Hi, I have an old computer in my basement which I would still like to use. I wiped the hard drive and went to reinstall Windows 98, but it wants a product key that I do not have. Is there any way I can find out the product key from the CD by using my new computer to read the disc or anything similar? Thanks in advance.

A Google search found the following suggestion: Check the CD label and "Look for a number that begins with XO. What you can do is call customer central at microsoft. If you have not called before it should be free once. Tell them your situation. They will ask for that XO number and then issue you a new key."

Thanks, but there was another answer online, it was weird, but it worked, all Windows 98 install disks use the same product key number, it worked and installed 0_0 talk about weird, thank you for the help though! The product key was= VP9VV-VJW7Q-MHY6W-JK47R-M2KGJ and it seems to work for everyone who owns the disc, each disc is the same 0_0!

No, they don't use the same number. As a matter of fact the product key is not contained in the CD. The CD's all use the same formula to check if you've entered a valid key. That way they can make all the disks the same but still assign each user a unique key. (Well, OEM and retail formulas are different so their keys are not interchangeable.)

You probably have obtained a boot leg key. Have you ever installed any version of Windows before? If so, you know you need a product key. If you had bothered to post BEFORE wiping the drive then we could have told you how to retrieve the key from you existing install.

Well I don't think the key I would've had would be accurate because the previous install had Windows98SE which may have been different, but the install seemed to have worked.

First edition and second edition keys are interchangeable too as long as they're both OEM or both retail.