I'm ready to murder Microsoft - cannot activate with COA KEY

[Digital Sage]

*** Resolved : Key was different to the key pulled by the keyfinder. I assumed it would be the same.

My hate for Microsoft continues... this is why i only do Apple products. Never an issue with licensing.

So i've rebuild the Operating system from the ground up, installed all updates, blah blah blah.

Type in the COA key on the sticker on the underneath of the Toshiba Laptop. All installed OK.

Now it says windows needs activation. OK. Try to activate. Throws an error code, says it cannot activate.

Google. Google says use phone system. THE F**KING OPTION ISN'T EVEN THERE.

Microsoft just seem to want to make it hard to actually use any of their software. As it stands i'm meant to give this laptop back to the client today, and now it's saying this legitimate copy of Windows isn't activated, and there's no option to use the phone system. When i click 'contact microsoft for help' it takes me straight to a 'how to install Windows 10'

Seriously, this company is completely screwed.

Any Ideas?

 

[nlinecomputers]

Discussed ad nauseum. Always amazed when I see techs that I know have been doing this awhile are unaware how System Locked Preinstalled systems work.

Windows OEM/Recovery Options

 

[Markverhyden]

Yep, SLP complicates things.

 

[Matthew Bradley]

"this is why i only do Apple products"

Wow. I'd be out of business in a month.

 

[Bryce W]

Discussed ad nauseum. Always amazed when I see techs that I know have been doing this awhile are unaware how System Locked Preinstalled systems work.

Windows OEM/Recovery Options

While this may have been common knowledge for you, it wasnt to @Digital Sage. Thats why we ask questions, to learn. We are all at different knowledge levels in different areas.

This attitude eventually results in no-one willing to ask questions on a forum you enjoy because its active, because people are asking questions and answering.

You contribute a ton of value which I greatly appreciate, and probably post 10x more than the average member. But if 50 people read this and are hesitant to ask questions because they are afraid of responses like this, the value overall becomes a negative figure.

I dont want people to be afraid to ask questions because of the fear of getting looked down upon.
A simple "This has been discussed a fair bit in the past, check out this thread" would have been a great response.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Fair enough. Was simply expressing surprise and worded it alot stronger then I realize. I apologize to you both for that.

 

[Digital Sage]

Never M

Discussed ad nauseum. Always amazed when I see techs that I know have been doing this awhile are unaware how System Locked Preinstalled systems work.

Windows OEM/Recovery Options

Be amazed mate. I've never see this before .... It's infuriating how many hoops Microsoft make you jump through. Apple? Just install the OS. Doesn't matter what version, what the installer disk was, there's no COA key, there's no key whatsoever.

I spend three times the amount of time reinstalling Windows systems then i do Mac's. It's why I only focus on Mac's now. Microsoft crap drives me crazy.

Mac's : The user profile, all files, documents and apps are right there, even after a reinstall of the OS.

Windows? Have to 1. download drivers galore. 2. Updates galore. 3. Reinstall apps. 4. Reinsert user profile data. It takes forever.

For example :

All searches i did pointed to activating via phone. The option wasn't there, even thou Microsoft's own help and support forums keep referring to it. There seems to be absolutely no consistency with Microsofts own support channels.

Clicking on 'contact microsoft' lead me right to an article on Windows 10 installation. I didn't request anything specific to Windows 10.

Licencing is all over the place. You have to use the correct installer disk, it can be unique to each manufacturer, the key it's installed with doesn't seem to be the same key as COA sticker. Go forbid the key is stored in the BIOS like new systems.

Then, there's crap like Office 365, which requests you fill in a complete form filled with personal information, and then register for an account, and then activate. All after PAYING for the product online or in store.

it's pure insanity when you come from a background of installing / working with Mac's. Microsoft continually surprise me how hard and complicated they make things for the end user.

And how did all this happen? User tried to upgrade to Windows 10 after being told by it's own operating system to do so. An operating system that isn't ready for release. It's just an absolute joke.

