Win 10 Activation failed (Error code: 0xC004C003)

Mocambo · 08 Aug 2015

my drama update:

After the laptop, I did the upgrade to Win10 for the desktop as well, the PC had Win 8.1 Pro 64 fully updated and signed with the same MS account, it was reserved for the Win 10 upgrade, and the reserved upgrade was ready to go, indeed this time I used the Windows Update instead of the Media Creation Tool.
I tried to replicate the same procedure I did with the laptop, so I changed the Computer name accordingly, for now I'm sticking with an easy scheme, es: ZORRO-LAPTOP and ZORRO-DESKTOP, just to have a bloody clue of what is happening in the MS account page.

My laptop is currently activated and I can see it enlisted on the devices list from the MS account page, it shows the Computer's name and the brand of the laptop, the OS version is there also; the Computer's Name is visible in black font color while the brand is a gray color.

The Upgrade to Win 10 went fine and the OS was activated, the device was added to the device's list in the MS account, es: ZORRO-DESKTOP Gigabyte; all seems fine then I did a clean install(format), I made a mistake to not disconnect the lan cable, so the installation used some upgrades before moving to the desktop.
I had created a local user during the installation and then switched to the MS account for the activation, the device's list in the MS account had 2 instances of ZORRO-DESKTOP Gigabyte after the clean install, and it didn't activate, 0xC004C003 error.
I removed the 2 device instances for ZORRO-DESKTOP and tried again with another clean install, this time without the lan cable, after switching to the MS account there was no sign of the ZORRO-DESKTOP on the account page, and still 0xC004C003 error.

I did a full reinstallation of Win 8 Pro 64, using he same schemas (ZORRO-DESKTOP), and I did all the updates up to Win 8.1 Pro, I was signed in the store of corse, and the apps were updates(One Note had a error but really....wtf). I did a checkdisk(GUI) of the system C: and a sfc /scannow, this time I made a disk backup stored on a secondary HDD. no cleanups or registry clean were made so I did an extremely 'raw' or 'linear' upgrade to Win 10.

Happened that the OS was upgraded, activated, but ...., in the MS account page i had the instance of the laptop and a new one called PC , which means as I esplained before, no Computer Name, no Brand .... just a bloody PC, and no version of the OS!!!!!! ooh dear this is a quest.

In the search of the Holy Grail, I made some PC reboot to see if the account get syncronized somehow, something changed, there was a next link right next the OS version in the system window(where you see PC specs and activation status), this link will ask you to change the activation code(I didn't continue), rebooting the PC made that link go away; anyway nothing changed on the device list in the MS account page.

I removed the device from the MS account and it asked me to make a Factory Reset to assign the device again to the account; so I did a Factory Reset maintaining the user stuff, I'm not reselling the PC, I'm just resetting it; the process completed and the system resetted correctly and activated as well ...cool; In the MS account I had the laptop device(correct) and 2 instances of the PC, ZORRO-DESKTOP Gigabyte (Windows 10 Pro and version) and again PC .....wtf! and the next link was back into the system window.(reboot didn't fix it this time)

That was still the upgrade version from the Win 8.1 Pro process, I didn't made any clean install, I want to be sure before moving on; I did a checkdisk(GUI), I did a sfc /scannow which reported some damaged files it couldn't repair, rechecked the updates from the Windows Update and the Store as well, then again sfc /scannow still giving some warnings on damaged files it couldn't repair.
I Disconnect the MS account in favour of the local user the I did a reboot, after the boot up completed and logged into the desktop I checked the system window and the next link went away(some updates went on in the background), Nothing changed on the MS account.
I switched back to the MS account on the PC, and the next link back in, a reboot removed the thing this time; nothing changed on the MS account.

I did a winver this time ....and, the version is showed up correctly but on the bottom of the windows it say the licence is in use for: microsoft microsoft, yes 2 times microsoft; so I did a check on the laptop and there i got the local user name; this reflect somehow what is happening on the MS account page for the device list.

Now what that microsoft in winver means? means the OS is granted to a MS accounts? so why the laptop has the local user name i made? the license maybe means its not granted to me at all?

the laptop has the grant to the local user, and I did 2 clean installs(format) and it was activated without problems(well actually there is a twin story on the laptop some posts early in this thread).
I didn't perform a clean install(format) on the PC yet, today its too bloody hot I need to wait for a clean install.

If you have the 0xC004C003 error please check your winver and your MS account devices to see if you have the same issue.

edit: also if you re activated check the winver on your PC and compare with your MSA(Microsoft Account) this could help some folks to understand if their system went upgraded correctly.

Looks like its recommended to wait some time after the upgrade to Win 10 before adventuring in a clean install, run all the upgrades you can, do a sfc /scannow could help, check your winver and your MSA, reboot sometime, just play with it; the hardware ID that Microsoft could store to align the hardware to the licence could take some time.

prestwich1 · 08 Aug 2015

BillGates said:

i've also been siting here unactivated since 3 days ago.. there's no Activate button and the error says "Key Blocked"? i thought we could do clean installs after successfully upgrading?

i called Microsoft and they're claiming "You can never do clean installs, only upgrades"?

i also asked about Hardware ID being saved after successful activation and they said nope?

anyone done a successful clean install lately?
i did it successfully 6 days ago..

but now the Activate button is gone.

I had problems after the upgrade on the 30th. So I downloaded the iso on to a usb stick. Then this morning I installed 10 from the usb. I selected the correct version and it then installed ok, skipping any input for code. When it was fully installed and set up I checked that it was activated. It say it is and there was no activation button. This was a clean install.

