Change Windows XP Key

From ITS Wiki - Information Technology Services - University of Rhode Island

ATTENTION
This article is for experienced users ONLY. Do not attempt the following if you are unfamiliar with the material. If in doubt, please contact the Help Desk at 874-HELP.

The following steps will invalidate the product key, and the system will then prompt a user for a new key.

1. In the run panel, enter regedit and click OK.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\WPAEvents.
3. In the right-hand pane, right-click ODBETimer, and select Modify from the drop-down menu.
4. Change any set of numbers from 0 to 9 or letters from A to F (i.e. DD to CC).
5. Click OK and close the registry editor.

Windows should now ask for a new product key.