Recover Keys 11.0.4.229

Overview

Recover Keys is a useful tool for Windows users who have mislaid some of the activation keys for the software that they have installed on their computer.

The software can access the software keys for up to 6,500 different applications that run under Windows. Activation keys are useful to have because they are essential to the proper installation of most Windows software and yet they are not all that easy to lay your hands on when you need them.

This is especially true when having bought a replacement computer and wanting to re-install the software that was used on the previous computer. In this situation, knowing what the activation keys were will help to re-activate the purchased software on the replacement PC as well.

The software itself is simple to run. Once loaded up, it will run a process to scan all the installed software to locate it in the list of known software that the Recover Keys package can successfully extract the activation keys from. Once the process is complete, a full list of extracted activation keys can be backed up, saved to a plain text file or printed out. This makes the list easy to then use on a new PC where software needs to be installed.

Installation

The software required 23.3 MB of available space to complete the setup package. The installation completed without any difficulties.

There was no adware, toolbars, malware or spyware included with the setup program.

Recover Keys requires Windows NT, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 or 10 (32-bit or 64-bit).

Interface

The interface has over-sized toolbar buttons and no menu. The located program and activation key information is shown in rows inside the viewer pane once the scan is complete.

A simple interface that doesn't cause any confusion.

Pros

• Access a list of activation keys for installed software
• Re-install software again or install on a new PC using the original activation code
• Access over 6,500 programs including Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Macromedia Flash, Registry Mechanic, Partition Magic, Sound Forge, Camtasia Studio and Ulead Video Studio
• Scan other Windows installations or other hard drives
• Scan remote network drives
• Print out or save the activation codes as a plain text, Word, Excel, PDF, HTML, CSV, or XML file

Cons

• None

Alternatives

Product Key Explorer is an alternative application that can extract the product key from a number of prominent software packages. Similar software are Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder and Win KeyFinder.

Conclusion

Recover Keys is an effective tool for extracting the product key for installed software on a system. Covers over 6,500 different applications with a single scan.