Updates :: Stuck At The Security With Phone Activation
Feb 10, 2016
I'm having a problem with the phone activation. I'm stuck at the security check dialogue, keeps saying "we cant verify you". Is it just me, or did MS kill phone activation?
I do not have the phone activation option button. Any website where I can obtain an installation id number [apparently six or so blocks of five/six figures]. I do have the phone number but am asked for this installation number before speaking to a real person.
Background: We have purchased 14 HP EliteBook 820 laptops (which come with Windows 8.1 downgraded to Win 7 preinstalled) to rollout within our company and my usual method for laptop rollouts is to setup one with our corporate apps etc, run SysPrep and then clone the hard drive to the rest of the laptops.
This has worked fine in the past with Windows XP and 7 but with the introduction of the free upgrade to Windows 10 which we want to take advantage of it has produced a problem.
Problem: I have setup one laptop and gone through the free upgrade to Windows 10 then installed our required apps etc, run SysPrep, shutdown and cloned the hard drive to another hard drive to go into the next laptop (same model) to rollout.
Windows is then unable to activate giving error code 0xC004C003 meaning the key is blocked.
Because the laptops have OEM Windows licences pre-installed this means that I don't have a product key sticker; it is embedded in the BIOS.
I am assuming that at the point of upgrade the Microsoft servers check the key and add it to their list of 'OK' keys to allow the upgrade.
When the cloned hard drive is placed into another laptop the key embedded into the BIOS is not OK and Windows does not activate? I've tried the slui program to remove the licence but that just removes the key and asks for a new one. I have also tried doing the clone of a clean install after upgrading. I have tried speaking to HP and Microsoft but each one said speak to the other.
Currently my only option is to setup one laptop with the OEM Win 7 or 8.1, install our Apps, do the SysPrep and cloning and then upgrade each one individually at the end of the OOBE experience. This will be more time consuming when rolling out and rebuilding.
Is there a way to find out which key was used for activation?
I have done testing with insider programs. I also tested this with my windows 7 oem install, I rolled the oem back to windows 7. I also used a windows 7 retail version to also upgrade to windows 10. This way I can keep my multiple boot setup. I just want to be legit that is all.
I have never had problems activating genuine copies of Windows. Changing cpu's, hdd's ram and graphics cards have never bothered Microsoft. Back in the XP days, I also changed motherboards with OEM software successfully. As far as I can tell, only changing the motherboard would cause problems with modern operating systems. I have changed hdd's for ssd's and vice versa and graphics cards with no problems on W10 upgrades. Today, I received a cpu from Ebay and fitted it into the pc which runs 8.1 and W10 upgrade from W7hp. BIOS recognised it at once, but both copies of Windows required a restart, system and device manager failed to recognise the cpu first time. Activation was not affected in either copy of Windows.
laptop has Win 10 that was an free upgrade from Windows 7. If I clone to SSD will activation remain? I know if hardware changes will be an issue. I will backup key just in case, not sure it is needed. later hopefully a fresh install.
I have used Easeus and Acronis in the past with Windows 7, always with bootable media to do the clone. first time cloning windows 10, was thinking about Macrium, just never tried it. Put the new SSD in place and boot to the HDD as external?
I used to have a program that checks activation/expiration of windows and/or Microsoft office with just one click. I think the name was "check activation" ...
A friend's Asus 8.1 laptop was stuck in an automatic repair loop so I suggested that he upgrade to Windows 10.
Because he was unable to access his system, I opted for a clean install and I created a bootable Win 10 usb on another pc. I used this usb to insall Win 10 on his machine, skipping any requests to activate.
I was under the impression that Win 10 would automatically activate on installation. I'm not sure he ever signed up for the free upgrade offer before Win 8 on his machine decided to implode.
I don't know if the right place, but I'll share my problem. Last days I resized my C: drive in order to put Linux on my free space and dual boot. Since then my windows lost his activation, gave me eroor code 0xC004F012 and don't want to shut down - just log off.
I'm having this issue on a Store purchased Toshiba Satellite Pro which had Windows 7 Home Prem. I followed all the upgrade instructions and it all looks good except it's not activated. Product key blocked. Error code: 0xC004C003
I had upgraded from W8.1 and Windows 10 was activated. I was under the impression that I didn't need a product key and that my PC would be recognized after doing a clean install. Now I have W10 installed fresh, but get the error code: Error code: 0xC004C003
I'm still not certain if the new builds that come out,( eg 10586.36, and now 10586.63) also contain all the latest Windows security updates as well? (not referring to defender updates I know they are distinct)
I've noticed that my Windows 10 PC (which had 10 installed from new, it is NOT an upgrade) has the latest build 10586.63 but I don't see any separate windows security updates coming along with them. Is having the latest build number 10586.63 mean that the OS has all the up to date security updates as well, including the .net security updates....
I am trying to install the .net 3.5 update for my Windows 10 Pro rig. I tried the usual way (enabling) with no luck: the system sits on searching for file and never goes anywhere. (I let it search overnight with no luck). I tried the method suggested HERE with no luck either (it sits there telling me the image version but never starts the "Enabling Features" process. I've let it sit there for 30 minutes with no success.
I am trying to do the second step via a Windows 10 USB install, not a DVD. I didn't bother trying to create an ISO since I didn't think that would matter. In either case, I feel really stuck. I am unable to run a few legacy games because of this stupid .net 3.5 issue. It's really frustrating.
I think the "updates freezing" issue has come up in another thread but I can't find it momentarily.
The screen shots show what I've been looking at for two days now. Obviously something is amiss with Automatic Update but I dunno what, or what to do about it.
I have my settings on to receive windows updates automatically. In the past three weeks I keep seeing that in the history all updates have failed to either download or install.
I got home from work this morning and cracked open this laptop to update it, and at about the same time I went to PC via RC and started the update as well. I let both download and went to take a nap, after waking up I checked laptop and it was still downloading at about 85%, then checked the PC and it had already updated, so went thru setup and looks fine.
I had some late lunch and watched the download going to browse web for a bit, came back and at 94%, closed up laptop had company, after they left reopen laptop and after a bit checked and still at 94%, that was two hours ago and still nothing, I even shut down and restart and doesn't move.
My windows update was working fine until recently it became stuck on 0% for a bunch of updates while downloading. I've tried many things to resolve this:
- Tried stopping and restarting the windows update service, but the service remains stuck on 'stopping' so I have to force kill it in cmd prompt then restart it - Emptied the downloads folder in software distribution - Ran the Windows Update troubleshooter tool, which says 'service registration is missing or corrupt'
I'm assuming my Windows Update service has become corrupt somehow, is there any way in which I can solve this?
so, my computer has been trying to download the november 11th update of windows 10 and I cant figure out why its staying stuck at 0%. How to force the update or why its staying stuck at 0%? anything I can do?
I've been having trouble with Windows Update recently:
* Three updates were stuck on downloading at 0% * Rebooting the laptop resulted in it getting stuck at the "Getting things ready..." screen
The fix was actually pretty simple:
1. Reboot your computer 2. Open Explorer and navigate to C:WindowsSoftware Distribution 3. Open an elevated command prompt (Admin) 4. Run these two commands: -net stop wuauserv -net stop bits 5. Select all files in abovementioned folder and delete them 6. Make sure to empty the trash afterwards 7. Reboot and run Windows Update again
That way I was able to fix my Windows Update process that has been stuck for more than a week now. It immediately found many more updates to install, downloaded them and installed them just fine.