Windows xp product key from slave hard drive

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sg85

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Jul 14, 2011
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Hello,
I want to install windows XP onto my mac through VMWare. I have an install cd for XP from a computer I owned previously and I also have the hard drive which I pulled out of my old computer that has xp installed on it. However, I accidentally left the product key stuck on the computer when I threw it out. I am able to access the hard drive as an external hard drive through a USB adaptor. I know that there are ways (such as magical jellybean key finder) to find the product key on your current system. Unfortunately I cant use this on my (now) external hard drive. I tried to look through the registry.dat file but that is obviously encrypted. Does anyone know how to find it through exploring the hard drive or any other method like getting magical jellybean key finder to explore the external hard drive?

Thanks guys! (this is all because the Australian tax office hasn't woken up and realised that half of the population has macs and made etax for mac!)
 
G

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Wrong! If you connect the drive to a Windows computer and run Keyfinder, you can load the hive and recover the Windows key.
 
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