Windows Vista product key recovery without original hdd or coa sticker

[NERDBUG96]

Hello, I was asked to recycle an old HP Compaq dx2450 Microtower, which I removed from its case and turned into a linux machine.  The COA sticker for Windows Vista was pretty much not legible, all I could read was "Windows Vista".  The original hard drive failed shortly after opening the pc before I had a chance to back it up.  The drive has long since been scrapped.  It's not a huge concern, but I would like to know if it is possible to retrieve a Windows Vista product key using the computer's serial number, which I still have. I would use the Windows Vista OS for VM or similar use, as I like to mess with old stuff.  TL;DR: I have an old HP that used to run Vista, lost the COA and HDD, and want to recover the Vista key for other uses.  Anything I can do?

[Prométhée]

Hello
sorry, if your product key is no longer readable, you will not be able to recover it
See, if you can't find one on the net!
There are only activation keys for some Windows versions, you just need to have the installation support.
Unfortunately it seems to me that this does not always work, some may resell keys that do not work!

[itsmyname]

@NERDBUG96 -- Anything I can do?

Search on eBay or Amazon or Facebook Marketplace for a "retail" copy of Windows Vista, with DVD & product-key included.

If you no longer have the product-key, and you cannot extract the product-key from the disk-drive,  there are no options that are allowed to be stated here, under this forum's "Rules of Participation".

> I have an old HP that used to run Vista, lost the COA and HDD

For some models, HP offers a downloadable copy of the original operating system.

For some models, HP will ship you a copy of the original "factory-installed" operating system.