In older versions, all you had to do to retrieve your Crystal Reports license key was go into Help > About. That screen would show the key and your registration number (if you registered the software). In more recent versions the key is no longer there. There is a license manager under the [Help] menu but it only shows you the first few and last few characters of your license key. I assume this was intended as a security measure. However, if you need to reinstall Crystal Reports when you upgrade your hardware you might struggle a bit. Here are three other ways to find your key:
- Check your Email. Most installs are downloads and the key is Emailed to the person making the purchase. You might have received that Email or had it forwarded to you.
- Call SAP Sales. If you purchased it directly from SAP (the most common option these days) they should be able to look up your account and give you the key.
- Or, my favorite, pull it from the registry. You will probably find it in this registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Wow6432Node/SAP BusinessObjects/
Suite XI 4.0/Crystal Reports/Keycodes/CR Dev
The registry key will contain the license key followed by an 8-digit numeric date, separated by a colon.