Windows 10 suddenly deactivated

Sumit 44,226 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
    2018-11-08T12:13:24+00:00

    Today after a failed Windows update, I tried to restore it when my system didn't open, and I removed that update when it failed. Now, the activation of Windows is corrupted and my Windows 10 Pro licensed (from beginning) computer is now asking to install Windows 10 Home.

    But when I saw this title, I decided that the problem was not about getting the update back.

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  2. Sumit 44,226 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2018-11-08T11:31:57+00:00

    HI Kaizen, 

    Most probably you have an earlier license like an OEM i.e. came preinstalled with the computer. Did it came with Windows 8.1 Home?

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-11-08T20:51:06+00:00

    You are right, the sky isn't falling, but as a business professional always reassuring my clients that they should always maintain legal licenses, when they see my machine isn't "activated" they start to question things.  Not to mention that it strikes fear in people's minds that since MS can apparently "deactivate" Windows whenever they choose, even if a license is VALID, how are they to know MS won't totally disable their Windows installations some day, either on purpose, or by accident, like this deactivation..

    I think people have a right to be a bit upset.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-11-08T15:09:15+00:00

    This is an outrage!

    I should have had bought 15 Apple devices rather than 15 Windows 10 Pro devices

    Microsoft is going backwards.

    licensing is bread and butter issue which should NOT had been an issue at all.

    Very disappointed!

    Very angry

    Total waste of time.

    Totally unnecessary.

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