Windows 10 activation watermark appears on the desktop if you don’t activate your copy of Windows 10 once the 90-day trial period is over. It may also happen is that you are still seeing this watermark even when you have activated your Windows 10. In that case, if you are thinking how to remove the Windows 10 activation watermark permanently, this article will help you out. Simply follow these easy methods and the activation watermark will be gone in no time at all.
Fix-1 Modify your Registry-
And thus, you can not remove the Activate Windows 10 watermark from the desktop. However, if you have a product key, then you can directly remove that watermark by simply entering a valid 25-digit product key. Permanently Remove The Activate Windows 10 Watermark To activate Windows using the product key, follow these steps.
Changing the value of the ‘Start‘ key will solve this issue for you.
- Removal of the activation watermark can be achieved by making an edit to the Windows Registry. The Windows Registry contains information and settings related to various programs and hardware installed on the Windows Operating System. As a result, you can do some damage here, so remember to back it up first before making any changes.
- Are you getting “Activate Windows- Go to settings to activate windows” watermark on your desktop? Or Looking for the way to remove activate windows watermark permanently from your desktop?
1. Click on the Search box and then type “regedit“.
2. Now, click on “Registry Editor” from the search results to open it on your computer.
NOTE–
Once the Registry Editor appears, click on “File” > “Export” to create a backup of the registry. Don’t forget to save the backup in an easily accessible place.
If anything bad happens to your system, you can retrieve your registry by simply importing the backup.
3. In Registry Editor window, on the left-hand side, navigate to this location-
ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicessvsvc
4. Now, on the right-hand side, double click on “Start” DWORD value to modify it.
5. Simply set the ‘Value Data‘ to “4” and then click on “OK” to save the changes on your computer.
Once done, close Registry Editor window. Reboot your computer and the watermark will be gone.
Fix-2 Run a batch file-
Create and run a batch file on your computer to kill the watermark process.
1. At first, type “Notepad” in the search box.
2. Then, click on “Notepad“.
3.Copy–paste these following lines in the Notepad window.
4. After doing so, click on “File” in the menu-bar and then click on “Save as“.
5. In Save As window, name the file as “watermark.bat“. Choose the location of your choice to save this batch file.
6. Select the ‘Save as type:‘ as “All Files” from the drop-down.
7. Click on “Save” to save the file on your computer.
Go to the location where you have saved the batch file.
8. Double click on the “Watermark” batch file to execute it on your computer.
You will see the activation message has gone from your screen.
But when you reboot your computer the activation message will pop up again.
Now if you want to program Windows to automatically run the watermark batch file follow these steps-
1. Click on the Search box beside Windows icon and type “Task Scheduler“.
2. Click on “Task Scheduler” from the elevated Search result to open Task Scheduler.
3. In the Task Scheduler window, on the right-hand side, click on “Create Basic Task…“.
4. Name the task as “Watermark“.
5. Then, click on “Next” to proceed further.
6. Now, choose “When the computer starts” as the frequency of when this task is going to take place.
7. Again, click on “Next” to move on.
8. Now, choose “Start a program“.
9. Now, click on “Next” to proceed further to choose the program.
10. Click on “Browse“.
11. Now, navigate to the location where you had stored the “watermark.bat” file.
12. Select “watermark” and then click on “Open“.
13. Then, click on “Next“.
14. Finally, click on “Finish” to finish scheduling the task.
Close Task Scheduler window.
Form now on, whenever you start your computer, this batch flile will be run automatically, removing the watermark during startup.
If the problem is still there, follow our next fix.
Fix-3 Modify your registry-
If you continue to see the watermark on your computer, go for these steps-
1. Press the Windows icon to access the Search box. Now, type “regedit“.
2. Then, click on “Registry Editor” to access the editor.
3. Once the Registry Editor opens up, go to this location-
4. On the right-hand side, double clickon the “PaintDesktopVersion” value to modify it.
5. In the Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value window, click on the ‘Value data:‘ to “0“.
6. Finally, click on “OK” to save the changes on your computer.
Once done, close Registry Editor window.
Restart your computer and after rebooting your computer, the watermark issue will be resolved.
