Manually Change Windows XP Product Key After Install

There are various <span>software applications</span> available on the internet to change or update the Windows XP product key automatically. Since many users cannot completely rely on such <span>software</span> for this work they prefer to do it manually.

Modifying or changing the product key of Windows is a very rare practice after the installation process when the product gets activated. This is one reason why Microsoft did not produce a built-in mechanism to change and update the product key.

The grounds where we might require changing the product key of the installed version of <span>Windows XP</span> is when the product is illegal and pirated. At such a situation we have to go about the process manually to enter a genuine product key. This also carried out in large firms and organizations VLK (Volume License Key) or any product key that has been leaked to for activating all the computers.

The manual process does require re-installing the <span>Windows XP</span>, but you can go about a hacking mechanism to delete the existing product key and forcing the <span>operating system</span> to prompt you to enter a new product key to activate it.
The simple steps of the hacking mechanism are as follows. Go to Start and select Run. An open text box appears where you need to type ‘regedit’ and then click OK. This runs the Registry Editor Program. Here on the left pane follow the below path

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\WPAEvents

On the right pane locate OOBETimer. Right click on the OOBETimer and select Modify. In the Value Data change at least one digit in the value displayed which will deactivate <span>Windows</span>. Then click on start and click Run.

In the Open Box type the command ‘%systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe/a’, and then click on OK. The Windows Product Activation window will appear where you need to select ‘Yes, I want to telephone a customer service representative to activate Windows’. Click next to proceed. Then click on ‘Change the Product Key’ and type the new product key in the new key box. Click on Update button.
If you are taken to any previous window simply click on ‘Remind me later’ and restart you computer. Your Windows XP product key gets modified and activated. You should still make sure that the activation has been carried out correctly through Run.

The activation reminder for 30 days gets resolved after which you have to register and activate online.