COMPUTER TIPS & TRICKS

June 2005

Don’t Lose your

Software Program Serial Numbers

If you are reformatting your hard drive or you bought a new computer and are reinstalling a program from the CD, but can’t find the little card that has the serial number on it, do this.

Before reformatting or erasing the drive on your old system. Go to Help/About... in each program and the serial number should be there. If it isn't, you can get it from the registry (only advanced users should try this). For more about the registry see the tip "What's My Code?", or
http://www.worldstart.com/tips/system-maintenance/prodkey.htm

Now that you have the numbers, what should you do?

You could type up a list of the serial numbers, but since you still have the CD, use a permanent marker (preferably one made for marking CDs) and write the serial number on the label side of the disk.

Now, no more lost serial numbers!

Tip thanks to http://www.worldstart.com/tips/