15-Minute Reviews :: Recover Keys v1.0.0.4
Hello all and welcome to another 15-Minute Review! Today’s application is Recover Keys version 1.0.0.4 by Recover Keys – An application to aid in the recovery of software keys on your system.
Software Description
As Giveaway of the Day states:
“Have you ever lost your keys? Perhaps, yes. In such case you can create duplicate or change the lock. What if you lost your activation keys for Windows operating system or other major software you recently purchased? It may costs you from hundreds to thousands dollars.
With Recover Keys you simply diagnoze your system for all installed software and make a backup, print it or save to the text file. This may save you a lot of money.”
Quick Pros
- Interface is easy to read and use
- Does retrieve keys found in its supported list
- Capability to export and print handy for keeping records
Quick Cons
- Only finds titles on its list
- Customize Columns function is odd but works
Expansion
Upon launching this appliccation for the first time, you are greeted by a nicely-designed layout; Most of the screen is filled with a color-coded, customizable table in which all found keys will immediately appear in upon launch. From this, table you can right-click any entry to immediately copy rows or cells for quick copy-pasting plus a few other functions as well.. Along the bottom of the screen you will find buttons for exporting or printing, as well as the ability to customize the columns, finding specific information in the table, and refreshing the table. Overall, the interface is simple to use and does not look bad either.
The application does what it is intended to do; It will retrieve the license keys for software titles that are currently in its list of applications. If you want to get an idea of which licence keys the application can currently recover, you can check out the list in the application (In the menu View->Supported Software) or check out the webpage listing of titles supported. This is great functionality, but it may have been nice if there was an additional function that would search the registry for other entries that may look like a license key and attempt to ascertain their information as well; This however wouldn’t be as quick as the listing format either.
As well as viewing the information directly in the application, you can also choose to export the information to HTML, text file or a CSV for later reference (For example after a full reinstall of your system or asset tracking). As well, for those who would rather a physical record of the found serials, you can also choose to print your serials as well.
While I do like the ability to reorder and add/remove columns to the table for easier readability, one function I did find odd in the first place was the Customize Columns mini-window. Essentially it is a drop-box for the column headers; You can drag unused columns from the box to the table header to insert where you want it, or remove columns by dragging them into the drop box. While the functionality works as you would expect, it just didn’t seem to fit the application well. I would much prefer just to use the View menu to pick which columns and then reorder/resize the windows instead.
Final Verdict
While this application is simple and doesn’t provide true registry searches, it does well working from its list of applications; I recovered every key that was also part of the list, so it does work. For free, this may be a good application to grab if you have either lost your keys or are looking to make a quick record of the keys it can find. As for paying $19.95, for those who may not be comfortable recovering license keys manually and do see the keys you want in the supported list – This might be a far more logical and affordable step than repurchasing software or spending hours retrieving them from the software developers.
Posted by BladedThoth on Wednesday, November 21, 2007
