Activation issue with new SSD installation on Windows 11

Collected1 said:

hsehestedt & NavyLCDR: See below. I've attached two sets of screenshots from the SSDs after a full clean reinstall. Let me know if anything jumps out at you as being a cause for concern. I can't spot anything personally but perhaps someone else can. Thank you again for the responses.

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Tried cloning the SSD and then doing a repair install/in-place upgrade?

I am not seeing anything jump out at me from the screenshots. However, the error code that it is reporting is usually related to some issue with the product key.

Let me ask a question:

When you are installing Windows and you are asked for a license key, what are you entering at that time? Are you choosing the option that you do not have a license key or are you specifying an actual license key?

Something else to try (apologies if you alreadytried this). Do this if you entered a key during installation:

Try changing the license key to this: TX9XD-98N7V-6WMQ6-BX7FG-H8Q99

Then try to activate again. If it still does not activate, select the option to troubleshoot. In theory, it should then activate.

Note that the key above is simply a Windows Home generic installation key. It is NOT an activation key. My hope is that if you entered a real key, this would cause Windows to look for your Digital License Key.

If this works, I will explain further.

Fascinating! I've had my best luck in resolving such situations by purchasing a cheap-o NVMe USB 3.1/3.2 enclosure (you can get them for around US$20 these days -- see this Amazon Search) and then cloning the target disk from the source disk. After that, you can remove the old boot NVMe and plug in the new one, and it should work like a champ. If there's a size difference (bigger, I would assume) you can use MiniTool Partition Manager (MTPW) to recover any unallocated space on the drive after you're done.
HTH,
--Ed--

Ed Tittel said:

Fascinating! I've had my best luck in resolving such situations by purchasing a cheap-o NVMe USB 3.1/3.2 enclosure (you can get them for around US$20 these days -- see this Amazon Search) and then cloning the target disk from the source disk. After that, you can remove the old boot NVMe and plug in the new one, and it should work like a champ. If there's a size difference (bigger, I would assume) you can use MiniTool Partition Manager (MTPW) to recover any unallocated space on the drive after you're done.
HTH,
--Ed--

Click to expand...

Yeah, this one is a bit interesting. The OP did perform a clone, and that was successful, so now we are simply curious why a clean install would have difficulties. I suspect strongly that has to do with a key being entered during installation, but if I don't get a response on that question soon then I'm going to try it on one of my machines because I simply need to know

Do please share your findings. I've seen more odd stuff about install, upgrade and licensing keys today than in the whole preceding entire YEAR. As I said before: fascinating!
Thanks,
--Ed--

hsehestedt said:

When you are installing Windows and you are asked for a license key, what are you entering at that time? Are you choosing the option that you do not have a license key or are you specifying an actual license key?

Click to expand...

I always select that I don't have a product key and then provide my Microsoft login details during the installation.

I just completed a test. My theory was wrong. So, I'm still confused as to why a clean installation is not working.

@Collected1, let me think about this some more. I'll probably end up with more questions for you. This one is really annoying me. I feel like there is something obvious that I am missing but I just can't put my finger on it.

I understand... it's annoying me too. My years of IT experience aren't letting me drop it. I'm 95% sure something on the MS side of the conversation is to blame and the other 5% is the chance I'm doing something really, really dumb. I appreciate your efforts to help me but don't feel you have to solve this one!

Collected1 said:

My original key dates back to a Windows 7 OEM System Builders copy I bought from New Egg back in 2012 when I built a PC

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Hmmm, I wonder if this could be the key somehow. The fact that it was an OEM System Builders key may somehow trigger something different than a Windows 7 Retail key. But why only when you replace the SSD? The drives are not supposed to be considered when replacing hardware.

Here is part of the quandary for me: I am finding articles that indicate different behaviors with the System Builder keys, but nothing clearly pointing to the issue that you are seeing.

In the article below, the code that you are seeing (0xC004F213) does say that no key was found on your system, but that should be okay if a digital license exists.

Also, in the recent screenshot that you provided there was a code of 0xC004F034 which the below article notes "You might see this error if you entered an invalid product key or a product key for a different version of Windows."


Question: Forgive me if you already addressed this, but when you have the original SSD plugged in and Windows shows as being activated, what exactly does Windows show here:



In the meantime, I'm still digging. I may come to a point where I have to give up eventually, but I'm not there yet

Sorry, forgot to ask this:

Using the SSD that shows Windows to be successfully activated, what do you get when you run slmgr /xpr from an elevated command prompt?

It says "Windows is activated with a digital licence linked to your Microsoft account". The command returns "Windows (R), Core edition: The machine is permanently activated."

On the bad SSD I get: "Windows (R), Core edition: Windows is in Notification mode".

