I have been using the License Crawler program to try to recover the product key for a version of Windows installed on an old PC. However, I keep ending up with the error message ‘MSCOMCTL.OCX not correctly registered – file missing or invalid’. I have no idea what is causing this – can you help me out?

This can happen for myriad reasons but it can be fixed with relative ease. Hold down the Windows key and tap R to display the Run dialogue box and then type regsvr32 mscomctl.ocx and press Enter – this will re-register the file and should hopefully allow License Crawler to run correctly.

Should you continue to experience problems, or if you just fancy trying an alternative, take a look at Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder. Scroll down the page and click the Download link in the Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder column. Download the file and run through installation – the installer also includes a browser toolbar from security specialist AVG so be sure to deselect this option during installation if you are not interested in it – then launch the program.

Keyfinder will scan your computer for supported programs then it will display a list of what it has found. Select the entry for Windows in the left-hand pane and the serial number that you need for installation will be shown to the right, next to the CD Key label. Make a note of this and you will be able to re-install Windows whenever you want. See, that wasn’t too hard. Much easier than looking for coins in cigar ashtrays 🙂