Azanath · 08 Aug 2015

Hi, again everyone. I had posted a response to another person a bit ago about the error code: 0xc004c003. I just got off the phone with Microsoft Volume Licensing Activation Center.

What the tech said about this error is that the servers are really overloaded with people downloading the upgrade and activating their Windows 10. I asked about the Windows 7 key being used with 10 during activation. He said that when people upgraded to 10 they got a whole new key, which is why you are seeing the last 5 digits/letters when you try to activate it, and it's different from your other product key.

He said that over the next several weeks, people will be able to activate their Windows 10, once it is *unblocked* as it is being done in phases for people. So, just keep checking to see if you can activate it.

It was helpful information...a lot better than some of the other techs I spoke with who just..disappeared on me.

Mocambo · 08 Aug 2015

Azanath said:

Hi, again everyone. I had posted a response to another person a bit ago about the error code: 0xc004c003. I just got off the phone with Microsoft Volume Licensing Activation Center.

What the tech said about this error is that the servers are really overloaded with people downloading the upgrade and activating their Windows 10. I asked about the Windows 7 key being used with 10 during activation. He said that when people upgraded to 10 they got a whole new key, which is why you are seeing the last 5 digits/letters when you try to activate it, and it's different from your other product key.

He said that over the next several weeks, people will be able to activate their Windows 10, once it is *unblocked* as it is being done in phases for people. So, just keep checking to see if you can activate it.

It was helpful information...a lot better than some of the other techs I spoke with who just..disappeared on me.

currently i cant see any key and the system is activated. I can't see any last digits somehow just a serial number.

edit: ok, maybe it comes out with a clean install in the process to activation.

Mystere · 08 Aug 2015

There are some important things here.

1) Microsoft support people don't always know what they're talking about (some do, some don't). So do not take what they say as gospel, especially if they tell you things like "you can't ever clean install". They were told something, that you can't clean install the first time, and now they think that you can't ever clean install.

Also, don't listen to them about installing all updates, that is only required to use the GWX windows update method. If you are using the Media Creation Tool, you do not have to have any updates installed.

2) You must make absolutely certain that if you use the Media Creation Tool, you create the correct edition (ie if you have 7/8.x home you have to create 10 Home media). If you're not 100% sure, make a new set.

3) If it asks you for a key, NEVER ENTER ONE. Not even the generic key. Especially not the generic key. Just click the skip link. If it asks several times, click the skip link each time. If your license is an upgrade (even if you're doing a clean install) a key is *NEVER EVER USED* except for your original Windows 7/8.x installation. Forget about using key finders, they are useless. They do not give you anything you can ever use for any purpose, other than perhaps re-installing your original OS.

As has been said many many times, DO NOT CLEAN INSTALL THE FIRST TIME. You must perform an upgrade install the first time, and if using media or the Media Creation Tool, it must be the correct edition. Make sure that it is activated before you do a clean install.

DO NOT think you can bypass any of this. Once installed, if you have not performed a full, activated upgrade first, your only choice is to re-install your old OS and perform the upgrade again.

Microsoft cannot, and will not give you a key over the phone to activate you. They won't have any secret way to activate. The support people can only activate the same way we do, via an upgrade. There are no shortcuts.

4) You may be forced to clean install your old OS to perform the upgrade. I know it sucks, but if you keep getting rollbacks when upgrading, this may be your only option.

tw33k · 08 Aug 2015

I did an upgrade from Win 8.1 Pro to Win 10 Pro and it activated. I then changed the M2 SSD for a newer one and did a clean install of Win 10 Pro. It wouldn't activate giving me the same error as the OP "product key is blocked". I reset the PC and chose to keep nothing (there was nothing on it anyway). Once it was finished, Windows was activated

Mocambo · 08 Aug 2015

After 24 hours with the system running activated, I'm trying to perform a clean install, at the first attempt the BIOS went somehow corrupted, I dont know what happened but I had to reset the settings to the default, ...fantastic, at first i tought the SSD was gone for good.

I will post the result later if I survive.

JRxPHANTOM · 08 Aug 2015

tw33k said:

I did an upgrade from Win 8.1 Pro to Win 10 Pro and it activated. I then changed the M2 SSD for a newer one and did a clean install of Win 10 Pro. It wouldn't activate giving me the same error as the OP "product key is blocked". I reset the PC and chose to keep nothing (there was nothing on it anyway). Once it was finished, Windows was activated

Did you sign into your Microsoft account at all during the installation or afterwards? Also, what did you choose after keep nothing? Did you select clean the drives too?

Mystere · 08 Aug 2015

tw33k said:

I did an upgrade from Win 8.1 Pro to Win 10 Pro and it activated. I then changed the M2 SSD for a newer one and did a clean install of Win 10 Pro. It wouldn't activate giving me the same error as the OP "product key is blocked". I reset the PC and chose to keep nothing (there was nothing on it anyway). Once it was finished, Windows was activated

More than likely, this is a case of a false cause and effect. Because you re-installed, it attempted to re-activate and succeeded. If you had simply left your 10 for a few hours, it likely would have re-activated all on its own (the servers are overloaded, and often fail multiple attempts). Either that, or you tried to use a key when you installed clean.

JRxPHANTOM · 08 Aug 2015

Mystere said:

More than likely, this is a case of a false cause and effect. Because you re-installed, it attempted to re-activate and succeeded. If you had simply left your 10 for a few hours, it likely would have re-activated all on its own (the servers are overloaded, and often fail multiple attempts). Either that, or you tried to use a key when you installed clean.

I think you may be right, although the activation process would have taken a lot longer than just a few hours. I'm going on like 5 days now and know I did the clean install correctly (chose Win 10 Pro non N version / regular English language / skipped product keys).