Use RockXP !
It's free and it will recover your Windows XP CD Key ...

according to my AVProgram its loaded[4 nastie files deleted maybe faulse but keyfinder didn't work ] with trojans !

Dont use that, use MagicJellybean. Ive used it before. Works for office too. And doesnt seem to contain any viruses.

If you dont have an installed system to retrieve the key from then you are screwed. The key is not stored on the disk.

By "i lost mine from the cd" my most likely guess is this guy is just another pirate anyway....

thnx jbennet .......i'l try this

It's working with me, btw, I suggested this because my AV flags MagicalJellyBean Keyfinder as a virus/trojan ...

it installed these on my computer as detected by Symantecs,i even get a warning when i clicked the download link on the web page !and i have had AVG delete the keyfinder.exe from jellybean before .but symantec doesn't bother with it .

http://securityresponse.symantec.com...081707-2550-99

http://securityresponse.symantec.com...032616-0025-99

this is is a safe program and will list all your software keys .
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Well jellybean is OSS (hosted on sourecforge) so you would think someone would notice if it was malware...

did not work ..

Well go and buy another licence then - if you dont have it installed on a pc then you cant retrieve the key, as it not stored on the cd (all windows cds are the same, in fact any windows key will work with any cd of the correct version)

If it was OEM, it should have a sticker on the side of your PC. If it was retail, ring up MS support and make sure you have the box and your reciept handy and hope you registered it when you installed it before and they may give/sell you a new one.