Windows Upgrade Help and more

Has anyone else run into activation issues after upgrading to Windows 11? My Windows 10 was fully licensed, but now I’m getting a “Windows is not activated” watermark and error 0xC004C003. The activation troubleshooter just says it can’t activate on this device. I’ve tried re-entering my product key with no luck. Any ideas on how to fix this without a clean install?

Yeah, that error code usually means a server-side issue with Microsoft's activation servers. First, make sure you're signed in with the same Microsoft account you used for your Windows 10 digital license. Then, try running the Activation troubleshooter again, but choose the "I changed hardware on this device recently" option—it can sometimes force a re-link. If that fails, you might need to contact Microsoft Support directly; they can often push the activation through on their end.

Confirmed working. Thanks for sharing!

Same here. Did you link your Windows 10 license to your Microsoft account before upgrading? Let me know if that works.

I'm experiencing this too. Would love to know if anyone found a fix.

Yeah, same problem here. A quick tip: try linking your Microsoft account to your digital license before the upgrade, it sometimes helps.

Did you check if your Windows 10 license was a retail version or if it came pre-installed with your PC? Hope that helps.

This. If it was pre-installed, you might need to contact your PC manufacturer's support next.

Before you do that, have you checked if your Microsoft account is linked to your digital license?

This. Yeah, that's a good first step. Also, try running the Activation troubleshooter again after linking your account—sometimes it needs that second pass.