sititng around).
There are new generations of key generators for Windows XP and Office which run faster and can generate SP1 and SP2 acceptable keys. I don't have any Windows XP SP1 CD's or MS Office (I run OpenOffice which is free, open source (so it should be available for a while), handles MS format files, and works pretty well (you can download from http://openoffice.org)), so I can't test the new features. If the standard XPKey.exe doesn't work for you, try XPKeySP2.exe (or if that fails try an alternate or XPKeySP2.zip. For my version of XP it wouldn't let me run it as a program until it was an application in a zip file. Go figure.
Recently (end of 2007) virus scanners have been flagging and deleting XPKeySP2.exe. They seem to think it is a trojan, but I have had my copy for almost four years and no one has reported it trying to get beyond firewalls. I am considering contacting McAfee and asking them to really check it (the error they give is that it looks like a generic trojan which is to say it was built with tools commonly used by hackers). If you learn anything more about this, please send it on to me. Thanks. From what I have heard it can generate keys for both the older and newer versions of Windows XP and is much faster. XPKeySP2.exe also generates keys for Office XP (and these are reported to work with Office 2003, even home edition) and Windows Server 2003 keys. However, to generate SP2 keys for corporate (VLK) licenses, you need to specify the range of 640-500000 to 640-599999. Please let me know how it works for you at brian@brian.carr.name). There is also a nicer program to activate your Windows XP installation without contacting Microsoft, KeyChng2.exe (or if that fails try an alternate or KeyChng2.zip as some web servers won't support .exe files). If neither works check back in a day or so as I change web servers most every day. Please try it and let me know how it works.Another person sent me a procedure for getting around the need for a CD key with Win 98 and Win ME. Here are the instructions as they were sent to me. If they are useful to you let me know. If you can make them clearer, send a new version back to me. They also tell you where the CD Key and product ID are kept in the registry so that you can look them up with an existing installation.
111-1111111
This key has been used successfully with:
I have also read that if you take an upgrade CD key and add one to the first set of numbers (whether three or four digit) then the CD key will be for the full edition.
If that didn't work, try this:
465-6389583
I am not sure what CD this is from, but I am compiling a list of all Microsoft applications that this CD Key works with. It seems to have been the standard with older CD's (95 thru 97). This key has been used successfully with:
If you are installing an OEM CD on a PC with an existing copy of Windows, you can sometimes get around the complaint that you it only works on new PC's by deleting or renaming the file 'c:\windows\win.com'. Likewise, if you have an upgrade CD and it doesn't see the version of Windows that you need, often by just copying that file from an exisiting installation (or CD or diskette, wherever you can find it) will satisfy the installation program (pressing F8 will give you options on boot).
Please send me an E-mail (brian@brian.carr.name) if you find other CD's that it works with.
98 CD's seem to require a longer CD Key (extra digit). If you need four digits for the first section, try:
7777-7777777
This key has been used successfully with:
If you find another CD that this CD key works with, please let me know which CD at brian@brian.carr.name.
1112-1111111
This key has been used successfully with:
If that one doesn't work for you, try this:
8090-3192571
This key has been used successfully with:
Please send me an E-mail (brian@brian.carr.name) if you find other CD's that it works with. And thanks to the people who have helped keep me informed of what CD's require what key.
The format for the nnnn-nnnnnnn. The first four digits seem to make a difference, but even versus odd totals are rumored to indicate an OEM versus upgrade CD (this hasn't been worked out). The last seven digits still must add up to a multiple of seven, but certain combinations like all ones and anything ending with a zero are disallowed. 4157-7777777 seems to work and is easier to type.
Windows 98
If your computer came with Windows 98 (i.e. you did not upgrade your computer to Windows 98), you may need to use an OEM number which you find via this link.With Windows 98, MS seems to have gone crazy with the length of the CD Key or Product Key. There see to only be about three common families of CD keys, OEM, full retail, and upgrade retail. The main thing seems to be just using a CD key from the same family. Two less common families are corporate (which can sometimes bypass the mandatory registration process) and academic.
