Windows 8.1 Update 1 showing activation error

romilnagrani

New Member
Messages
3
I have installed Windows 8.1 Update 1 Pro Version a few weeks back on my desktop computer running 64 bit version of the OS. The OS was running perfectly fine until today when it started showing activation error. This is not right since I had installed Windows 8.1 Update 1 with a legit key since I have an MSDN subscription
As you can see in below pic. It says that you can activate the Windows Machine now

error-1.png


Now I went ahead and tried to activate the windows by the key which I had intially activated and also with a new fresh different key which I haven't any activated windows machine yet. Both the steps didn't yield any fruitful results
Please find below snapshot that show how weird my machine behaves.
1) When I hit "Activate" button

error-2.png

2) When I click "Error Details"

error-3.png


3) When I click "See Support info online" - Nothing happens
I have tried below troubleshooting steps but nothing happened yet

  • Run sfc/scannow command. This failed at 42%
  • Tried to scan registry and fix the registry by using Advanced System Care 7.2 Pro Edition
  • Refresh the PC. PC was unable to refresh. I had inserted my OS USB Drive
  • Tried System Restore to yesterday state. System Restore too failed
  • Uninstalled Windows Updates that were installed yesterday.
Please suggest how should I move forward with this. I would want to avoid/make it as a last option a fresh install in PC.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update 1
I have had this happen to me twice before. I have no idea why.

When I called the MS support - they could not figure it out either and their fix was to re-install with a different key.

The second time it happened I just restored my previous image and it worked fine.

The Event log reported several 'Rules Engine' errors - the same error in each case.

I believe the activation licensing code got confused somehow.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center (64-bit)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom-build
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-2600K @ 4.3 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 PRO Rev 3.0
    Memory
    16 GB G.SKILL Ripjaws X DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (4 banks 4GB DIMM DDR3 8-8-8-24 5-32-12-7 1T 1.5V)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GT 440
    Sound Card
    Firewire Focusrite Saffire Pro 14
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG W2353V
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    2 of Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS (2TB ea.);
    1 of Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003 (2TB);
    1 of Hitachi Deskstar HDS722020ALA330 (2TB);
    2 of Seagate Desktop ST4000DM000-1F2168 (4TB)
    PSU
    Corsair AX850 Gold
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced
    Cooling
    ThermalTake Silent 1156
    Keyboard
    Logitech K520
    Mouse
    Logitech M310
    Internet Speed
    7Mbps
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky
    Other Info
    Event Studio Precision 6 powered audio monitors;
    Boston Acoustics CS Sub 10 Powered Subwoofer;
    NI Kore controller;
    NI Maschine controller;
    M-Audio Axiom 61 keyboard controller; expression pedal; sustain pedal;

    ... and tons of audio software ...

    I also keep two USB 3 thumb drives (A: and B:) attached with boot recovery and security stuff that I can boot into from BIOS in case of emergency
Thanks for replying. How did you called MS Support? Did you use SUIL 04 command?

By restored previous image - Did you mean that you use the "System Restore" command?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update 1
I went through the Windows Phone Activation number.
I contacted MS Customer support who sent me to an MS Store person who sent me to a Level 2 contact.

The MS support used various flavors of 'slmgr' and 'slui' commands in an attempt to fix it. They also poked around in the registry to change some things. I think they changed it from a Media Center 8.0 to a Pro 8.0 or something like that.

Finally, he asked me to re-install Windows 8 from my CD.

This did not work so well for me - I lost a lot of features (like my user folder locations).
My desktop and documents were originally 'Located' on the J drive, but after this restore I no longer had a J drive!

It took a while to fix up that mess.

The second time it happened I went through these steps again, but I kept getting my calls dropped when I got transferred to Level 2 support - so I gave up and restored to my previous Acronis full image backup.

I don't keep restore points, just images.

I posted details about this on this forum when it happened -

The first time:

http://www.eightforums.com/windows-...105-windows-8-became-inactive-long-story.html

The second time:

http://www.eightforums.com/windows-...needs-activated-again-another-long-story.html
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center (64-bit)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom-build
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-2600K @ 4.3 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 PRO Rev 3.0
    Memory
    16 GB G.SKILL Ripjaws X DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (4 banks 4GB DIMM DDR3 8-8-8-24 5-32-12-7 1T 1.5V)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GT 440
    Sound Card
    Firewire Focusrite Saffire Pro 14
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG W2353V
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    2 of Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS (2TB ea.);
    1 of Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003 (2TB);
    1 of Hitachi Deskstar HDS722020ALA330 (2TB);
    2 of Seagate Desktop ST4000DM000-1F2168 (4TB)
    PSU
    Corsair AX850 Gold
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced
    Cooling
    ThermalTake Silent 1156
    Keyboard
    Logitech K520
    Mouse
    Logitech M310
    Internet Speed
    7Mbps
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky
    Other Info
    Event Studio Precision 6 powered audio monitors;
    Boston Acoustics CS Sub 10 Powered Subwoofer;
    NI Kore controller;
    NI Maschine controller;
    M-Audio Axiom 61 keyboard controller; expression pedal; sustain pedal;

    ... and tons of audio software ...

    I also keep two USB 3 thumb drives (A: and B:) attached with boot recovery and security stuff that I can boot into from BIOS in case of emergency
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