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In Vista and Windows 7, when you activate your copy of Windows by entering a product key, Windows saves the product key deep in the Registry. The saved product key comes useful when you want to reinstall Windows 7 without entering the product key.
Since there are many applications available to retrieve the Windows product key from the Registry, you might want to delete the product key from the Registry to avoid someone extracting the key from the Registry with the help of software and then use it on his/her PC to activate Windows copy.
Luckily, Windows allows you to delete the product key from the Registry without deactivating your activation. And the good thing is that you don't need to search for the key in the Registry. You just need to execute a command at the Command Prompt to clear the key from Registry.
Delete Windows product key from Registry
Follow the given below directions to quickly remove the product key from the Registry.
Step 1: In your Start Menu Search box, type CMD and simultaneously press Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys to open the Command Prompt as Administrator. It's a must to launch Command Prompt as administrator.
Step 2: In the elevated prompt, type the following command and press the Enter key to delete the product key from the Registry.
slmgr -cpky
Wait for “Product key from Registry cleared successfully” confirmation message and then, restart your PC. That's it!
As said before, deleting the product key from Registry will have no effect on the current activation status of your Windows operating system. If you use a product key retrieving application now, it will either won't show the product key or display a generic key.
Before deleting the product key from the Registry, make sure that you have a copy of the product key which you will need to activate Windows 7 after the reinstall!