Sambit is a Mechanical Engineer By qualification who loves to write about Windows 10 and solutions to weirdest possible problems.
Contents:
Suddenly, a message “Activate Windows, Go to Settings to activate Windows 10” pops up on Windows 10 Desktop and doesn’t go away even if you rebooted the PC for many times. And when you go to Settings, you find there a license key for your Windows 10 edition, like Windows Home, Pro.
Why Does Activate Windows Appear on Windows 10?
This Activate Windows activation error occurs to you mainly due to the expired, or invalid or wrong Windows 10 license key. If the system failed to find the right product key or Windows 10 deactivated itself, you will be prompted to activate Windows 10 again.
For most users, perhaps your license key has expired after months, or the key is actually invalid and doesn’t come from Microsoft at all. Or it is also likely that you have been using Windows 10 Home key on Windows 10 Pro. All these factors can contribute to Go to Settings to activate Windows error.
How to Remove Activate Windows 10 Watermark Permanently?
As this Activate Windows warning is principally caused by the license key, it is understandable that you use the valid and right product key to reactivate Windows 10. But here for users who have no license, you can also try to get rid of this watermark without the product key but with commands in Command Prompt or registry value changes.
Methods:
Method 1: Remove Activate Windows 10 Watermark Using License Key
Of course, the most efficient way to make Activate Windows disappear is to use the valid Windows 10 product key. The right key is the best removal for this activation issue.
So if you have money and hope to fix this error quickly, go ahead to Microsoft site to buy a key for Windows 10 Home, Pro or Education edition. Then enter the license key into the system to activate Windows 10.
1. Go to Start > Settings > Update & Security.
2. Under Activation, hit Change product key.
3. Then Enter a product key and click Next.
You can see Windows 10 has been successfully activated and Activate Windows watermark has been removed permanently. But many of you show no interest in purchasing a key, in this case, you can go further to delete Activate Windows 10 message without busing the license.
Permanently Remove Activate Windows Watermark Go Away
Related: How Do You Update Windows 10 Version
Method 2: Get rid of Activate Windows Watermark with Notepad
Without the product key, you can use notepad to remove activate Windows 10 watermark once for all.
1. Search in Notepad in the search box and then hit Enter keyboard key to open a Notepad.
2. Then copy and paste the following contents in the Notepad.
@echo off
taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe
explorer.exe
exit
3. Then choose to Save the untitled Notepad.
4. Find a location to save the notepad and then name it remove.bat with the type of All files. Then hit Save to save the notepad.
5. Right click the remove.bat to Run as administrator.
A Command Prompt window will show up and turn off on its own immediately.
Try to reboot Windows 10 and then log on again. You will see Activate Windows, go to Settings to activate Windows 10 vanished.
Method 3: Remove Activate Windows 10 Watermark Permanently in Registry Editor
If you feel like getting rid of Windows 10 activation on the Desktop, you can attempt to change the Desktop version to keep Activate Windows watermark away. To accomplish this goal, just adjust the value in Registry Editor.
1. Press Windows + R to elevate the Run box and then enter regedit in the box.
2. In Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop.
3. Under Desktop, on the right pane, locate and right click PaintDesktopVer to Modify it.
4. Change PaintDesktopVer value data from 1 to 0.
5. Close Registry Editor and restart Windows 10.
When signing in again, you will notice that Windows 10 needs activation message is nowhere to be seen.
Solution 4: Remove Activation Watermark on Windows 10 Pro with Windows 10 Home key
Especially, provided that you have updated from Windows 10 home to Windows 10 Pro, but you have no key for Windows 10 Pro but that of Windows 10 Home, this Activate Windows 10 watermark is possible to come up. To remove this activation watermark, you are supposed to clean install Windows 10 Home from computer BIOS and bootable USB flash drive. Prior to that, remember to back up all your data.
How To Remove Windows Watermark
And after that, you will notice Windows 10 Pro go to Settings to activate Windows 10 perished from the Desktop. In a nutshell, with this post, you can learn to get rid of Windows 10 Activate Windows desktop watermark permanently with the solutions above.