For the record : 75% of what i do is Mac related and business is fine. Your experience doesn't equal reality.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Sounds like you didn't get an ACTIVATION error. You got an installation error - invalid key. Your key didn't fail activation. For activation was never attempted. It failed to take during the install, a much earlier part of the process.. The installer uses checksums to see if you have a valid key. As you pulled the wrong key using produkey it was rejected. You are not going to get a prompt to call in for activation because the built in antipiracy gate keeper knew you have an improper key. Windows 7 only displays a prompt to call in if after giving it a key that passes checksum tests but for some reason fails to activate either because it is rejected by the activation computers or you don't have an internet connection. You never got that far thus no phone prompt.

And yes this is more convoluted then an Mac but Microsoft doesn't have the luxury to make both hardware and software. Apple is just as protective of OSX. I can't install it on anything but a Mac without a major effort of piracy and cracking to get a hackintosh version running on Wintel hardware.

If you had used a Toshiba branded Windows disk it would have installed without any key prompts, very similar to the Apple install.

 

[Digital Sage]

Sounds like you didn't get an ACTIVATION error. You got an installation error - invalid key. Your key didn't fail activation. For activation was never attempted. It failed to take during the install, a much earlier part of the process.. The installer uses checksums to see if you have a valid key. As you pulled the wrong key using produkey it was rejected. You are not going to get a prompt to call in for activation because the built in antipiracy gate keeper knew you have an improper key. Windows 7 only displays a prompt to call in if after giving it a key that passes checksum tests but for some reason fails to activate either because it is rejected by the activation computers or you don't have an internet connection. You never got that far thus no phone prompt.

And yes this is more convoluted then an Mac but Microsoft doesn't have the luxury to make both hardware and software. Apple is just as protective of OSX. I can't install it on anything but a Mac without a major effort of piracy and cracking to get a hackintosh version running on Wintel hardware.

If you had used a Toshiba branded Windows disk it would have installed without any key prompts, very similar to the Apple install.

No, it asked for Windows to be activated, as i stated, and then said the key was invalid, with the error code which stated the key was in use. I've been though this before - and in the past it usually gave the prompt the activate via phone. That option wasn't there. Every time i tried to research it, with that exact error code, it said to do phone activation. Problem was the option wasn't there. So i'd put in the key i got from my keyfinder (paid software), and it would try to activate, it would go online, and then said it wasn't able to activate it , with the same error code. It was a loop with no exit.

Stupidy i assumed that the key from the previous system was correct, but it turns out the COA key underneath was different. Once i put that it, it activated fine. Something about the installer key from a new system being different to the actual COA key.

Who the hell tries to run a hackintosh setup in the field???

 

[Knightsman]

This isn't Microsoft, This is a Toshiba issue. You don't have these issues with Dells or Lenovos, Acers, etc. Only makes HP, Toshiba, gateway.

Its locked by the manufacturer.

You cant, and have never been able to do a from the ground up install on a lot of brand name computers. Toshiba have models with the same issue. The OS that comes with it gets a completely different key than whats on the sticker. The sticker is nothing more than saying its an authentic key.

 

[Matthew Bradley]

Pretty much all your complaints about Windows (and Office) are spot on. I've had the same frustrations but Apple has like a 7% PC market share. While your rant is spot on, your doing yourself a HUGE financial injustice by focusing your business on just Apple. Mobile is a different story of course and maybe that's what your referring to but a service center that does 75% Macs and actually turn a profit? To say you are in the minority here could quite possibly be the understatement of the year.

 

[Digital Sage]

Pretty much all your complaints about Windows (and Office) are spot on. I've had the same frustrations but Apple has like a 7% PC market share. While your rant is spot on, your doing yourself a HUGE financial injustice by focusing your business on just Apple. Mobile is a different story of course and maybe that's what your referring to but a service center that does 75% Macs and actually turn a profit? To say you are in the minority here could quite possibly be the understatement of the year.

I'll say it again : So read carefully. Your experience doesn't equal everyone's reality.
Most tech's in my area don't do Apple. I hear horror stories of Windows techs screwing up jobs, not having a clue, etc, etc. So, whilst i may be the minority, i am specialised, and what i do, i do well. This was a thread about Windows licencing, and microsoft getting in the way of itself, and yet again, someone has to come in and put their opinion forth of why i should change my business model? Thanks, but your unsolicited advice on how to run my business isn't really required.

 

[Digital Sage]

This isn't Microsoft, This is a Toshiba issue. You don't have these issues with Dells or Lenovos, Acers, etc. Only makes HP, Toshiba, gateway.

