Certificate of Authenticity - Product ID

Hello.

You might have to consider contacting your OS owner directly. For Microsoft: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/gp/contactus81?Audience=Commercial 

but this is an OEM license issued by Dell

just confirmed with Microsoft that they will not support this as this was an OEM license issued by Dell

The service tag indicates that the system is out of warranty. go to the Microsoft OEM System Builder website and fill out the Media Replacement for End Users of System Builders form to order a copy of your media. See link: https://www.microsoft.com/OEM/en/salesmarketing/Pages/media-replacement.aspx#fbid=WNRDXqA0QCY

You should also have the following information readily available:

• The product key from the COA sticker
• The damaged media with lot numbers on the media which can be read to Microsoft to verify possession of the physical media
• A copy of the original order

Robert if you read the first post you will see the whole issue is that the COA sticker is not legible 

I have an older server which the COA sticker has been rubbed off. I need to reinstall the OS but the product key is not legible any longer, is there a way to retrieve the product key from the Service Tag #?

What model server do you have? Also, do you have DELL supplied install media for the OS in question? If so, what OS version are you wanting to reinstall?

If indeed the server shipped from Dell with Windows Server installed (with a COA), the Dell supplied Install DVD should install the OS without asking for a license key. Authentication should be automatic as long as the OEM OS from the install media matches the SLIC code embedded in firmware. Servers shipped without Windows Server have the SLIC code hidden, so will require typing in a license key.

The server shipped with Server 2008, and i do have the install media. I also understand that i do not need to put in the license key when installing except if i choose to install a VM which requires the Virtual Key which is not visible any more.

When installing an OS to bare metal using Dells OEM install disk, the process will install a license certificate file (something.xrm-ms) and an OEM 5x5 product key within the OS using slmgr.vbs commands. IIRC these slmgr.vbs commands preform some cross checks between the llicense file just installed within the OS and that available within the BIOS SLIC table as well as checking the validity of the 5x5 OEM SLIC product key. If all is OK the system will auto activate without needing internet access.

The problem when installing OS to VM rather than bear metal seems to be that the execution of these slmgr.vbs commands will not work as the real BIOS is abstracted from the OS by the VM itself and likley rubbish is returned when interogating the SLIC table for it's data; hence check fails and auto activation does not work.

In any case, for the curious, the license file can be found within an OEM install usually within %windir%\system32\oem\ while the OEM product key can be found via the following vbs script (save text to a file with .vbs extension and execute):

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
MsgBox ConvertToKey(WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DigitalProductId"))
 
Function ConvertToKey(Key)
    Const KeyOffset = 52
    i = 28
    Chars = "BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789"
    Do
        Cur = 0
        x = 14
        Do
            Cur = Cur * 256
            Cur = Key(x + KeyOffset) + Cur
            Key(x + KeyOffset) = (Cur \ 24) And 255
            Cur = Cur Mod 24
            x = x -1
        Loop While x >= 0
        i = i -1
        KeyOutput = Mid(Chars, Cur + 1, 1) & KeyOutput
        If (((29 - i) Mod 6) = 0) And (i <> -1) Then
            i = i -1
            KeyOutput = "-" & KeyOutput
        End If
    Loop While i >= 0
    ConvertToKey = KeyOutput
End Function

So it's not an issue of a Virtual Key as such but more an inability to correctly access the BIOS SLIC table data to allow the OEM process to auto activate.

In the not so distant past, i'd use system builder edition disks to install clean OS and not enter a product key but instead use slmgr.vbs commands to install license certificate and oem product key post install where OS would automagically change to OEM build and auto activate. Strictly speaking this is not within license rules but playing at home on a system that came with the OS lets me sleep well at nights.

However, i've not played with VM's so not sure if just using an OEM product key to activate a VM installed OS using system builders install disks wil work but i'd guess not as key wont match build type (so likely no joy on that front).

Back to the real issue, the difficulty with faded COA's is that MS doesn't want to know you and hands you back to OEM who tries to hand you back to MS who tries to hand you back to OEM...

But in reality it's a faulty product (the faded COA label itself) that is the problem. As such it's the OEM who sold the system with poor quality label that fades that should be the one to resolve this issue for you (likely via OEM getting MS to help as needed)... You shouldn't have to be playing phone ping pong...

I'd again ring Dell support and escalate the issue higher up the support chain and hopefully persistance will pay off...