How to find Windows product Key if your sticker is damaged

Question

I found a possible solution to the question here: http://youtu.be/71Vc9QiraQE

I am not a power shell user myself and cannot quite follow the code in the script.

It would be a useful script to help with reinstalls when operating systems have been upgraded. My problem is I would like to understand it more before using it or at least be told it looks harmless.

Here is the Script:

function Get-WindowsKey {
    ## function to retrieve the Windows Product Key from any PC
    param ($targets = ".")
    $hklm = 2147483650
    $regPath = "Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion"
    $regValue = "DigitalProductId"
    Foreach ($target in $targets) {
        $productKey = $null
        $win32os = $null
        $wmi = [WMIClass]"\\$target\root\default:stdRegProv"
        $data = $wmi.GetBinaryValue($hklm,$regPath,$regValue)
        $binArray = ($data.uValue)[52..66]
        $charsArray = "B","C","D","E","F","G","H","J","K","M","P","Q","­R","T","V","W","X","Y","2","3","4","5","6","7","8","9"
        ## decrypt base24 encoded binary data
        For ($i = 24; $i -ge 0; $i--) {
            $k = 0
            For ($j = 14; $j -ge 0; $j--) {
                $k = $k * 256 -bxor $binArray[$j]
                $binArray[$j] = [math]::truncate($k / 24)
                $k = $k % 24
            }
            $productKey = $charsArray[$k] + $productKey
            If (($i % 5 -eq 0) -and ($i -ne 0)) {
                $productKey = "-" + $productKey
            }
        }
        $win32os = Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem -computer $target
        $obj = New-Object Object
        $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty Computer -value $target
        $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty Caption -value $win32os.Caption
        $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty CSDVersion -value $win32os.CSDVersion
        $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty OSArch -value $win32os.OSArchitecture
        $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty BuildNumber -value $win32os.BuildNumber
        $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty RegisteredTo -value $win32os.RegisteredUser
        $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty ProductID -value $win32os.SerialNumber
        $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty ProductKey -value $productkey
        $obj
    }
}
Get-WindowsKey

The first command used in Windows PowerShell:

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

If the first script doesn't work, try this: I was able to get my key using this, but I had to fix the script, changing the last line to:

function Get-WindowsKey {
# ...
}
Get-WindowsKey localhost

Answer 1

I think the YouTube video overdoes it a bit, you could simply cut and paste the contents of that into a PowerShell window without having to muck about with executionpolicy and importing the file.

Just open PowerShell, paste the below code into it and hit Enter a few times until it returns.

param ($targets = ".")
$hklm = 2147483650
$regPath = "Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion"
$regValue = "DigitalProductId4"
Foreach ($target in $targets) {
    $productKey = $null
    $win32os = $null
    $wmi = [WMIClass]"\\$target\root\default:stdRegProv"
    $data = $wmi.GetBinaryValue($hklm,$regPath,$regValue)
    $binArray = ($data.uValue)[52..66]
    $charsArray = "B","C","D","E","F","G","H","J","K","M","P","Q","R","T","V","W","X","Y","2","3","4","5","6","7","8","9"
    ## decrypt base24 encoded binary data to characters. 
    For ($i = 24; $i -ge 0; $i--) {
        $k = 0
        For ($j = 14; $j -ge 0; $j--) {
            $k = $k * 256 -bxor $binArray[$j]
            $binArray[$j] = [math]::truncate($k / 24)
            $k = $k % 24
        }
        $productKey = $charsArray[$k] + $productKey
        If (($i % 5 -eq 0) -and ($i -ne 0)) {
            $productKey = "-" + $productKey
        }
    }
    $win32os = Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem -computer $target
    $obj = New-Object Object
    $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty Computer -value $target
    $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty Caption -value $win32os.Caption
    $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty CSDVersion -value $win32os.CSDVersion
    $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty OSArch -value $win32os.OSArchitecture
    $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty BuildNumber -value $win32os.BuildNumber
    $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty RegisteredTo -value $win32os.RegisteredUser
    $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty ProductID -value $win32os.SerialNumber
    $obj | Add-Member Noteproperty ProductKey -value $productkey
    $obj
}

I highly recommend backing up the hard drive (or replacing it entirely) in case the script hasn't decrypted it properly. It would kind of suck to go through all this to find it's wrong and you've just wiped your previous OS.