Its locked by the manufacturer.

You cant, and have never been able to do a from the ground up install on a lot of brand name computers. Toshiba have models with the same issue. The OS that comes with it gets a completely different key than whats on the sticker. The sticker is nothing more than saying its an authentic key.

Guess you didn't read the thread. I DID do a ground up install, i just had a key issue where by the original install key wasn't able to be used again, and i assumed it was the key on the bottom. It wasn't. Once i put the key in the COA sticker, problem solved.

 

[altrenda]

Pretty much all your complaints about Windows (and Office) are spot on. I've had the same frustrations but Apple has like a 7% PC market share. While your rant is spot on, your doing yourself a HUGE financial injustice by focusing your business on just Apple. Mobile is a different story of course and maybe that's what your referring to but a service center that does 75% Macs and actually turn a profit? To say you are in the minority here could quite possibly be the understatement of the year.

I beg to differ. My business is 75% mac and it's the Mac business that makes the money. If I was Windows only, and I was doing residential, I'd be slugging it out with hundreds of shops, one man company's, and part timers, charging $40 for virus removals. It's sad to watch shop after shop close here in the LA area.
I mainly do business clients, and only do residential as a favor to my business clients. I've never been busier, and thinking of raising my rates again. I know in this area I am not alone. And I don't do phones or iPads, I farm that out.

You may not see many Macs because you don't do Macs, and most Mac users want people that know the product, not someone who dabbles in it. Except for the cheap customers.

 

[Matthew Bradley]

I beg to differ. My business is 75% mac and it's the Mac business that makes the money. If I was Windows only, and I was doing residential, I'd be slugging it out with hundreds of shops, one man company's, and part timers, charging $40 for virus removals. It's sad to watch shop after shop close here in the LA area.
I mainly do business clients, and only do residential as a favor to my business clients. I've never been busier, and thinking of raising my rates again. I know in this area I am not alone. And I don't do phones or iPads, I farm that out.

You may not see many Macs because you don't do Macs, and most Mac users want people that know the product, not someone who dabbles in it. Except for the cheap customers.

No we do plenty. Probably about 10%. I have a huge sign out front advertising that fact. I suppose it's just different areas. We service hundreds of businesses and not one uses a mac. Your area is obviously different. Nice to know though. I like it when an apple comes in. Usually super easy fixes.

 

[nlinecomputers]

This isn't Microsoft, This is a Toshiba issue. You don't have these issues with Dells or Lenovos, Acers, etc. Only makes HP, Toshiba, gateway.

Its locked by the manufacturer.

You can't, and have never been able to do a from the ground up install on a lot of brand name computers. Toshiba have models with the same issue. The OS that comes with it gets a completely different key than whats on the sticker. The sticker is nothing more than saying its an authentic key.

Not correct. Dell, Lenovo, etc all use locked SLP keys. Dell is just better about providing SLP media to end users. But on ANY of those systems if you take a standard generic Windows 7 OEM disk and try to use the key pulled from Produkey it will not work. The whole reason for the key on the sticker is so that you can install via standard Microsoft media in case you don't have an OEM provided copy. If the OP had used the proper key on the sticker from the git go he likely wouldn't have had any problems.

 

[Digital Sage]

Not correct. Dell, Lenovo, etc all use locked SLP keys. Dell is just better about providing SLP media to end users. But on ANY of those systems if you take a standard generic Windows 7 OEM disk and try to use the key pulled from Produkey it will not work. The whole reason for the key on the sticker is so that you can install via standard Microsoft media in case you don't have an OEM provided copy. If the OP had used the proper key on the sticker from the git go he likely wouldn't have had any problems.

Yup, lesson learned! Yet another Microsoft licencing quirk - the installed licence key won't work again with OEM media, only the specific manufacturer, so the COA key needs to be used instead. What threw me is that it accepted the key initially, no problems. Passed though 12 hours of downloading and installing updates, two more days of being on the bench before it told me the licence wasn't invalid (Why does it take three days to tell me this?), throwing an obscure error code at me (Like i'm supposed to know what E00000c403 means) and not giving me the chance to verify over the phone, which all documentation pointed to.

Microsoft - "we make it much harder and more confusing then we need too!"

