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Use a Command Prompt to Reveal the Windows 10 Product Key

March 17, 2020

In the "good old days," when you bought a computer or software there was usually a sticker or card in the box that had a product code, install key or whatever was needed to reinstall the software. No more. We are now in a digital world where install codes are delivered via email and operating systems are activated on first use. But what do you do if you need to replace a drive in a Windows 10 machine and reinstall the operating system? Windows 10 stores the product key in the registry.

Tech Viral has the simple procedure to extract the Windows 10 product key using a command prompt. The first step is to open a command prompt as an administrator. There are two ways to do that. You can hit the Windows key + S to open a search box and type CMD. The second way is to click the Windows key with your mouse and type CMD. Once the CMD app icon appears, right click the mouse on the icon and select Run as administrator. Type the command wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey. The 25-digit product key will then be retrieved. Make sure you save the key somewhere in case you need to reinstall the operating system.

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