Problems reading Windows Key on 64 bit machine

Question

I want to read with a simple c# application the windows key from the registry. But on a x64 machine I recieve only BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB as the key and that is wrong... How can I fix that problem?

RegistryKey key = RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.LocalMachine, RegistryView.Registry64);
RegistryKey subkey = key.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion");

Thanks!

Answer 1

According to this Web Site that makes CD Key recovery software and this Windows7Forums thread , the existance of all B's for the product ID is indicative of a MAK(Multiple Activation Key) key.

From First link:

The B's means the cd key is not stored in your computer, so cannot be recovered. That can be due to a few reasons:

A MAK was used for activation;
SLMGR was used to remove the key from the windows registry,
or You're running a pirated version of Windows.

From Second Link

This is a big problem when an administrator sets up many PCs with a volume license key. Because everyone can extract the VLC key and use it for additional installations. Because this reason the VLC key is automatically deleted from the registry after activation. And after this all key finder show only "not available" or BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB-BBBBB. With command line: slmgr –dli you can get a "Partial product key" – the last 5 characters of the product key. This "Partial product key" is saved in encrypted form in the certificate file "tokens.dat" (C:\\Windows\\ServiceProfiles\\NetworkService\\AppData\\Roaming\\Microsoft\\SoftwareProtectionPlatform\\tokens.dat). Everyone who fears that his key can be stolen can also delete manually the product key from registry with this command line: slmgr –cpky (cpky = clear product key = remove product key from the registry)

Answer 2

A quick web search shows many people with the same problem. One solution seems to be to get the DigitalProductID4 value if DigitalProductID is all B's.