I’m trying to upgrade my Windows 10 PC to Windows 11, which it says is compatible. The upgrade itself goes through, but afterwards I get an activation error (0xC004C003). It says Windows isn’t activated, even though my Windows 10 was fully genuine and activated. I’ve tried the activation troubleshooter, but it just says it can’t activate right now. Has anyone else hit this and found a fix?
That error usually means the activation servers are having trouble verifying your license after the upgrade. First, make sure you're connected to the internet, then open an admin Command Prompt and run "slmgr /ato" to force activation. If that doesn't work, you might need to use the Activation troubleshooter and select "I changed hardware on this device recently" to link your Microsoft account license. Give those a shot and let us know if it sticks.
I had the same problem. Running the activation troubleshooter and selecting the "I changed hardware" option is what finally fixed it for me. Hope that helps.
Same here. Yeah, that trick works for a lot of people, but if it didn't for you, have you checked if your Microsoft account is properly linked to your digital license?
Yeah, You could also try using the Activation Troubleshooter again, but specifically choose the "I changed hardware on this device recently" option. Another option is to contact Microsoft support directly—they can often push a reactivation through on their end.