Unable to activate Windows 10 Pro after clean install (error code: 0xC004C003)

[revoc]

I did a clean install of Windows 10 Pro x64 using the method that everyone knows about by now that was written up on various sites today i.e.:

Ran the Media Creation Tool and upgraded my copy of Window 8.1 Professional with Windows 10 Professional. Looked in Control Panel --> System and it said my copy of Windows was activated. Then I ran the Media Creation Tool again and downloaded the ISO. Burned ISO to DVD. Restarted computer, booted into Windows installer on DVD, customized the install by formatting drive, did a fresh install of Windows 10.

Now when I go into Control Panel --> System it says "Windows not activated". When I click on the Activate Windows icon and click the error details link I get the error code: 0xC004C003.

Has anybody encountered this problem or does anyone know how to resolve it?

edit: I should note that the Windows 8 OS came pre-installed on my laptop which I bought brand new. I don't think that matters?

 

[Jozef jurcisin]

Is Windows 10 to set to boot to automatically at startup?

 

[revoc]

Yes, it boots into Windows 10 automatically and takes me to the log-in screen.

 

[a5cent]

See the last item in the FAQ

http://forums.windowscentral.com/wi...0015-windows-10-upgrade-installation-faq.html

 

[revoc]

See the last item in the FAQ

Ok, got it. I'll report back in two days if it isn't activated by then. Thanks!

 

[Kraizel]

Hello, any news on this problem? it has been 2 days and I don't have windows activated since i did a clean install same error code error 0xC004C003. thanks

 

[JasowanUnderscore]

Hello, any news on this problem? it has been 2 days and I don't have windows activated since i did a clean install same error code error 0xC004C003. thanks

I have the same problem.

 

[mmcpher]

Paul Thurrott does a What-the-tech podcast with Andrew Zarian and this week's episode was about Windows 10. Zarian is a professed Mac user but was gamely trying to do a clean install of Windows 10 on a few of his laptops and ran into a similar problem. Thurrott is literally writing the book on Windows 10, and has been installing the successive releases for months now on a variety of devices and setups, so his talking Zarian down off the ledge might be constructive and also instructive. https://www.thurrott.com/podcasts/4998/what-the-tech-269-window-10-review. A lot of the discussion went over my head, but Thurrott seems to have a workaround in mind and I expect he will address it in detail in the near future.

 

[fancyabrew]

exactly the same scenario with me. Yesterday did an in place upgrade of win8.1 using the media creation tool. Booted win10 and it said activated. Then did a clean install and it says not activated with error code: 0xC004C003 Getting a little bit pi$$ed off with it now as I have lots of software to download and reinstall. I could revert to my 8.1 backup and try again but it just takes bleedy hours of buggering around!

 

[Steve Thackery]

Same issue here. Installed to my W8.1 hybrid from a USB stick and chose a clean install rather than an in-place upgrade. Now it won't activate. When I try to enter my original (fully genuine) W8.1 product key it says it's been blocked. Error code is C004C003.

Spoke to a nice man in India who says this is a known problem for those who've done a clean install, and that Microsoft are working on a patch. He told me it would be a couple of days, and then W10 will download it automatically and the problem will go away.

I wouldn't get hung up on the "two days" promise, though - I wouldn't be surprised if that's a bit optimistic bearing in mind how busy they must be at Redmond at the moment. I'm not going to fret until another week has passed.

 

[highsenberg]

Same issue here. But I have the same issue after I upgraded to Windows 10. I didn't even try to do clean install.

 

[bsbharath1987]

I just hope that they don't ask me to re-install Windows 8.1. I don't have the original media for that because I had upgraded from Windows 7 years ago.

