Windows 2008 keeps forcing reactivation
All our servers are setup under a volume license agreement so they shouldn't prompt for activation. However some of them constantly ask for reactivation. These are all VMs running under VMware vSphere.
The machine that prompted for activation today said that the hardware had changed since it was activated, when I know for a fact that it hasn't. It isn't all the machines that require reactivation, just some of them.
The machines are Windows 2008 with either the Web Edition or the Standard Edition.
When I look in the event log the entry after the one saying that the hardware has changed says.
The RAC or SPC license in invalid {guid} hr=0xC004E003 (4,0xC004F00F)
The next one says
License acquisition failure details. hr=0xC004C008
The next one says
Acuisition of End User License failed. hr=0xC004C008 Sku Id={guid}
Where I put {guid} is has an actual GUID.
Does anyone have an idea what's going on?
mrdenny
Nick Kavadias2 Answers
Did you create and install these VM's individually or did you clone them? The problem could be that the SID is the same. I'm not entirely certain if that COULD cause this exact issue but it can cause other similar issues with things like windows updates. If you cloned them run NewSid on the machines to give each of them their own unique SIDs.
Dave HollandThe following KB articles cover troubleshooting the errors you mention:
- http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950755
- http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938450
- http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942969
The first KB article recommends re-entering the key to resolve your first error, and for the second two (which have the same error), your best bet will be to call the Microsoft Product Activation Center here: (888) 352 7140. The last two errors indicate that the MAK key has been activated more times than the key allows, and they can increase the number of activations at that phone number.
Sean EarpUser contributions licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0