Windows 98 Second Edition keys are broken out in a separate section below.
Some Windows 98 CD Keys you can try are:
Windows 98 Second Edition Upgrade CD Key that should bypass the requirement to have Win95 installed:
Windows 98 Second Edition (SE) CD Keys you can try are:
A most kind person sent me a load of other Windows OS keys. I will present them all in a separate page for you to look through if none of the above worked.
As a last resort, one person called Microsoft at 1-800-652-2342 when no keys worked with his version of Windows 98. They then promptly looked up a working key for his computer and sent a CD key to him directly via E-Mail (with no hassles).
99 CD's have gone back to the shorter CD Key, but they have different formats from the older keys. Try these:
425-1958694
This key is from MS Money 99. Both this key and the following have been used with Visual Studio 6 Professional Edition. The above key has been used with Visual Basic 6 Fundamentals.
813-1283563
This key is from MS Works 99.
A Serial Number for Visual Basic 6.0 Professional Edition is:
82891-81458-26914-54736
This serial number is also supposed to work with Visual C++, FoxPro, J++, ... as the Product ID for the 6.0 Professional Edition.
A CD Key for Publisher 98:
21897-00233844-96848
A CD Key for Office 2000 and Office 10 beta is:
MP4F9-W6C8V-HTCCT-T7M7R-Y7K3Y
with product ID of:82503-711-0000007-67584
Rumor has it that the 711-0000007 is the only part that matters and it must meet the old nnn-nnnnnn requirements. Also, if the CD Key does not work for you, it has been reported that you can edit the product ID in the registry to match the one shown here and then the CD Key will be accepted (I haven't tried this as I don't have Office 2000).
CDs Key for Office 2000 are:
CD Keys for Office 2000 Professional are:
CD Keys that worked for Office 2000 Premium are:
A CD Key that worked for Works Suite 2000 is:
CD Keys that worked for Office 2000 Small Business are:
CD Keys for Office 10 for Mac are:
With Office 2000 SR1 Microsoft has added a wrinkle of limiting you to 48 uses after you enter the CD key until you register. Once you register you get back another CD Code that you have to enter with the CD Key (how many numbers do you have to type in correctly to be qualified to use Office 2000). Further, this CD Code changes with each installation (can't be reused over and over again on multiple PC's). Any ideas on how to simplify this installation process would be appreciated.
Also, if you install the service pack for Office 2000, it will try to register with Microsoft and the program will stop working if you don't have an unused CD Key. XPKey.exe (above) might be able to give you a key that works or, if you are running under Windows XP, you might be able to back out the service pack by doing a System Restore (file accessories system tools system restore) to the point before the installation of the service pack.
Another approach is to call Microsoft on one of their 800 numbers any time you run into this glitch (and again assuming you are doing a legal reinstallation of your software). That way they have to pay (for the long distance charges) for your inconvenience. If it gets too expensive, they may give up on trying to force everyone to register every single installation (and reinstallation).
A CD Key for Works 4.5a OEM version is:
11111-11111-11111-11111-11111
This was just tried as a guess and worked. I would be interested if it worked for any other MS applications.
CD Keys for Word 2000 are:
CD Keys for Front Page 2000 upgrade and full version are:
CD Keys for Project 2000 Pro are:
A CD Key for Visio 2000 is:
CD Keys for Windows 2000 Professional are:
CD Keys Windows 2000 Server are:
CD Keys that have worked for Windows 2000 Advanced Server are:
CD Keys that worked for Outlook 2000 are:
Some keys that came with Windows ME (Millenium) are:
Some CD Keys that worked for Windows Millenium Upgrade are:
Some CD Keys that worked with Office XP are:
CD Keys for Windows XP Professional are:
If you get stuck with the mandatory registration problem, you can always call Microsoft at 1-800-652-2342. If you have a reasonable story they will sometimes give you a new key to use. It takes time to get through, but at least it is at Microsoft's expense (as they are the ones who initiated the silly mandatory registration it is good that they bear some of the expense).
