The biggest hassle of setting up a new system is re-installing and re-configuring software. What can make matters worse is if you discover halfway through that you don’t have a copy of the license key to some of your programs. Unless you manage to find a record in your emails or in your account at the manufacturer’s website, your only hope will be the support line. Save yourself a headache and store a list of your license keys for emergencies.
There are several free programs that can reveal product keys of your Microsoft and third-party software. However, be prepared to try and use more than one program to retrieve the licenses of all your commercial programs, as most free tools come with limitations.
NirSoft ProduKey
ProduKey should be your tool of choice if you need to recover Microsoft license keys. The tool can identify serials for Microsoft Office, Windows, SQL Server, and Exchange Server. Like all of NirSoft’s applications, ProduKey is a portable app. I have previously introduced this app: 3 Ways To Recover Serial Numbers In Windows.
To my surprise, ProduKey did not find the key for my Windows 7 installation. If you are running into this issue, try the following program.
SIW – System Information for Windows
SIW is a monster of a tool. It will give you an overview of your entire system specs and also has a section for licenses. When you try to download the tool, be sure to click the right link. You will see the Home Edition is listed below the pro versions and the download link is nested between ads.
After installing the program and allowing it to finish its first scan, switch to Licenses under the Software header in the left pane. This successfully revealed all licenses for me.
A similar and often recommended tool is Belarc Advisor. However, while it does have a nice section for software licenses in its report, it did not reveal the key for Windows 7.
Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder
This used to be one of the best tools to gather and store license keys. However, the free version now is very limited and does not reveal serials of Adobe CS2-CS6 products, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Office 2010. In my eyes, this makes Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder a little useless, as those are the most commonly purchased professional programs. Of course you can upgrade to Recover Keys, a paid version, which supports more than 10 times the programs.
However, if you need the license keys of other programs or if you want to recover serials from a Windows installation that no longer boots, Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder may still be a gem. The program comes with a hive function that allows you to scan the Windows directory of a system drive connected to a running computer. Unfortunately, there is no complete list of supported software.
Conclusion
Backing up your license keys is fairly easy, but it takes some time and possibly more than one tool. Even if you are not planning to re-install your computer, it’s always a good idea to know your software licenses are safe. Better yet, create a backup of your entire system, so you don’t have to jump through the hoops of setting up Windows and finding those product keys. Here are a few alternatives to a Windows installation from scratch:
- Backup Your PC With Ease For Free Using Easeus Todo Backup [Windows]
- Take & Restore Quick Snapshots Of Your System State With SmartClose [Windows]
- Create Windows System Restore Point with 1-Click using SCRP
- How To Make Sure Windows System Restore Works When You Need It
- How To Set Up & Use Windows 7 Backup & Restore Feature
Gamers might want to know How To Recover Lost Video Game Keys.
Discussion
Do you know all your license keys and where do you keep them?
Personally, if I have an installation disc, I make sure the code is written on the disc itself or its case. If I just have installation files, I keep a text file with the license key in the same folder. And obviously those discs and files are backed up.
Image credits: Key Barcode via Shutterstock
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Hide 35 Comments
These are some great software products!
Thanks for sharing
Richard Wesley Eby
Good programs, thanks for sharing.
All my keys are backed up in my external drive
But, do you have the external drive backed-up?
unfortunately no
well.. since I only use FOSS and freewares, it doesn’t really matter for me. but still great articles and great softwares need to be honored. thanks a lot for sharing. may it will be useful for me someday.
Thanks Timothy!
I have used NirSoft ProduKey and Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder to try to find the key for my copy of Microsoft Office Professional Plus. So far I have been unsuccessful. The hard drive MSO is installed on will fail soon and I don’t have the key any more so I’m worried. I’ll have to give SIW for Windows a try.
Have you tried SIW?
Software tracking is a great idea. But I prefer to keep track of the keys the old fashion way, writing it on the cd label of the install disk! :)
I have already used all these tools, but appreciate your work to list them all. Most of the time they don’t work for popular programs. I usually find the license of software in registry easily, only the issue is, one should be very knowledgeable in registry
1. All my license purchase is stored in particular label of Gmail
2. I keep all my license keys, and invoices in folders and collectively, i lock them up with password
3. I take a backup in a CD for emergency purpose
Great recommendations, Rahul. Thanks for sharing!
