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1004451
Cannot read Windows product key on sticker?
If your Windows Product Key label is worn off or unreadable you can forget about getting any help from Dell or Microsoft. You are basically on your own. Microsoft will send you to Dell. Dell will send you to Microsoft. Microsoft will try to charge you money. Dell will try to charge you money. You will spend an hour chasing your tail and you will get nowhere. It's a very simple and very common problem. It is bewildering to me that there is not some sort of procedure in place to deal with a worn off or unreadable COA label.
pcdiversity
1 Message
5
September 6th, 2013 10:00
I have an alternative out of the box idea. I ran into this same problem with a totally unreadable Windows 7 COA. I noticed upon extemely close examination that the COA actually leaves very small indentations. If you take a very small amount of acrylic paint on your finger and very very lightly rub the area the numbers will start to reappear. It took about 30 - 45 minutes of tinkering and examining but now I can read all of my numbers. Only one number is within question. For clarity I could only read about 3 or 4 numbers / letters before this process. The numbers you see below were completely unreadable as was the words "Product Key". Hope this helps someone out. By the way my machine is totally dead right now without a hard drive so no software options will help me. I am sure there are others just like this.
rekhraj
1 Message
0
January 1st, 2015 20:00
jimroad471
95 Posts
0
September 6th, 2013 12:00
this only works if software is installed legally...its a keyfinder that works
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/
i tried this on both my laptops and all the coa's jive and match
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
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16K Posts
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September 17th, 2013 06:00
Key finders will give you the Dell SLP key and not the key on the COA.
3september1939
2 Posts
0
January 27th, 2014 16:00
Has not anybody realized that the Microsoft C o A labels produced after XP are made deliberately so that the print fades away in time.
3september1939
2 Posts
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January 27th, 2014 16:00
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
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16K Posts
0
January 1st, 2015 21:00
This is an old thread. If you are having problems reinstalling with a faded COA then follow my instructions here to download media from Microsoft and apply Dell OEM slp activation using the ABR program and Dell cert files: [View:dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/.../download-microsoft-windows]
This will make an install identical to the Dell Windows Vista/7 Reinstallation DVD without the need to call Dell or Microsoft.
laptopuser8791
1 Message
0
January 27th, 2016 13:00
Simple yet very effective solution. I used a blunt pencil to dap blobs of acrylic paint onto the label 5 chracters at a time, let it dry about 30 seconds to a minute then dab with a dry tissue. Finally used a damp peice of tissue to VERY lightly wipe away the paint. Some paint sticks to the chracters because they are embossed and so you can read them. Took me 45-60 mins of blobbing and wiping. I tried reading without the paint and I could read most but not all characters by looking very closely. To give some idea I thought 96B72 was BCD72. I'm refurbishing a Samsung laptop I bought from ebay which has no hard drive but a worn COA sticker. I haven't yet tried installing a new OS with the key but I'm hopeful it'll work. Hope this helps someone and thanks to the user above for the excellent idea.
TracyLF
13 Posts
0
November 16th, 2016 07:00
Thank you, for such an imaginative solution. I agree with others that this . They could have laminated the labels or insisted OEM's place them within the battery compartment. I guess 86 BILLION dollars isn't enough money for some people? As we all know, the PK found with any "key-finder" will never be the individual sticker key. I had a Samsung which wore off w/o me even noticing. This solution worked a treat! Cheers!
PRanjan
2 Posts
0
August 2nd, 2018 11:00
Ah.. such a mess they make. if that is such unique piece of info then they must put inside battery compartment and not at the place where it has most chance of fading. Absolutely thing. I have ever other number with me but uh.. They must be able to retrieve from recovery discs i think but nobody is going to tell how!!
randomsity
1 Message
0
March 24th, 2019 22:00
Thanks a lot for this life hack. Your trick helped me save a lot of money that I might have had to pay for a new license 🙏
Eccles1948
2 Posts
0
September 16th, 2019 13:00
Full marks to Sony. Their laptop COAs have a plastic strip over them which keeps them intact.
Eccles1948
2 Posts
0
September 16th, 2019 13:00
Thanks for passing this on. One of the last group of 5 digits of the product key was unreadable. I didn't have any acrylic paint but used ground-up pencil lead instead and it did the trick - magic!
speedstep
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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47K Posts
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September 20th, 2019 09:00
I use a piece of magic transparent tape over the paper COA BEFORE it becomes unreadable.
sysion12
2 Posts
0
November 19th, 2019 20:00
Pretty! This was a really wonderful post. Thank you for providing these details.
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