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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?
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You will not lose the license/product key after resetting the system if the Windows version installed earlier is activated and genuine. The license key for Windows 10 would have been activated already on the mother board if the previous version installed on the PC is of activated and genuine copy.
If your Windows 10 PC is working just fine, the Reset this PC function is all that you need in most cases. In this article we take a look at using it to perform a clean install. Note: No product key is required when using the Recovery Drive to reinstall Windows 11 or Windows 10.
On a client computer, open a Command Prompt window, type Slmgr. vbs /ato, and then press ENTER. The /ato command causes the operating system to attempt activation by using whichever key has been installed in the operating system. The response should show the license state and detailed Windows version information.
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!
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