 

[tazztone]

exact same situation as OP. After 8.1 to 10 upgrade i first tried resetting the OS which should only take some 10 minutes according to windows (i even have a SSD) but then after 2 hours resetting it progressed only 2% (i read online ppl waited 48hours to reset). so i canceled and re-installed manually. and now it won't ****in activate. called windows and they said "the only solution was to reinstall windows 8.1 and the upgrade again" .....but then at what point after upgrading to win10 are you supposed to be able to re-install it?
can i create a second OS installation partition with 8.1 and upgrade it to win10, and after activation delete it again? will these steps let me activate my current win 10?
maybe i should wait for this ominous patch the Indian customer service agent talked about

 

[mrbadger]

ok so found out that u have to update ur windows first then u can clean install after that well that's what they said to me I will give it a go nad let you no what the outcome is

 

[tazztone]

this is what i have done already.
so maybe we have to wait some days for the activation to take effect and be communicated with the windows activation servers before we can re-install win10. or maybe we could read out the windows 10 key with the special tool and enter this after clean install.

however my windows remains unactivated and i would like to hear a solution. maybe create a backup and then restore this on activated fresh install? i have no idea.

 

[WilliamGates]

guys. . i believe Microsoft disabled "Clean Installs".
i successfully did a clean install 6 days ago.. and there was an 'Activate' button.

i ran into trouble and decided to do another clean install but this time it failed, and the 'Activate' button has been disabled.
i bit the bullet and started from Windows 8.1, upgraded successfully, then ensured activation was successful..
then began the 'Clean Install' again..

again.. error with 'Key Blocked'.. and the 'Activate' button has been disabled.

whoever is saying Microsoft saves your hardware as a Hash is lying.
i called Microsoft and they said 'ONLY UPGRADES'.

they refused to help if you tell them you did a clean install.

just my experience.

 

[Likwidz]

guys. . i believe Microsoft disabled "Clean Installs".
i successfully did a clean install 6 days ago.. and there was an 'Activate' button.

i ran into trouble and decided to do another clean install but this time it failed, and the 'Activate' button has been disabled.
i bit the bullet and started from Windows 8.1, upgraded successfully, then ensured activation was successful..
then began the 'Clean Install' again..

again.. error with 'Key Blocked'.. and the 'Activate' button has been disabled.

whoever is saying Microsoft saves your hardware as a Hash is lying.
i called Microsoft and they said 'ONLY UPGRADES'.

they refused to help if you tell them you did a clean install.

just my experience.

I tried resetting my laptop several times via keeping files and not, and each time I completed the reset sometimes I had the 'Activate' button and sometimes I didn't. Not sure why it comes and goes after each reset, but regardless still can't activate my system after a week.

 

[milliman]

I too followed the directions explicitly and upgraded from Windows 7 Professional to Windows 10 Professional 32-bit. The upgrade activated within a minute. Later that evening I decided to do a clean install because of all of the extra cruft that Dell installs and that I no longer need after migrating from Vista to Windows 7 to Windows 10. Also I wanted to move to the 64-bit version. I did a clean install on the activated system with an ISO version that I created from the Media Creation Tool. The install ran flawlessly, but 7 days later my installation still has not activated. MS technical support keeps giving me lame excuse that the servers are still overloaded yet I've done a few other upgrades on other machines that activate immediately.

During the upgrade process, some basic information on the hardware configuration is sent to Microsoft about a dozen times. I assume that this information is the HW fingerprint that they will use to periodically use to activate and authorize our machines. My log files from the upgrade indicate successful activation and my HW information has not changed so I can only assume that there is something else blocking my clean install. It may be the change to the 64-bit version even though MS clearly states that changing versions will have no impact on the activation.

I believe that MS product management needs to change its policy to allow those of us with legitimate copies of Windows that can prove it to be issued a new product key to activate our valid copies of Windows 10. I have too much time invested in doing multiple upgrades, backups, restores, and reinstalls to keep doing this. I've started spending more of my time in OS X as a result of this upgrade process. I think that Windows 10 is a great product but I am tired of spending countless hours with Microsoft trying to activate validly purchased products due to their draconian licensing processes.

 

[coolpot]

I will follow this conversation, have the same problem, and need a solution.
:unhappysweat:

 

[Mike_GR]

I have the same problem from 5th August!Spent four days, and Microsoft Hellas tells me the same with other countries, I need to wait a few days.Really, I waited four days and did not change nothing!I dont know what's wrong but Microsoft something must be done immediately!
Shame on you Microsoft ! Problematic Microsoft !