I found another program, KeyChange.exe, that should be able to change your Windows XP key to one generated by XPKey.exe and then activate your version without really contacting Microsoft. First run XPKey as described earlier and get a couple of keys. Then run "KeyChange.exe" and folllow the directions. When asked for the CD Key, enter one of the keys you generated previously. Once you reboot the system all should be changed and you will have a unique CD key that should allow you to download the Windows XP SP1 update. Let me know how it works for you.
NOTE: The program "KeyChange" has a warning note which states you must have a Windows Installation CD available when changing the CD Key, however I have never had to use one so you should be OK even if you don't have the CD handy.
Microsoft is concerned about the use of corporate CD keys to avoid activation. There is a most informative web page by labmice.techtarget.com for what to do with Service Pack 1 of Windows XP which blocks out certain commonly used corporate CD keys. However, this page was pulled for a while at the request of Microsoft. In case you can't access it now, I made an excerpt of this page so you can see the sort of useful information that Microsoft finds objectionable.
If when upgrading, you get GetIUMS problems with msdart.dll, just download MDAC 2.8 from windows.com and install it. Then your problems should go away.
CD Keys for Windows XP Home Edition are:
A CD Key for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition is:
CD Keys for Microsoft Windows XP Professional Corporate:
A CD Key for Publisher 2000 is:
CD Keys for Publisher XP are:
A CD Key for Visio Enterprise Network Tools is:
CD Keys for Works Suite 2001 are:
CD Keys for Publisher 2002 are:
A CD Key for Project Pro 2002 is:
A CD Key for Visual Pro 2002 is:
A CD Key for Visual Studio .NET is:
A CD Key for Visual FoxPro 7.0 is:
A CD Key for Visual FoxPro 8.0 is:
A CD Key for Office XP Pro 2002 is:
A CD Key for Project 2002 Pro is:
A CD Key for Works Suite 2002 is:
A CD Key for Word 2002 is:
A CD Key for Microsoft Office 2003 is:
A CD Key for Microsoft Frontpage 2003 is:
A CD Key for Works Suite 2003 is:
CD Keys for Publisher 2003 are:
CD Keys for Windows Advanced Server 2003 are:
A CD Key for Office Mac 2004 (for Mac's) is:
A CD Key for Works Suite 2004 (including Word 2002) is:
A CD Key for Microsoft Office S & T Edition 2003 Trial with Microsoft Works 7.0 2004 Standard and Microsoft MSN Encarta Standard is:
CD Keys for Windows Longhorn 4015 beta is:
CD Keys for Microsoft Office 2003 Professional:
CD Keys for Microsoft Windows XP Professional X64 Edition Corporate Keys:
CD Keys for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 X64 Edition:
CD Keys for Microsoft Visual FoxPro 9.0:
CD Keys for Microsoft Operations Manager 2005:
CD Keys for Microsoft Office Communicator 2005:
CD Keys for Microsoft ISA Server 2004:
CD Keys for Microsoft Business Network Professional Server v1.0:
CD Key for Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007
CD Key for Microsoft Office Visio\Project Professional 2007
CD Key for Microsoft Expression Web
CD Key for Microsoft Windows Vista
CD Keys for Microsoft Media Center 2004 or 2005
Windows Media Player 11 now only functions if your system has passsed validation. There are numerous work arounds which you can find described on MyDigitalLife.info.
A most kind person sent me a load of other Windows OS keys. I will present them all in a separate page for you to look through if none of the above worked.
Hope your reinstallation goes well.
A special thanks to all the people who helped with contributions to this page. Also a big "your welcome" to anyone who sent me a thank you note. These notes help inspire me to keep this page up to date (though I don't usually reply to most such notes, they are appreciated).
This page was started in 1997 and has been visited
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This page was last updated on July 14, 2008.