 

[Digital Sage]

I beg to differ. My business is 75% mac and it's the Mac business that makes the money. If I was Windows only, and I was doing residential, I'd be slugging it out with hundreds of shops, one man company's, and part timers, charging $40 for virus removals. It's sad to watch shop after shop close here in the LA area.
I mainly do business clients, and only do residential as a favor to my business clients. I've never been busier, and thinking of raising my rates again. I know in this area I am not alone. And I don't do phones or iPads, I farm that out.

You may not see many Macs because you don't do Macs, and most Mac users want people that know the product, not someone who dabbles in it. Except for the cheap customers.

This is pretty much my exact experience, and verified by the stories my clients tell me that always go along the lines of 'we had a computer guy come out, but he had no idea, and hours later..... "

I'm a single, onsite operator. I don't need a crap load of business. People with mac's have money. Competition is little. Very little cheap skates. Mac's much easier to fix, and much more robust OS wise. No spending two hours removing crap of pretty much every single windows system i've ever seen (There was one, ONCE that had nothing, it was the exception). No doing 400 windows updates to get the OS up to the current release. No downloading a bunch of drivers specific to a model to get everything working. No licencing issues. Oh wait, i stand corrected. There's one product on the Mac that asks for validation after a reinstall of the OS. Just one. Guess what it is? Microsoft Office.

 

[Bryce W]

Without getting into a Mac vs. Windows contest about which is better/Macs are overpriced blah blah.
From a BUSINESS perspective, with residential clients, I have to echo what @Digital Sage said. Its easy work and easy money. I reached a point where 75% of my jobs were Apple based. They were often really easy jobs like setting up email, syncing up iPhone/iMac, showing them how to do some basic stuff etc.. I could spend 15 minutes there, charge for the hour and they LOVED me for it and more than happy to pay my higher than average prices.

To add one more to Digital Sages list of benefits, you dont have to handle crap hardware either. There is a minimum quality across all Macs, and its fairly high quality. So no working on cheapo $400 Walmart PCs. I did come across some older Macs though which slowed things down, but not crap quality machines.

My personal choices on whether I think Mac vs PC is better just doesn't matter, I went where the money was. And in regards to residentials, Macs was where it was at. Wealthy clients, easy jobs & little competition.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Yup, lesson learned! Yet another Microsoft licencing quirk - the installed licence key won't work again with OEM media, only the specific manufacturer, so the COA key needs to be used instead

No the key you found will not work with ANY media. It isn't an installation key it is a manufactures' key. If you had Toshiba media it would not have prompted you for key at all. Just like a Mac. Unlike a Mac Microsoft gives you a work around just in case you don't have the proper media. You can use a generic Windows 7 disk and then use the key on the COA sticker.

What threw me is that it accepted the key initially, no problems. Passed though 12 hours of downloading and installing updates, two more days of being on the bench before it told me the licence wasn't invalid (Why does it take three days to tell me this?)

I'm gonna call you slightly on this. I think you have misremembered the steps. What you describe is not possible. If you actually pulled the key from the previous install and tried to punch it in, the installer would reject it. However you can skip at that point and not put any key in. Which is what I think you did and didn't realize it. (It is freakin easy to do.) After that you get 3 days of grace to properly activate. And Windows doesn't overtly tell you anything is wrong(and don't bother bitchin' about it because you are preaching to the choir. It is a valid point.) At that point you again tried to use your pulled key and got a failed activation. And you don't get a phone prompt at that point because you're using an invalid key. It isn't a legal install key so there is no point in calling the activation center to help a pirate. And windows isn't going to help you because it thinks you are using a pirate key. If you had called Microsoft Support(not the same number as activation) or Toshiba support someone would have told you where to get the proper key.

Your mistake was using a keyfinder in the first place. That will work on retail, upgraded, white box, home built, PCs but not from major OEM versions of Windows. You should always use the key printed on the OEM COA sticker. I don't know where you got the info that using it would work but for OEM is doesn't and it was bad advice. Sorry you had so much trouble but Microsoft has to put these barriers in place to prevent piracy of the product. Apple also prevents piracy by hard coding the software to work only on Apple hardware.

For what it is worth Microsoft has changed most of this for Windows 8 and 10. A unique key is now embedded into the BIOS of OEM machines and Windows will seek out that key during the install and never prompt you for a key on a proper working system. Just like a Mac.