can any one help i need

[goat_roper_me]

a windows 98se product key i have a old 98se disk but dont have the old computer i was installed on the mother board whent bad and now i cant find the key number that came with the disk and i was told any 98se key number will work with the disk i have so can some one give me the numbers please

[Kevin_gibson]

No, you have the Internet, you have a lot of resources to find a product key, Microsoft don't make this CD anymore so unless you know somebody with Windows 98, then you may need to buy Windows XP with an official Product Key.

[goat_roper_me]

will a windows 98 product key work with a windows 98se

[Kevin_gibson]

I'm not sure, I know Windows XP Pro won't work with Home

[goat_roper_me]

and it worked the disk he gave me would not work on the computer i was installing it on so i figure it would work for win 98se plus ive got and old win 98 with the product key and put it on three other computers and thay all worked but i did upgrade to win xp on two of them

[TopFarmer]

any 98 key will work on lots of cd's. I normally when it asks for the key , I will reboot into safe mode, run regedit and put in any number/letters into Productkey.

[goat_roper_me]

will a windows 98 productkey work with a win 98se disk do you know or where i can get the product key number as i have a disk but cant find the productkey number for it and the computer it was on is roasted in my trash buring pile
thanks

[Jaycee]

I found this

"What's the big deal. Use Sisoft Sandra (the free version is sufficienct) and the option "Windows Information" gives product ID and Product Key."

Just google "windows 98se product keys" and you may find what you want

Hope it helps

[harry12]

If you have a Legit CD and also a legit product key they "should" work even if they didn't come from the same source.....but I suspect Win98 might not work with a Win98SE - I understand these product keys satisfie an algorithm that grants permission; hence the ability to have several codes that will unlock the software. [Of course special version may be different].
With Win98SE Official discs cheap at Computer Fairs, it may be time to get a spare and new code - it will be a collector's item within the next hundred years.....rather like a Sinclair Z80.....not bad for kit that was HOT only 27 years ago!

I understood this was a requirement for a low-spec PC, so suggesting he uses XP is not appropriate - and with Vista here, it makes little sense being almost the same price.

History...FWIW....
-In the days of Win98SE Microsoft wasn't so paranoid about software theft and this is probably why Windows became the de-facto OS...If an OEM slipped in a few extras, no-one knew and the extra profit helped an industry that was already suffering from falling prices.

Now, IMHO, MS is plain daft, even requiring me to phone their helpline (is it?) if I change the HDD, motherboard etc. of course this limits piracy, but those that "know" can/do get round these issues and for plain Joe Public ( OK, me on m'ownsome) it is a very good reason Not to buy MS. SO I stick with Win98SE and also keep trying Ubuntu -
Linux has moved on great strides, esp Ubuntu (now taken up by Dell), which would never have happened if Win98SE-style permissions had been maintained -
I think it shows a flawed strategy, based on short-term profits, rather than BG's original aspiration to have his OS on every desktop.
-The delays and potential flaws in Vista (we hear), have boosted the Ubuntu take-up and now 50% of the price of a cheap PC is down to basic Vista software.....and adding MS Office can double that.
-
This cannot be right.

[plthayer]

justask - The keys are NOT matched to each individual cd. The only restrictions are on the versions. It's is standard 98 then it has to be a 98 key, if it's 98 upgrade then it has to be an upgrade key, if it's 98se then it has to be a 98se key.

I've used a single copy of each type of windows to install on multiple machines for years and never had a single issue. Even now XP keys are not matched to installation cd's....if they did that with 98 why would they stop with XP? That is the reason they started using product activation when XP was released.

Every single cd would have to be unique in order to match the key to the cd. It would be too expensive and slow for MS to do that. When they create the installation media they have one final image they use to make millions of copies.