The installed ones Windows, store the product key in your system registry. This may be useful if at some point you do not remember which key you used. If you have lost or forgotten your key, we have published a simple PowerShell script which will help you recover it.
But since the functional system stores your key somewhere in the registry, someone with knowledge can find it out. If you want to protect it from possible theft you can remove it from the registry permanently. This operation is safe and will not affect the activation state of your operating system. Follow the simple tutorial to learn how to delete the stored product key of Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 and Windows Vista.
Open a command window. In Windows 7/Vista, type cmd.exe in the box searchs in menu Start. cmd.exe will appear in the search results. Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open a command prompt window as an administrator. Another way is to right-click and select “Run as administrator”. In Windows 8/8.1, type cmd.exe on the right side of the Start screen or press Win+Q and type “cmd”. When cmd.exe appears in the search results, press Ctrl + Shift + Enter.
In the command window that appears, type:
slmgr / cpky
That's it !
For those who want to understand what exactly is going on. the slmgr command stands for Software Licensing Manager, and is a Visual Basic script in the Windows\System32 folder. The script usestai for the management of system licensing. The /cpky switch tells slmgr to remove the product key.
Bonus tip: Even if the product key has been removed, you can still see a part of it if you need to remember who it is. To see a portion of your Windows key, open a command prompt, and type:
slmgr / dli
