MAK - Activation via WDS - Error code: 0xc004f038

I'm setting up a WDS server in a domain where it's said that MAK is being used for activation of the Windows 7 clients.

Now, I'm getting this error 0xc004f038 which seems to be related to KMS and not MAK. Now, while googling this I've found that this error might occur if there's DNS records for _VLMCS in the _tcp section of the domain. And this is what's telling the client that there's a KMS server in the domain.

In the DNS I've found two records for VLMCS. And when I log on to these servers and run SLMGR.vbs /dlv I see that KMS is active on both servers. Wouldn't this interfere with MAK activation to Microsoft's servers? Shouldn't KMS be uninstalled for MAK to even work?

KMS activation is the default for non-retail versions of Windows 7. It will be searching DNS for a KMS server and not finding anything, hence the error. If you have a MAK key, you have two options:

1. Manually enter the MAK on each machine that you want to activate (use the 'Change Product key' link in the System Properties page.

2. Download the VAMT and host your MAK on there. Setting up an activation server will set up an appropriate DNS entry to allow your clients to discover the server. EDIT: Just noticed that you may already have a VAMT server, so you could host the MAK on there.