How To: Change Windows Vista Product Key After Install
In some circumstances, where you are unable to activate or fail WGA validation due to compromised, leaked, blocked or violated product key, you can change Windows Vista product key after installation, without the need to reinstall Windows Vista.Changing the Windows Vista product key may be necessary if you discover your current key is pirated or illegal but you don’t want to reinstall Windows Vista to activate your new legal key.
To change Windows Vista product key, use the following steps:
Go to Windows Vista System Properties window with one of the following method:
- Right click on Computer and select Properties in the right click context menu
- Click on Start button, then Control Panel, and then select “System” (for classic view of Control Panel).
- Click on Start button, then Control Panel, and then System and Maintenance, and then select “System” (for normal view of Control Panel).
At the bottom of the Windows Vista System Properties window where “Windows activation” section located, click on a blue link named “Change product key” with a small shield icon next to it. Your system might need a second or two to display the change product key dialog after clicking on the link.
To change Windows Vista product key using command prompt, use the following steps:
Do you need to change your product key so that you can activate Windows Vista properly? You can use a great command line tool that will help you do this very easily.
- Run Elevated Command Prompt in Windows Vista with administrator rights or privileges. To do so, locate Command Prompt icon in Start Menu, right click on it and select Run as Administrator. You can also type in command prompt in Windows Vista instant search, and right click on Command Prompt shortcut and then select Run as Administrator to enable administrator credentials. Answer yes to any Windows Vista User Account Control(UAC) confirmation. You can also Turn off UAC in Windows Vista very safely.
- In the command prompt window, type the following command: slmgr.vbs -ipk <insert your product key here>
- Replace <insert your product key here> with the 25-digit Windows Vista product key.
- To activate windows after changing the key, run the following command in the command prompt window: slmgr.vbs -ato
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Written by Tony on January 14th, 2009 with
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