Recover Lost Product Keys (CD-Key) for Windows 2000/XP/2003

I had to reinstall Windows on my Laptop as the machine was crippled with Windows errors from botched installations and inundated with unnecessary software not to mention adware, spyware and viruses so I decided on a clean bill of health. I used the User State Migration tool to transfer my settings for the time being until the PC was good to go. Thing is  I could not retrace the product key that I was given intially when the laptop was shipped. So to google I went and found two nice little packages tom do this for me:
Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder

The Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder is a freeware utility that retrieves your Product used to install Windows on the current machine or on network computers. It retrieves it from the computer’s registry. It has the options to copy the key to clipboard, save it to a text file, or print it for safekeeping. It works on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Windows Vista, Office 97, Office XP, and Office 2003. This version is a quick bug fix to remedy the broken “Change Windows Key” in Windows XP.

AND

ProduKey

ProduKey is a small utility written by Nir Sofer ( http://www.nirsoft.net), that displays the Product ID and the CD-Key of Microsoft Windows 2000/XP and 2003 operating systems, Microsoft Office products, Microsoft Exchange and SQL Servers. The really cool thing  about this (freeware) tool is that you can view this information for your current OS, or for another operating system/computer on your network by using command-line options.

Hers some for example:

/remoteall

Enumerate all computers on your local network, and load the product key information from them. Be aware that this option is quite slow, and you may need to wait a few minutes until the product key information is displayed. In order to use this option, you must have Administrator privileges in all computers on your local network.

OR

/remotealldomain

Enumerate all computers in the specified domain, and load the product key information from them.
Links:

ProduKey – Recover lost product key (CD-Key) of Windows/MS-Office/SQL Server: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html

Magical Jelly Bean Software – Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder v1.5:
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml

Source: Petri IT Knowledgebase

Day Lights Saving Time – A big issue?

If you operate or support a network from the United States, impending changes to Daylight Saving Time (DST), courtesy of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 signed by yours truly Mr.Bush, its going to affect your operations.

So usually DST began on the first Sunday of April and ended on the last Sunday of October in the states. This year, thanks to an energy bill President Bush signed in August 2005, DST begins three weeks earlier on March 11. (DST also ends one week later; this year, it ends November 4.)

Implications I ask? Well for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003 they are good to go. Both OS versions either have the changes built-in or the changes were part of a previous service pack.

But you’ll need to update other Windows systems in the company.

Possible problems that can arise because of this issue are:

• Authentication systems: Systems that rely on accurate local system time (e.g., Kerberos) to grant system access will typically fail, denying authentication credentials to valid users.
• Time-based access control systems: Erroneously granted access could result in a violation of security policy. Systems could grant access during a time it should be denied, or they could deny valid users access.
• Logging systems: Incorrect timestamps result in an inaccurate audit trail.

To be honest I dont see how authentication is affected because  Kerberos uses UTC, not the local representation. Therefore even if the patch isn’t applied authentication will still work, lots of apps will be affected but not authentication.Not to fret because with every flaw microsoft have a patch or software or something to sort it! ; )

Im going to take that with a pinch of salt. Anyway you can run a patch to sync the times.

http://support.microsoft.com/gp/dst_it1

The power of Microsoft Power Toys

Essentially PowerToys are additional little programs that developers work on after a product has been released. These little apps are time saving delights that make alot of things that you wish you could do possible. Its interseting to note that these little tools are not part of Windows and are not supported by Microsoft. So if they dont work you are going to be using Mr. Google but saying that they are well developed and work well. There are a whole list of these little tools for download but I opted for the following:

HTML Slide Show Wizard

Open Command Window Here

This is just so handy, I code vb script, Kix and a bit of shell scripting so itmakes just that little bit easier easy to test code. Navigating to directories gets tiring. Efficient laziness.

Alt-Tab Replacement

Tweak UI

Image Resizer

CD Slide Show Generator

With this PowerToy you can view images burned to a CD as a slide show

Virtual Desktop Manager

Manage up to four desktops from the Windows taskbar with this PowerToy.

Taskbar Magnifier

Use this PowerToy to magnify part of the screen from the taskbar.

Webcam Timershot

This PowerToy lets you take pictures at specified time intervals from a Webcam connected to your computer and save them to a location that you designate. Not that I will use this in work but it looks cool!

Some of these tools add functionality and allow you to add your own unique style to the OS layout which is pretty cool.

Internet Explorer Keeps Crashing!-Try this!

To Repair Internet Explorer 6.x (Win2k / WinXP)

• Start -> Run
• Type: sfc /scannow
• Click OK
• Follow the prompts
• Reboot when System File Checker completes

There is also another method Microsoft describes (Method #2), but it is much more involved and requires editing the registry:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=31837

• nternet Explorer option
• Click OK

If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
When you try to reinstall the same version of Internet Explorer, you may receive the following error message:

Setup has detected a newer version of Internet Explorer already installed on this system.
Setup cannot continue.

To avoid this error message and reinstall the same version of Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, follow these steps:

1.	While you are logged on as an administrator, click Start, and then click Run.
2.	In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3.	Locate the appropriate registry subkey, right-click the IsInstalled (REG_DWORD) value, and then click Modify. To reinstall only the Internet Explorer 6 browser component on Windows XP, use the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{89820200-ECBD-11cf-8B85-00AA005B4383} To reinstall only Outlook Express 6 on Windows XP, use the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{44BBA840-CC51-11CF-AAFA-00AA00B6015C}
4.	Change the value data from 1 to 0, and then click OK.
5.	Quit Registry Editor, and then install Internet Explorer 6.
6.	To reinstall Windows XP updates, visit the following Microsoft Windows Update Web site: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Migrating Files and Settings in XP

I had the task of transferring a new Windows Xp machine to a user who wanted to keep all there settings and profiles for mail,desktop and web intact as they had been building and organising thier workstation for over a year. This was an easy technique as all you need is a Files and Settings Transfer Wizard which can be found at:

Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Files and Settings Transfer Wizard

Select the option that this is the old computer and you want to copy all the files and settings from this pc.

When the Select a transfer method page appears, I chose to save the the settings to a shared network drive, very handy as all our users have access to this. You can also use a direct cable between 2 pc’s.

Make sure to select Files and settings as users may have important spreadsheets or pdf documents on the desktop.

Then simply follow the instructions and watch the following items get sent to yuor shared drive:

Appearance. This includes items such as wallpaper, colors, sounds, and the location of the taskbar.

Action. This includes items such as the key repeat rate, whether double-clicking a folder opens it in a new window or the same window, and whether you need to double-click or single-click an item to open it.

Internet. These are the settings that let you connect to the Internet and control how your browser operates. This includes items such as your home page URL, favorites or bookmarks, cookies, security settings, dial-up connections, and proxy settings.

Mail. This includes the information you need to connect to your mail server, your signature file, views, mail rules, local mail, and contacts. The mail clients supported are Outlook® and Outlook Express.

Application settings

The wizard currently supports migrating specific application settings including Microsoft Office (Access, Excel, Outlook®, PowerPoint®, and Word). Support for migrating additional applications will be included when Windows XP is released.

Then go to your new machine, start the wizard, choose that this the new machine and transfer all settings and reboot. Bid a bam bid a boom. Simple!

I alternatively am working on the Loadstate and scanstate method but it’s a little trickier.