Windows 10 suddenly deactivated

Sumit 44,306 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2018-11-08T11:09:46+00:00

Hi,

There is an ongoing issue about Windows 10 suddenly shown as deactivated. The affected users need not to do anything as it is a known issue. Here is what was told by Microsoft Chat support:

Microsoft has just released an Emerging issue announcement about current activation issue related to Pro edition recently. This happens in Japan, Korea, American and many other countries.I am very sorry to inform you that there is a temporary issue with Microsoft's activation server at the moment and some customers might experience this issue where Windows is displayed as not activated.

Our engineers are working tirelessly to resolve this issue and it is expected to be corrected within one to two business days

Thanks to Vijay_Verma and Danielfor the information.

Thanks to PaulSey..., a Microsoft employee in this thread which has explanation about this in more detail:

We are aware of reports that some customers’ Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise machines are not recognizing their licenses as activated. Users may receive the following notification: “Error: you are running Windows 10 Pro, but you have valid digital license for Windows 10 Home," or one of the following error codes 0X803F8001, 0xC004C003.

We are actively working to resolve this within 24 hours. You can still use your PC; however, the watermark will appear until activation is restored. Thank you for your patience.

We will update this post with additional information as needed and once activations are restored.

Edit 1: Users report that Windows activation troubleshooter might say You have a Windows 10 Home license but you are running Windows 10 Pro. You are advised to ignore that message and wait for the fix.

Edit 2: Update as of morning 11/9/2018 Morning EST.

Any affected customer can continue to use Windows 10 Pro as usual, and the watermark will disappear within 24 hours as activation is automatically restored.

To manually resolve the issue:  Select the Start button, select Settings > Update & security > Activation, and then select Troubleshoot to run the Activation Troubleshooter.  (If the device is already activated, the Troubleshoot option will not appear.)

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Licensing and activation

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Anonymous
2018-11-08T21:50:17+00:00

We are aware of reports that some customers’ Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise machines are not recognizing their licenses as activated. Users may receive the following notification: “Error: you are running Windows 10 Pro, but you have valid digital license for Windows 10 Home," or one of the following error codes 0X803F8001, 0xC004C003.

We are actively working to resolve this within 24 hours. You can still use your PC; however, the watermark will appear until activation is restored. Thank you for your patience.

We will update this post with additional information as needed and once activations are restored.

Paul...

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-11-09T14:18:55+00:00

    Yesterday, problem :

    • I had the message that Windows 10 Pro was not activated, and that I needed to downgrade to Windows 10 Family.
    • the activation troubleshooter would not fix the issue
    • on my MSFT account webpage, my machine was NOT now showing up in the list of machines associated with my account
    • the Windows Store would NOT let met me purchase a license
    • the (web) MSFT Store would NOT let met me purchase a W10 Pro license… selecting the product and adding to the cart would produce an error (maybe a DoS situation due to the large flow of consumers trying to purchase W10 at the same time)

    But today, fixed!

    • the message is gone (it went away by itself ; meaning I did not have to run the activation troubleshooter at all)
    • in the parameters, the activation panel is now showing correctly that W10 Pro si activated
    • on my MSFT account webpage, in the list of machines associated with my account, my machine is now showing up correctly with W10 Pro

    So it seems that the issue was finally fixed by MSFT.

    At least for me. And for others as well, if I read correctly the news:

    https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-users-seeing-their-erroneous-product-activation-issues-resolved/ 

    So well done MSFT on fixing this rapidly. But I am still a bit frustrated that MSFT communication around the problem was poor. No crisis communication. When interacting with MSFT support  ChatBots or calling MSFT support phone# and interacting with VoiceBots, no messaging was made on recognizing the issue. No information was given or sent on what to do and what to expect. Room for improvement! 

    Fully Agree: MSFT should take heed to the Request Given by the User: in this Post: [ Could one expect anything improved in the Future? ] 

    Today, The whole system around Community Communications is Broken. Users need a Filter in order to only See Relevent Data around what is Fixed, Being Done, or not yet know. , in That way, users and MSFT engineers will not have to read through 40k Responses about an issue: Stating" Me too, I have the Same Problem". 

    Well, Here is Hoping. Thanks.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-11-09T14:16:32+00:00

    I had the same problem, I use an upgrade key to avoid the activation message and now I don't know if my problem is fixed ...

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-11-09T14:13:11+00:00

    I saw that but decided to wait. Did anyone choose the 'upgrade' option? If so what Happened?

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-11-09T13:54:33+00:00

    Just for Info

    This fault hit me yesterday too, I had built a brand new Ryzen PC about 6 months ago, My Win 10 Pro license was a clean install but I still got the de activation occur. (contrary to reports it didnt happen to new Installs)

    I had assumed I must have bought a dodgy key off ebay back then which had now deactivated so I went and purchased a new license at lunchtime yesterday.

    I couldnt get the new Pro license to install, so contacted MS phone licensing. At the time he was clearly unaware of the MS Activation Server problem that was occurring globally and gave me no explanation why the original key had become unactivated.  He installed the newly purchased key and all was working again.

    Late last night the problem hit the online media and I became aware I had wasted £6.00 on the new key

    So for a laugh (knowing I was wasting my time) I contacted MS to explain I had spent £6.00 on new key due to their screw up.

    I got passed from one person to another explaining the issue repeatedly.  I stated clearly I am now using the new key and cant risk trying to go back to the original key.

    I asked as a gesture of good will would MS refund me £6.00 for their screw up, it was clearly not my fault or Ebay's fault for selling me a new key.

    I explained it was a trivial amount really and I was contacting them as a matter of principle to see how they treat their loyal customers when MS screw up ?

    Surprise, surprise they basically said get stuffed no reimbursement, contact Ebay for a refund.

    No wonder why MS have got such a poor  reputation, so anyone that wasted money like I did, dont bother asking for a refund.

    P.S

    I have been meaning to  give Linux a look again now it has got some decent steam games. Thanks for the motivation MS :)

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