"Activate Windows" error 0x8007007B

Bree said:

Well, it looks like you somehow put Enterprise on the machine. Perhaps you took an image of another working machine and put that on?

What edition of Windows 10 did you get in the free upgrade, Home or Pro? An upgrade of a machine running a licensed copy of 7 or 8 would get a digital license stored on Microsoft's activation servers and linked to the hardware ID of the machine. This licence will activate a clean install of Windows 10, but only if you install the edition that you have a license for, Home or Pro.

My advice would be to back up any user files, then do a clean install using install media downloaded from Microsoft. Providing you install the same edition it will activate automatically from your license.

Clean Install Windows 10 | Tutorials

Is there any solution that doesn't involve resetting the PC? I do video work on this computer, so it will put quite a delay on production if I have to remove/wipe/reinstall everything. But if that's the only option, I guess I'll have to do it :)

Bree said:

You would only have had a CoA if the machine was supplied by the manufacturer with Windows 7. If the machine came originally with Windows 8 or 8.1 then a key is embedded in the bios firmware. Actually, that makes life easy. In a clean install Setup will read this key from the firmware and use it to determine which edition to install and to activate it.

Yeah, it came it with 8. Wouldn't this mean though, that it should have installed correctly either way when I reset the PC? Will it not just give me the same issue when I reset it again?

Caledon Ken said:

Do you have a COA (Microsoft product sticker) on your device that would tell you what edition you are supposed to be using?

You would only have had a CoA if the machine was supplied by the manufacturer with Windows 7. If the machine came originally with Windows 8 or 8.1 then a key is embedded in the bios firmware. Actually, that makes life easy. In a clean install Setup will read this key from the firmware and use it to determine which edition to install and to activate it.

adripendleton said:

The sticker on my laptop says Windows 8 Pro.

Then you should have a legitimate key for W8 Pro in the bios. You can do a clean install and get an activated Windows 10 Pro.

Clean Install Windows 10 | Tutorials

adripendleton said:

Yeah, it came it with 8. Wouldn't this mean though, that it should have installed correctly either way when I reset the PC? Will it not just give me the same issue when I reset it again?

To clear up any doubts, you can check what the key embedded in your PC is actually for. Use ShowKeyPlus to read it. It should tell you the key and say:

OEM Edition: Win 8 RTM Professional OEM:DM

Key types:
OEM: DM = PC specific keys found embedded in the Microsoft Data Management (MSDM) table of the firmware of Windows 8 and Windows 10 factory installed PC's.

ShowKeyPlus - Windows 10 Forums

Bree said:

To clear up any doubts, you can check what the key embedded in your PC is actually for. Use ShowKeyPlus to read it.

ShowKeyPlus - Windows 10 Forums

Okay, I just did this & can see Product Name/Version/ID/Installed Key, along with OEM Key/OEM Edition. OEM is the one that's embedded in my computer? It says the edition is "Win 8 RTM Professional OEM: DM"

adripendleton said:

OEM is the one that's embedded in my computer? It says the edition is "Win 8 RTM Professional OEM: DM"

That's exactly what it should say. Yes, the OEM key is unique to your PC and is embedded in the firmware. You can do a clean install with the Microsoft install media and will get an activated Windows 10 Pro, you won't even be asked for a key as Setup will read the one you have in the PC.

Downgrade from Windows 10 Enterprise to Windows 10 Pro?


Scroll down to the post by Scott Louvau and the one below that:

From an elevated command prompt, you can run:

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

Then, press the Windows key and type 'Activation' to get to the "System Settings -> Activation" UI, click "Change Product Key", and paste in the value.

This changed the edition of Windows from Windows 10 Enterprise to Windows 10 Pro. No re-install or new key required.

You might not be able to, but you can try the following:- this worked for me and is from another post:

Open Registry Editor(WIN + R, type regedit, hit Enter)

Browse to key HKEY_Local Machine > Software > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion

Change EditionID to Pro (double click EditionID, change value, click OK). In your case it should at the moment show Enterprise

Change ProductName to Windows 10 Pro. In your case it should at the moment show Windows 10 Professional

Browse to key HKEY_Local Machine > Software > Wow6432Node > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion, change the same two values as in steps 3 and 4 above

Close the Registry Editor

Insert the Windows 10 Proinstallation media, do an in-place upgrade by launching the setup from desktop(not booting with Windows 10 Pro install media)

When asked, enter your validWindows 10 Pro product key and select what to keep(settings, personal files and apps, only personal files or nothing)

Windows 10 Pro in-place upgrade will be done now.

You can try the Windows 8 Pro product key that Showkey Provided, and you can also try the generic Windows 10 Pro product key:
VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

For the installation media, make a USB flash drive using the Microsoft provided Media Creation Tool:
Download Windows 10

Caledon Ken said:

Looks like mystery is solved.

The only remaining mystery is why a Reset turned it into Enterprise. @Superfly's sugestion that "reset uses the recovery partition - someone must have changed that to Enterprise" seems the most likely explanation, especially if this was a second hand machine that had once been used in a business.

To prevent a recurrence of the 'Enterprise' problem it would probably be best to do a clean install, select 'Custom install', then delete all existing partitions. Then install Windows into the empty space created.