If you lose the CD case for the NT install, you also lose the CD Key unless you've written it down somewhere. This is a problem when you need to reinstall.
The CD Key is digits 6 through 15 of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProductId .
Using Windows NT Diagnostics, the CD Key is digits 6 through 15 on the fourth line of information on the Version tab.