BUG: COA Number Displays Incorrectly in System Properties

ID: Q200452

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

When one goes through a preinstall/retail install using a Windows 98 OEM CD-ROM, the COA number does not show up correctly when you double-click System Properties in Control Panel. The COA number starts with a hyphen (-) and ends with a pipe (|).


CAUSE

This is a confirmed problem that exists on PCs preinstalled/retail installed with the Windows 98 OEM CD-ROM manufactured after November 22,1998.

The problem no longer exists after January 01, 1999.


RESOLUTION

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

A workaround for this problem is as follows:

  1. Click Start, point to Run, and type Regedit.


  2. Use Registry Editor to delete the hyphen (-) and pipe (|) characters from the ProductId value under the following registry key:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion


  3. Exit Regedit.



STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. The bug is corrected in the Windows 98 OSR1 OEM version. 


Keywords          : kbOPK 
Version           : WINDOWS:98
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbbug

Last Reviewed: March 6, 1999