Solved Windows 8.0 won't activate after refresh

Hi all,

I'm sorry, i know this has been probably discussed a thousand times, but i already spent two hours googling through various forums with a lot of descriptions and nobody getting to the point, and my head is just spinning. So if the moderator will just kindly refer me to the respective thread before deleting this topic, i will be most grateful. Now.

Background story. I've bought my Dell Inspiron 15 in September 2013 with pre-installed Windows 8.0. I think i activated then right away without any problems, where after i've turned off any automatic updates and lived happily for 2.5 years, with the laptop working like a swiss watch. Until few days back, when some wiring problems with display emerged. And in the process of fixing them at a local notebook shop (apparently the technician disconnected the wiring without having shut down the computer), the technicians had to run Refresh.

Now Windows requires activation, it fails with the code 0xC0000022, in the System screen it reads "Product ID: Not available". WDT shows Validation code 0xC004F014 and both Product ID and Installed key.

How do i get Windows 8 activated?

Thank you.

That error indicates an unsuccessful restoration and resulted in corrupted files - thus Windows cannot verify your licence.

It would be best to run setup repair from the Win 8 iso file, preferably a clean install from bootable media.

I'm in the middle of nowhere, there's only my laptop here and everything that's on its hard drive. Got one spare USB flash stick though, for 16 GB. No installation DVDs and probably no way to get them. Descent internet connection, but hard to download anything above hundred megs.

Can i do what you say with that?

Besides, i did try to restore from restoration points. Several times. The last time i let it work for 1.5 hours and (altought it responded to caps lock switch) it apparently stalled. During the next startup it said, there was an unsuccessfull restoration attempt, and if i'd like to undo it. I declined. Maybe i should give another try and accept?

Thank you.

Hello thorough reader,

I did solve this problem eventually by running a system restore from the Dell utility. Don't confuse with system reset, it also formats your HDD and reinstalls Windows, but when it's finished, Windows still finds itself unable to activate.

You are looking for recovery from factory image from Dell Backup and Recover, and you start it inside Windows, no need to tap F8 during restart. And yes, your HDD will be effectively formatted, so copy all useful data somewhere beforehand.