Default Keys for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 Deployment
Last Update: Sep 04, 2024 | Published: Sep 07, 2011
Overview
In Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 – you can perform a full OS installation without having to manually enter a product key like you had to in previous Microsoft operating systems. This feature makes the installation much easier, and while Windows Server 2008 RTM and Windows Vista were “polite” about asking for the key (and you could simply ignore this polite request and promise to enter it after setup), in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 you no longer need to have the key handy during the installation process.
Where are the keys located
So where does the installation process grab the keys from? How does it know what key to enter?
The answer is simple. It has knowledge of all the keys that can be used, and it takes that information from a simple textual answer file that is used, by default, during the installation process.
You can locate the file, called PRODUCTS.INI, in the installation DVD, in the SOURCES folder.
This is how it looks like in Windows 7:
If you open the file, you’ll get the following list of product keys:
HomeBasicN=MD83G-H98CG-DXPYQ-Q8GCR-HM8X2 ServerHomeStandard=BTMWJ-8KHD9-B9BX8-J7JQ9-7M6J2 ServerForSBSolutions=PHYFD-HQ4XW-78PR4-2CXKF-V67KJ ServerSolutionsPremium=4TMY4-8JG4B-VKY8X-6TVDH-J7XFV ProfessionalE=3YHKG-DVQ27-RYRBX-JMPVM-WG38T UltimateE=TWMF7-M387V-XKW4Y-PVQQD-RK7C8 Professional=HYF8J-CVRMY-CM74G-RPHKF-PW487 ServerWinSBV=WQG3Q-VWT72-VX39Q-VRTRD-2RF7K Starter=7Q28W-FT9PC-CMMYT-WHMY2-89M6G UltimateN=HTJK6-DXX8T-TVCR6-KDG67-97J8Q ServerSolution=VVWPG-XFYWQ-4HBR7-DYGCW-TF7XW ServerSBSPremiumCore=BXQQP-Q6Q6D-TR7TR-3YXQW-VFHKM Embedded=743Q4-G676P-84RX9-B8HRR-6V73F ServerHomePremium=YQXDR-G2MBV-63VW2-JX8J2-FVTVG ServerEssentialAdditional=MDWJ7-3XKWR-P7M89-YXFWX-B3DWD ServerMediumBusinessManagement=FD499-FD79G-V9D2W-F9WQ6-MD2VC ServerEssentialManagement=D93YD-6Q3KV-FQFG2-P6D23-PKR8T HomeBasicE=VTKM9-74GQY-K3W94-47DHV-FTXJY StarterE=BRQCV-K7HGQ-CKXP6-2XP7K-F233B ServerSolutionsPremiumCore=4TMY4-8JG4B-VKY8X-6TVDH-J7XFV ServerForSBSolutionsEM=JR4Y2-WC84X-PBRDJ-QTBTB-TQGGH ServerEnterpriseIA64=7YKJ4-CX8QP-Q23QY-7BYQM-H2893 Enterprise=H7X92-3VPBB-Q799D-Y6JJ3-86WC6 Ultimate=D4F6K-QK3RD-TMVMJ-BBMRX-3MBMV ServerHPC=Q7PRR-M2WBM-RJJ99-FG393-MGY3B HomePremiumE=76BRM-9Q4K3-QDJ48-FH4F3-9WT2R ServerHyperCore=Q8R8C-T2W6H-7MGPB-4CQ9R-KR36H ServerEmbeddedSolution=M2KD2-F2333-Q3TJ8-BQMHX-9PWX6 ServerWinFoundation=36RXV-4Y4PJ-B7DWH-XY4VW-KQXDQ ServerStandard=HMG6P-C7VGP-47GJ9-TWBD4-2YYCD ServerSBSStandard=YT76W-VD3W9-QDCK4-9QFPX-WQY4J HomeBasic=YGFVB-QTFXQ-3H233-PTWTJ-YRYRV ServerEssentialAdditionalSvc=VKP7D-84WCR-YHGQP-TXT76-6283H