How to: “Change product key” in Windows 8 or in Windows Server 2012

I’ve learned over the years to not activate a Windows product until I am confident it is stable. I say that because I used to activate Windows right after installation and either because of third party update, malfunctioning hardware, etc. I had to reinstall and eventually I had to call Microsoft to get my product key unlocked. However, something strange happened. In order to not activate windows right off the bat I installed it via the network which uses I guess an evaluation license or something. Once activation time came I just couldn’t type my license key. I really wasn’t ready to re-install as that defies the whole purpose of not activating on day cero. I did some research and found a way to provide once again your license / product key.

Symptoms

When you try to change the product key in Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012, you cannot find a “Change product key” link in the System item in Control Panel. This used to be available in previous versions of Windows but for some reason they decided to get rid of it. I can’t phantom why, seems like a pretty useful feature. For example, if you want to convert a default setup product key to a Multiple Activation Key (MAK) on a computer that is running Windows 8.

Fortuantely we have a few options at our disposal to change the product key in the new versions of Windows.

Solution

Method 1

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. Or, if you are using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, and then click Search.
2. In the search box, type Slui 3.
3. Tap or click the Slui 3 icon.
4. Type your product key in the Windows Activation window, and then click Activate.

Method 2

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. Or, if you are using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, and then click Search.
2. Type Command Prompt in the Search box.
3. Right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
4. Run the following command at the elevated command prompt:
   slmgr.vbs /ipk <Your product key>

Note You can also use the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) 3.0 to change the product key remotely, or if you want to change the product key on multiple computers.