Windows question, dont hurt me :)

[Gzus666]

Ok, working on a guy's PC, got a dead XP. loads to the boot options screen, any option restarts it, fun fun, something with one of the boot records is whacked Im sure, USB problem caused a unscheduled reboot mid process. Building him a new PC, but I need to get into XP so I can recover the key, cause he lost it of course. When I try to boot off the XP CD it runs through the initial F6 for SCSI and F2 for ASR, then just goes brain dead and won't extract anything. Im worried there is some serious corruption here that it cant load the recovery console. Anyone got any ideas how to remove the key or get this booted? The only other method I know of is the Dagon Design method, but I would like to reserve that for last resort as its a pain. I got a universal IDE/SATA to USB connector coming on Wed. so I can hook this up and check the disk for corruption, but hoping someone has encountered this before and maybe I can make it happen before then.

[dunsurfin]

Have you tried booting a Linux live cd in the machine to have a look around?

[GI_James]

It's been a while for me, not sure I remember where to find the product key, other than a google search. My first thoughts (other than google) would be to boot with a linux live CD (unless you have ERD Commander) and you should have access to all files on the HD.

Hope that helps.

-James

[Gzus666]

Well, finally got my USB/IDE connector in the mail, so I just hooked it up, and did it the dirty way by pulling it out of the registry, thanks for the help though guys.

http://www.dagondesign.com/articles/windows-xp-product-key-recovery/comment-page-12/#comments

Just for reference for anyone, thats a wonderful little trick