HomePremium=RHPQ2-RMFJH-74XYM-BH4JX-XM76F HomePremiumN=D3PVQ-V7M4J-9Q9K3-GG4K3-F99JM ServerDatacenterCore=7X29B-RDCR7-J6R29-K27FF-H9CR9 ServerWeb=YGTGP-9XH8D-8BVGY-BVK4V-3CPRF ServerMediumBusinessSecurity=YQ3V7-79DM4-42PVW-BYRH8-69VXK ServerSBSPremium=BXQQP-Q6Q6D-TR7TR-3YXQW-VFHKM ServerWebCore=YGTGP-9XH8D-8BVGY-BVK4V-3CPRF ServerEmbeddedSolutionCore=M2KD2-F2333-Q3TJ8-BQMHX-9PWX6 ServerEnterprise=7P8GH-FV2FF-8FDCR-YK49D-D7P97 ProfessionalN=BKFRB-RTCT3-9HW44-FX3X8-M48M6 ServerMediumBusinessMessaging=YVYC7-KVQ8G-XF6K4-9MG8M-QXFC2 ServerSolutionEM=WF9T8-VT7D2-GD629-WTKGH-3WBJT ServerEnterpriseCore=7P8GH-FV2FF-8FDCR-YK49D-D7P97 ServerEssentialManagementSvc=YJXJC-Q227R-YBMG7-7VF8K-H24QY StarterN=D4C3G-38HGY-HGQCV-QCWR8-97FFR ServerDatacenter=7X29B-RDCR7-J6R29-K27FF-H9CR9 EnterpriseE=H3V6Q-JKQJG-GKVK3-FDDRF-TCKVR ServerWinSB=RBY6X-FDBHT-P86CY-MVFV8-4W43X ServerStandardCore=HMG6P-C7VGP-47GJ9-TWBD4-2YYCD EnterpriseN=BQ4TH-BWRRY-424Y9-7PQX2-B4WBD gvlkServerHPC=TT8MH-CG224-D3D7Q-498W2-9QCTX gvlkServerEmbeddedSolution=736RG-XDKJK-V34PF-BHK87-J6X3K gvlkServerStandard=YC6KT-GKW9T-YTKYR-T4X34-R7VHC gvlkProfessionalE=W82YF-2Q76Y-63HXB-FGJG9-GF7QX gvlkServerDatacenterCore=74YFP-3QFB3-KQT8W-PMXWJ-7M648 gvlkServerWeb=6TPJF-RBVHG-WBW2R-86QPH-6RTM4 gvlkProfessional=FJ82H-XT6CR-J8D7P-XQJJ2-GPDD4 gvlkServerWebCore=6TPJF-RBVHG-WBW2R-86QPH-6RTM4 gvlkServerEnterprise=489J6-VHDMP-X63PK-3K798-CPX3Y gvlkProfessionalN=MRPKT-YTG23-K7D7T-X2JMM-QY7MG gvlkServerEnterpriseCore=489J6-VHDMP-X63PK-3K798-CPX3Y gvlkServerDatacenter=74YFP-3QFB3-KQT8W-PMXWJ-7M648 gvlkEnterpriseE=C29WB-22CC8-VJ326-GHFJW-H9DH4 gvlkServerEnterpriseIA64=GT63C-RJFQ3-4GMB6-BRFB9-CB83V gvlkEnterpriseN=YDRBP-3D83W-TY26F-D46B2-XCKRJ gvlkEnterprise=33PXH-7Y6KF-2VJC9-XBBR8-HVTHH gvlkServerStandardCore=YC6KT-GKW9T-YTKYR-T4X34-R7VHC
Summary
As you can see, the list (which is identical on a Windows Server 2008 R2 installation DVD), contains many keys that are valid for the various versions of the Windows OS. These keys cannot be used to activate the OS installation, for that you’ll need to obtain a valid and genuine product key that fits the version (or SKU) of the OS that is installed on your computer.
By the way, if you’re wondering about what product key is used by an existing OS, you can always use one of the freely available key grabber tools found on the web. A nice link to start looking for such a tool is this place:
13 Free Product Key Finder Programs
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/productkeysactivation/tp/topkeyfinder.htm
Note: I strongly recommend that you manually run a virus scan on these tools, you can never know what else is included in “free” stuff that can be downloaded from so called download repositories… The above link is provided for your reference only.