I do this also. But there is a method for save the activation of the various licenses? Because some programs don’t function every they activated once
I’m old-fashioned, all passwords in a file recorded
I use to Winguggle to recover my product keys and list all of them on my note.
Thanks for the recommendation, Kelvin.
Apparently WinGuggle is for Windows and Office only. Here is the CNET download link in case anyone is interested in trying it: http://download.cnet.com/WinGuggle/3000-2094_4-10795752.html
It’s so easy to use. Thank for sharing!
SIW is a great tool. It has a simple user interface. Very effective and small but powerful tool. You could think about adding it to your portable apps list :) What say Tina?
Ashwin,
I think you’re right and I forwarded your comment to the team that is currently reviewing our Best Of pages. If they agree, the tool will be listed there with the next update. Thanks for the suggestion!
They say preventing is better than curing. Even if you don’t have plan to buy a new computer, always copy your licenses before you install a product. Put it for safekeeping, whether in .txt files, your notebook, Evernote, OneNote, FetchNote, or whatever you want. You’ll thank yourself later. This will not only help when you’re migrating your system. Sometimes software support will ask you for the license to detect if you’re a valid customer.
Above programs are good. However, these methods will help you in the long run.
You never know when your hard drive will fail, so writing the license keys with traditional pen and notebook will also be worthwhile.
@ Lisa
so writing the license keys with traditional pen and notebook
OMG you should see some of the serial keys lengths that
I have my massive software lists. Writing them down for safe keeping
is not an option LoL
9920m9Vd3quayantWjwGYvDOPST8Xz
x5cDTjAz6e0VzfVDkVoDJA+dPnhcOV
N2a5/lXIFO6KPQbiLCZRl7T8fz0LdQ
JsyFKaMEswsej7B9UkRfuMBHOP7pFv
mnRJjrCmgFULEzYmUHyY+lNTn9xZoO
popuX/P+5CZHxj9LSD+7tplJc=|011
0veRBhDOU35A4Jz/PBuL4CO7wALco4
XAOXTOXeVc9d6Is9n7A062J344Qmmp
58q1AkTatk2eF+bg+7sd0wBBMOdaej
/hybGjURH03YEybpLhFVdGRvHjJkG4
RK3yjQyULGsUG+ktULtAvua5hR5rkD
4fEghaEcK53SJa+hjsKGj0=
I have changed a couple of these letters and numbers around
but you get the picture and then there is the possibility of mixing O and 0
and l and 1 (depends on font)
Ouch. I see.
Well. you can always print the list:)
True Lisa. Instead of writing down everything by hand or printing it, though, one could simply have a backup on a second/external hard drive. Actually, that should be the standard procedure because as you say, hard drive failure can happen anytime.
Have used SIW for like ages, will try the others thanks!
All my keys are in my Outlook, and since I POP from my Gmail account, they’re automatically backed up in Gmail
Perfect setup, Rajeev. Backing up to Gmail is great.
Any particular reason why you use Outlook, though?
I keep ALL my software serials using the FREE open source KeePass Password Safe from http://keepass.info/
I have used Magical Jelly Bean in the past but I also like to use Belarc Advisor. Belarc Advisor is a great tool.
Something similar came on the LaCie Cookey from Makeuseof. Great as I’m switching computers soon.
I downloaded NirSoft ProduKey
then i was able to see the product keys
amazing softwares !!
I rarely have this problem because I usually use portable software so I can sync it to my Dropbox
Keys in my case are stored in several places on the drives in several ways, ensuring that on backups, the key-data is auto-saved.
Since directory file names take no disk space (0 bytes), I create a file name of the key, if it is short enough. If too long, put it into a text file, and also create a gif picture file using screen capture software (builtin in Windows 7).
These extra files are stored in all backups from the program’s folder, and the folder that is created as a dircetory on every drive I use.
I’ve learned this lesson. I have several copies of Windows Server 08 and I’ve lost all my keys.
I make sure I keep all me keys organized.
since i reinstall windows frequently, this will be quite helpful for all of my purchased products (thankfully almost all of my games run through steam, so the key is account bound, not machine bound).
Sometime you can not reinstall even on same computer or it is violating the license agreement.