I'm having the exact same issue right now. I performed a clean install on a new SSD and activation doesn't work. My Win11 installation comes from upgrading from Win10 installed from a physical copy I got from a licensed retailer (so it's not fake/pirated) 4 years ago when I assembled my computer. I contacted MS support, talked to an agent, and the guy said I need to find the Win10 product key and activate with it. To be honest, it doesn't sound like this would work as they're different OSs, but the MS guy insisted on that and said if I can't find it, I'll most likely need to purchase a new license, which I obviously won't do. My previous SSD hasn't been wiped yet, and it works perfectly and is activated. It says the digital license is connected to my account, but it just won't activate on my new SSD. It's driving me insane.

@naianirb, first, welcome to ElevenForum!

Yeah, that kind of behavior from Microsoft would really pi$$ me off. Here is probably how I would handle it:

1) Put the original drive back in since you thankfully have not wiped it yet.

2) Demonstrate to Microsoft that Windows is showing up as activated. A screen sharing session would serve well for this purpose.

3) Swap the old drive for the new one and demonstrate the problem.

At that point, you have PROVED that you have Windows activated on that system and I would ABSOLUTELY INSIST that they resolve the issue for you, even if that means granting you a new license key. At that point you have 100% proved to them that Windows is licensed on that system.

Aside from that, have you been following this thread closely to check all the stuff we have been over here so far? Go through the list of items such as verification that you have installed the same edition of Windows (Home, Pro, etc.). Make sure that you are using a RETAIL image of Windows to do your clean install. Try changing the license key (on your clean install) to the generic key for the edition you are using.

Windows 11 Home Single Language: 7HNRX-D7KGG-3K4RQ-4WPJ4-YTDFH
Windows 11 Home: X9XD-98N7V-6WMQ6-BX7FG-H8Q99
Windows 11 Pro: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

Try activating again. If still no joy, run the activation troubleshooter.

One more point to make here: You expressed a doubt about whether a Windows 10 license key would work. You might be interested to know that Windows 10 and 11 license keys are 100% identical. There is no difference. So, a Windows 10 license key can be used to install Windows 11, and a Windows 11 license key can be used to install Windows 10. In other words, these license keys do not in any way differentiate between Windows 10 and 11. So, on that point at least, Microsoft provided correct information to you.

Let us know where things stand once you have tried those things.

Good luck!

@naianirb, one other thought: We know that for @Collected1 cloning the original drive to the new drive also worked. That might be a solution for now, but admittedly, it would still worry me if you ever had to perform a clean install in the future.

There were two error codes displayed in post #20.


0xc004f213 = The Software Licensing Service reported that no product key was found or was invalid..


0xc004f034 = The Software Licensing Service reported that the license could not be found on the system.



ACP or APS: msdt.exe -id WindowsUpdateDiagnostic

zbook said:

There were two error codes displayed in post #20.


0xc004f213 = The Software Licensing Service reported that no product key was found or was invalid..


0xc004f034 = The Software Licensing Service reported that the license could not be found on the system.

Get help with Windows activation errors - Microsoft Support

Learn how to troubleshoot Windows activation errors. Browse common activation errors and learn what you can do to fix them.

support.microsoft.com

ACP or APS: msdt.exe -id WindowsUpdateDiagnostic

Reactivating Windows after a hardware change - Microsoft Support

Learn how to prepare your Windows device for a hardware change and find help reactivating Windows after a hardware change is complete.

support.microsoft.com

Click to expand...

Yeah, I already referenced both of those in an earlier post but I don't think that will help at all in this situation. This is really an odd one.

OP something else to consider just for grins. But when you're installing Win11 clean I suspect you're installing with network/internet access so you have to enter your MS credentials to proceed with the install. Try to install without internet access and see if that possibly might make a difference. You will have to use one of several bypasses to get the install the continue without internet access. Basically you'll be installing with a local user account and not using the MS account.

I'm kinda curious if that might cure the issue.

Please install the old drive then run one or more of these commands / scripts / software to see if you can identify the product key:


wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

@zbook, have you actually had any luck with these? If I am not mistaken, the wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey command will retrieve only OEM keys that are stored in the BIOS. In other words, it works only with systems that shipped with Windows.

Also, I don't think that any of the other programs are capable of returning a key other than the OEM key noted above or a generic installation key on Windows 11. It was my understanding that once activated, that key is gone forever.

I may wrong about this, hence the question.

The links are useful for Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and some versions of Windows 10.

Microsoft deprecated some of the slmgr commands.

There was a Microsoft link for newer Windows versions that had commented that they were no longer displaying the real licensing data.

I'd looked before this post but have not yet found the link.

The links in the earlier post were offered in case the OP contacted Microsoft to report that they had tried various steps.


Additional trial and error steps may be trying generic product keys: