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The restore CDs that the OEM included with the computer still had all the crap baked into it. You needed a retail copy of Windows and hopefully someone hadn't r
by moftz 6y ago
The restore CDs that the OEM included with the computer still had all the crap baked into it. You needed a retail copy of Windows and hopefully someone hadn't ripped the OEM key sticker off the computer.
- selfhoster11 6y agoThe OEM key would be usually encoded into the BIOS on newer releases of Windows, and could be read from a working Windows install using a freeware utility. In practice, it was unlikely you'd have to reinstall on a freshly wiped PC that you don't have an OEM key for.