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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments
Answer accepted by question author
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...

Was this answer helpful?

100+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments No comments

466 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
  1. Anonymous
    2018-11-08T13:23:53+00:00

    I'm in China now and it happened exactly the same with my Surface Pro

    .

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2018-11-08T13:20:52+00:00

    Yep.. I just got that issue..

    Suddenly my pc's licence got deactivated..and says that my key was a windows 10 home and im running a win10pro instead..

    Which is wrong as it came from a windows8.1 pro key, originally bought from Microsoft store and then I've upgraded to windows 10 pro, AGES AGO...

    fix it soon

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2018-11-08T13:20:15+00:00

    This really is madness. By its nature, you angering the most reputable and supportive Windows users because they bought Pro and are far more likely to be admins and power users.

    This is beyond maddening. This will threaten to the core the loyalty of your best users.

    If you treasure the relationships you have with the likes of us, you will extend some token or real offer of friendship because this is destructive in the extreme.

    Was this answer helpful?

    6 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2018-11-08T13:14:53+00:00

    I have the activation issue as well, after upgrading my Win10 Pro Insider Preview version to the latest build today.

    I just did a restart and the activation watermark has disappeared but settings still show my version as not activated with the same 'Home' message everyone else is getting.

    Disappointing as it's not an insignificant issue, but will trust MS to resolve soon!

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments