Did I mess up my Windows 10 activation?

[admaster99]

I know there is already a ton of windows 10 activation posts across the internet so I will try and make this short and to the point.

I finally decided to upgrade from windows 7 to windows 10 with my current pc which has multiple hard drives. I decided to do a fresh install on a ssd I had laying around and while doing this I unplugged all my hard drives except the ssd. When I was finished installing windows 10 i booted it up for the first time installed some of the basic drivers and restarted the computer when I restarted the computer i plugged all the hard drives back in after using it for a couple of hours i received a prompt that windows needed to be activated.

After hours of trying to activate windows and searching the net for a solution I started wondering if plugging in the extra hard drives before windows was actually activated screwed it up? I ask this because I didn't realize you can't make any hardware changes until windows 10 has been activated which is just ridiculous also would a fresh install fix it?

I had no idea windows 10 activation process was so screwed up kind of thinking of going back to windows 7.

Also I bought an OEM verison of windows 10 pro 64 bit which came with the installation disc and serial number in what looks like Microsoft official packaging.

 

[USAFRet]

Assuming the free upgrade from 7 to 10 still works, it cannot work with a clean install of Win 10.
The new install knows nothing about the previous Win 7 activation status.

A fresh install of Win 10 won't fix anything. It still does not know about the previous WIn 7.

You'd have to return the system back to working Win 7 status, and then "upgrade".

Assuming the Win 10 OEM you purchased (from where?) is valid, just apply that license key to your Win 10 install you just did.

 

[admaster99]

I first entered the key when I did a fresh install in the installation process when it asks you for the license key. So I figured I was all good, but then it gave me a notification on the desktop during use after the installation. So I went into it "settings" and "activation" and re entered the key many many times and every time I get this error "code 0xC004C003"

I purchased it from ebay which I wish I didn't now, I'm pretty sure it's good because the sellers has nothing but positive feedback even after I bought this from him which was like 6 months ago.

 

[USAFRet]

I first entered the key when I did a fresh install in the installation process when it asks you for the license key. So I figured I was all good, but then it gave me a notification on the desktop during use after the installation. So I went into it "settings" and "activation" and re entered the key many many times and every time I get this error "code 0xC004C003"

I purchased it from ebay which I wish I didn't now, I'm pretty sure it's good because the sellers has nothing but positive feedback even after I bought this from him which was like 6 months ago.

Buying licensed software from some dude on fleabay is never a good idea. OS or otherwise.
Who else did he sell that same license key to?

 

[x86power]

I first entered the key when I did a fresh install in the installation process when it asks you for the license key. So I figured I was all good, but then it gave me a notification on the desktop during use after the installation. So I went into it "settings" and "activation" and re entered the key many many times and every time I get this error "code 0xC004C003"

I purchased it from ebay which I wish I didn't now, I'm pretty sure it's good because the sellers has nothing but positive feedback even after I bought this from him which was like 6 months ago.

Try giving MS a call or using their live chat. They've been quite sympathetic with me before.

 

[canadianvice]

Try slui.exe, 4 from a admin raised command prompt.

The phone activation system is usually more liberal with activations than the online one is. Do it from a smartphone if you can, the experience is much nicer than using that bloody robot.

Also, a protip for eBay: buy stuff when you're going to use it. PayPal will happily rake even a legitimate seller over the coals for a dispute, so if you got screwed it's a pretty reliable way of getting your money back. The catch: they only do it for 6 months.

 

[x86power]

Try slui.exe, 4 from a admin raised command prompt.

The phone activation system is usually more liberal with activations than the online one is. Do it from a smartphone if you can, the experience is much nicer than using that bloody robot.

Also, a protip for eBay: buy stuff when you're going to use it. PayPal will happily rake even a legitimate seller over the coals for a dispute, so if you got screwed it's a pretty reliable way of getting your money back. The catch: they only do it for 6 months.

Generally those dodgy keys tend to expire after 6 months anyway

 

[admaster99]

Yea I did the call activation that "canadianvice" suggested and I entered in my error code and it said "With this error code usually means the license key is no good or that the version of windows I installed was outdated." But I updated it to the latest update so I'm assuming the key is no good.

 

[USAFRet]

Yea I did the call activation that "canadianvice" suggested and I entered in my error code and it said "With this error code usually means the license key is no good or that the version of windows I installed was outdated." But I updated it to the latest update so I'm assuming the key is no good.

Yeah, that's a pretty fair assumption.

 

[USAFRet]

Does the old drive with Win 7 still work?
Can you return the system to original working, activated Win 7 status?

 

[admaster99]

Yes it's fully working I was just using it an hour ago to try something else I had in mind. Not quite sure how the whole upgrade thing works. From my understanding you download windows 10 image off Microsofts site and upgrade via disc/flashdrive and then when windows 10 is up and going you purchase the license key from Windows Store. Is this Correct?

 

[USAFRet]

Yes it's fully working I was just using it an hour ago to try something else I had in mind. Not quite sure how the whole upgrade thing works. From my understanding you download windows 10 image off Microsofts site and upgrade via disc/flashdrive and then when windows 10 is up and going you purchase the license key from Windows Store. Is this Correct?

You can purchase the license key bofore or after.
Either way.

For the Upgrade...
Create a Win 10 USB. Here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Boot from that and follow the Upgrade steps.

Or, just do a clean install on your SSD, and apply the license key you're going to purchase.
You can install and apply the license key later.

How to do a CLEAN installation of Windows 10

 

[admaster99]

Ok thank you very much I really appreciate it.

 

[admaster99]

Just an update to this post. I bought an Windows 10 pro 64 bit activation key online for a fair price after doing a fresh full installation of Windows 10, I could not get the key to work for activation. I manually entered the key in several times to receive multiple different error codes mainly saying that the key was invalid.

Then I called the phone activation service Microsoft provides, after following the automated steps the service told me that key was invalid. That's when I decided to post this topic to see if there was anything else I could do and I appreciate all the help I received.

As one last effort I contacted Microsoft chat support and I followed there procedure and within 10 short minutes I was activated with the original code that continuously kept coming back as invalid.

I just wanted to post this response to help anybody who comes along and sees this with the same issue. I'm not quite sure whats going on with Microsoft servers to cause this problem but I hope this helps somebody in the future.

 

[USAFRet]

Just an update to this post. I bought an Windows 10 pro 64 bit activation key online for a fair price after doing a fresh full installation of Windows 10, I could not get the key to work for activation. I manually entered the key in several times to receive multiple different error codes mainly saying that the key was invalid.

Then I called the phone activation service Microsoft provides, after following the automated steps the service told me that key was invalid. That's when I decided to post this topic to see if there was anything else I could do and I appreciate all the help I received.

As one last effort I contacted Microsoft chat support and I followed there procedure and within 10 short minutes I was activated with the original code that continuously kept coming back as invalid.

I just wanted to post this response to help anybody who comes along and sees this with the same issue. I'm not quite sure whats going on with Microsoft servers to cause this problem but I hope this helps somebody in the future.

What happened was that the license key you purchased was invalid.
The human at Microsoft took pity on you and activated it.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Which is pretty rare I think. Consider yourself fortunate, most did not get that result after buying invalid keys through cheap, unauthorized sellers. Next time, you will not be so lucky. Especially if it's a game. Game developers don't take pity. They take action.

 

[Corwin65]

There are base prices from different retailers for an OS for a reason. Most prices do not fluctuate wildly because they buy them from MS at a specific price.

When you see something at a significant discount, odds are it's not, or soon to be not valid.

If memory serves me this was brought up at the top of this post previously.