[kwlug-disc] Copying a Windows 7 partition to a new disk

[Hubert Chathi]

On Wed, 30 Mar 2016 16:43:15 -0400, Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> said:

> I would reinstall Windows, since that is also the cleanest approach.
> Except that laptop came with Vista (or something that ancient) and we
> have no media for it. It was upgraded to Windows 7 a while back, and
> the key is not written anywhere.

The key is stored in the registry.  A quick Google brings me to
https://techwalla.com/content/windows-product-key-registry

I don't know if, in your case, that would be the original install key or
the Windows 7 key, but it might be worth a try if all else fails.