Reset Windows Activation Remove license key

Question

I m having a hard time finding and answer to this  If I had to hypotheitcally remove the Windows license key from a VM that s been specifically setup for a partner  and it needs to be removed before the VM is handed over  how would I go about doing this  Naturally the built-in 30 day grace period has expired and I m using an MSDN license key  but I need to remove the key before handing the VM off  The recipient can input their own license key  e g  how do I reset the Activation Key Wizard s nagging

User · Answer

On Windows XP -   Reboot into  Safe mode with Command Prompt  Type  explorer  in the command prompt that comes up and push  Enter  Click on Start Run  and type the following       rundll32 exe syssetup SetupOobeBnk      Reboot  and login as normal    This will reset the 30 day timer for activation back to 30 days so you can enter in the key normally

User · Answer

Open a command prompt as an Administrator  Enter slmgr  upk and wait for this to complete  This will uninstall the current product key from Windows and put it into an unlicensed state  Enter slmgr  cpky and wait for this to complete  This will remove the product key from the registry if it s still there  Enter slmgr  rearm and wait for this to complete  This is to reset the Windows activation timers so the new users will be prompted to activate Windows when they put in the key    This should put the system back to a pre-key state   Hope this helps you out

[windows] Reset Windows Activation/Remove license key

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