diff --git a/.chloggen/feat_stanza_windowsinput_raweventbody.yaml b/.chloggen/feat_stanza_windowsinput_raweventbody.yaml
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000..970f987638c6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.chloggen/feat_stanza_windowsinput_raweventbody.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Use this changelog template to create an entry for release notes.
+# If your change doesn't affect end users, such as a test fix or a tooling change,
+# you should instead start your pull request title with [chore] or use the "Skip Changelog" label.
+
+# One of 'breaking', 'deprecation', 'new_component', 'enhancement', 'bug_fix'
+change_type: breaking
+
+# The name of the component, or a single word describing the area of concern, (e.g. filelogreceiver)
+component: windowseventlogreceiver
+
+# A brief description of the change.  Surround your text with quotes ("") if it needs to start with a backtick (`).
+note: Emit raw Windows events as strings instead of byte arrays
+
+# Mandatory: One or more tracking issues related to the change. You can use the PR number here if no issue exists.
+issues: [22704]
+
+# (Optional) One or more lines of additional information to render under the primary note.
+# These lines will be padded with 2 spaces and then inserted directly into the document.
+# Use pipe (|) for multiline entries.
+subtext:
diff --git a/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/buffer.go b/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/buffer.go
index fd1ffb8ef0315..149eade2b4dd2 100644
--- a/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/buffer.go
+++ b/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/buffer.go
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
 // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-//go:build windows
-// +build windows
-
 package windows // import "github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows"
 
 import (
diff --git a/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/buffer_test.go b/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/buffer_test.go
index 722a3ef2cbe8d..64106a832eef1 100644
--- a/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/buffer_test.go
+++ b/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/buffer_test.go
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
 // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-//go:build windows
-// +build windows
-
 package windows
 
 import (
@@ -17,9 +14,7 @@ func TestBufferReadBytes(t *testing.T) {
 	buffer := NewBuffer()
 	utf8 := []byte("test")
 	utf16, _ := unicode.UTF16(unicode.LittleEndian, unicode.UseBOM).NewEncoder().Bytes(utf8)
-	for i, b := range utf16 {
-		buffer.buffer[i] = b
-	}
+	copy(buffer.buffer, utf16)
 	offset := uint32(len(utf16))
 	bytes, err := buffer.ReadBytes(offset)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
@@ -30,9 +25,7 @@ func TestBufferReadWideBytes(t *testing.T) {
 	buffer := NewBuffer()
 	utf8 := []byte("test")
 	utf16, _ := unicode.UTF16(unicode.LittleEndian, unicode.UseBOM).NewEncoder().Bytes(utf8)
-	for i, b := range utf16 {
-		buffer.buffer[i] = b
-	}
+	copy(buffer.buffer, utf16)
 	offset := uint32(len(utf16) / 2)
 	bytes, err := buffer.ReadWideChars(offset)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
@@ -43,9 +36,7 @@ func TestBufferReadString(t *testing.T) {
 	buffer := NewBuffer()
 	utf8 := []byte("test")
 	utf16, _ := unicode.UTF16(unicode.LittleEndian, unicode.UseBOM).NewEncoder().Bytes(utf8)
-	for i, b := range utf16 {
-		buffer.buffer[i] = b
-	}
+	copy(buffer.buffer, utf16)
 	offset := uint32(len(utf16))
 	result, err := buffer.ReadString(offset)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
diff --git a/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/raw.go b/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/raw.go
index 35b23550bff54..7c94934c412b8 100644
--- a/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/raw.go
+++ b/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/raw.go
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
 // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-//go:build windows
-// +build windows
-
 package windows // import "github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows"
 
 import (
@@ -19,7 +16,7 @@ type EventRaw struct {
 	TimeCreated   TimeCreated `xml:"System>TimeCreated"`
 	RenderedLevel string      `xml:"RenderingInfo>Level"`
 	Level         string      `xml:"System>Level"`
-	bytes         []byte
+	Body          string      `xml:"-"`
 }
 
 // parseTimestamp will parse the timestamp of the event.
@@ -65,8 +62,8 @@ func (e *EventRaw) parseSeverity() entry.Severity {
 }
 
 // parseBody will parse a body from the event.
-func (e *EventRaw) parseBody() []byte {
-	return e.bytes
+func (e *EventRaw) parseBody() string {
+	return e.Body
 }
 
 // unmarshalEventRaw will unmarshal EventRaw from xml bytes.
@@ -75,6 +72,6 @@ func unmarshalEventRaw(bytes []byte) (EventRaw, error) {
 	if err := xml.Unmarshal(bytes, &eventRaw); err != nil {
 		return EventRaw{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to unmarshal xml bytes into event: %w (%s)", err, string(bytes))
 	}
-	eventRaw.bytes = bytes
+	eventRaw.Body = string(bytes)
 	return eventRaw, nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/raw_test.go b/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/raw_test.go
index d658aadb573ca..10e36d9154ee5 100644
--- a/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/raw_test.go
+++ b/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/raw_test.go
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
 // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-//go:build windows
-// +build windows
-
 package windows
 
 import (
@@ -65,10 +62,10 @@ func TestParseSeverityRaw(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestParseBodyRaw(t *testing.T) {
 	raw := EventRaw{
-		bytes: []byte("foo"),
+		Body: "foo",
 	}
 
-	require.Equal(t, []byte("foo"), raw.parseBody())
+	require.Equal(t, "foo", raw.parseBody())
 }
 
 func TestInvalidUnmarshalRaw(t *testing.T) {
@@ -89,7 +86,7 @@ func TestUnmarshalRaw(t *testing.T) {
 			SystemTime: "2022-04-22T10:20:52.3778625Z",
 		},
 		Level: "4",
-		bytes: data,
+		Body:  string(data),
 	}
 
 	require.Equal(t, raw, event)
diff --git a/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/xml.go b/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/xml.go
index 45260baca1b6b..4c8a9b45a89cc 100644
--- a/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/xml.go
+++ b/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/xml.go
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
 // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-//go:build windows
-// +build windows
-
 package windows // import "github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows"
 
 import (
diff --git a/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/xml_test.go b/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/xml_test.go
index a6a4e6ccc7ec6..56ba2e5957892 100644
--- a/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/xml_test.go
+++ b/pkg/stanza/operator/input/windows/xml_test.go
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
 // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-//go:build windows
-// +build windows
-
 package windows
 
 import (