Help with clean install

Alright so here's my story so far:
I bought a lightly used gateway p-6831fx that works fine and I like a lot. The only problem is that it has no restore disk. So I contacted Gateway, registered the laptop, and purchased a restore disk that the rep led me to believe would allow a clean install. Unfourtunatly, I can't find anyway to cleanly install from the disk, it only has factory reset and some time reset thing. I'm afraid that if I totally wipe my hard drive from the command prompt, I won't be able to install with that disk since there is no product key.
Which leads me to my real question. Is there anyway to find the product key of the vista that's currently installed on my computer? My dad has a vista disk that came with his gateway and that he used for a clean install. I though that if I could find out what my product key is, I'd be able to use his disk safely. Thanks very much for your help!

 

http://magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

 

Cool, that looks like it will help a lot!
Thank you very much for the quick response!

 

If there is no COA label on that computer, you cannot legally have Windows on that computer. The product key would be on the COA label, if you have to get it another way you're doing something illegal.

Also a factory reset is basically a clean install, it will come with Gateway's bloat, but it will reformat the computer.

 

not if the coa was rubbed off. the computer was bought used. there is nothing illegal about retrieving the product key on an activated system

 

A factory reset is not a clean install. The whole purpose of the clean install is to get rid of the 3rd party applications and bring the machine back to just the OS and drivers for the installed hardware.

 

Read Microsoft's EULA. An intact COA is required in order to run Windows on a system. My suspicion was that the seller removed the COA to use elsewhere when he sold the computer.

I know, I said it will not remove the bloat that Gateway has put in, but he is looking to reload Windows because the computer he bought still has the other guy's settings, programs, etc. He just wants a fresh install of Windows.

 

Once you are able to recover your Key you will need to buy/borrow the Vista media, either retail, OEM or anytime upgrade media will work. The restore disc you got from CS won't do the trick.

 

If thats' the case then we have a problem

 

Well I did say IF there is no COA.

 

A seller just cannot remove a COA, it will be useless to him. If that notebook has an OEM key, it is tied to the motherboard, and can only be used on that notebook. Anyway what would the seller do with the OEM key, it won't work on any other notebook....

 

Discussion of illegal software practices is not allowed on this forum; I had to delete several posts.

 

Sorry about that.

 

Thanks for your help guys. It does indeed have a COA (checked before buying) and I used my dad's upgrade disk to get a fresh install (yay, no bloatware!) Thanks again.