The vast majority of PC users currently use one of the versions of Windows 10 . It is advisable to use the most recent one, but there are several of these that still receive official support from the Redmond firm.
This actually means that they still receive updates, so they are renewed and are also conveniently protected. In addition, most users work in their day to day on a Windows 10 with its corresponding registry key so as not to have problems. But despite this, sometimes we can find a small problem in this regard, as we are going to show you below.
We tell you this because in the event that you have recently changed some important hardware component of the PC, it is likely that now there is a watermark in the lower right corner of the screen. It tells us that we need to activate Windows 10, when in fact we already did it at the time. It is true that this is something that does not affect the performance of the team at all . In the same way, it does not prevent us from making normal use of the equipment, as before. But the truth is that it can become somewhat annoying.
What activation of Windows 10
That is why in these same lines we are going to teach you how to eliminate that activation watermark to which we refer. Otherwise it will remain there permanently. First of all, we will tell you that the activation of Microsoft products is a DRM technology or digital rights management that acts as a certificate of authenticity. It actually works by transmitting data to Microsoft about the hardware configuration of our PC.
At the same time linking the copy of the system software, to a specific computer. In this case, the software in question is the same Windows 10. In addition, Microsoft uses this same product activation in several of theirs, such as Office . The idea behind it all is to prevent software pira-cy . But with everything and with it, there are those who think that all this product activation does little to stop said pira-cy.
But you have to know that one of the biggest problems in product activation affects PC manufacturers. As we told you, a change in hardware requires a reactivation of the operating system itself. Because product activation is associated with particular hardware, any changes to it could invalidate a license. This is a problem for users updating their computer components. Therefore, a change in the processor, the motherboard or the hard disk, can cause the deactivation of Windows 10.
How to turn off the Windows watermark off
Acquire a new Windows 10 key
At first the easiest way to get rid of the happy watermark that says Activate Windows 10 , is to buy a new activation key. Say that in Microsoft’s own store digital keys are sold that will activate the copy of Windows immediately. But of course, this has a cost, as you can imagine. As an example, at the moment the standard Home version of Windows 10 costs around 145 euros, while the professional one goes to 259 euros.
Edit the operating system registry
However, if you don’t want to spend a single euro on a new Windows key , the removal of the activation watermark can be achieved in another way. This can be achieved by editing the Windows Registry itself. It is interesting to know that the aforementioned Windows Registry contains information and settings related to various programs and hardware installed in the operating system .
In this way, when modifying this section of Windows we can cause a problem to it. That is why, first of all, we recommend making a backup copy of it before making any changes. This is something that we achieve from the File / Export menu option.
We must also know that in order to access the Windows Registry , all we have to do is open the run box through the Win + R key combination. Then we just have to type the regedit command in the box that appears. In the event that we see a message on the screen to ask ourselves if we want to allow the Registry Editor application to make changes to your PC, we click on the Yes button.
Once we have the Registry Editor window open on the screen, we have to go to the following path: EquipoHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicessvsvc
Then in the right panel we will see an entry called Start, so we double click on it to see its content. Then in the box called Value information we enter the number 4 and accept the changes. Now we just have to close the Registry Editor and restart the PC. When your system starts up again, the activation watermark will be gone.
Changes that occur when removing the Windows watermark
Of course, something that we must bear in mind is that the removal of the watermark does not activate the copy of Windows. Therefore, as the system is not active, we will have some functional problems with it. For example, we will not be able to change the background of the software desktop. At the same time it is possible that we begin to receive notifications from time to time that remind us that we must activate it.
At the moment, although we do not have Windows 10 activated, the system works more or less the same, except for some interface issues. This includes receiving updates and security patches, but this is something that can change at any time, with the risks that all this would entail.