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Unable to transfer Windows 11 Pro retail license to a new machine

Talha Ahmed 5 Reputation points
2023-05-02T21:20:52.14+00:00

We are looking to buy 20-25 Windows Pro retail licenses for business use.

We had following goals

  • Licenses will be owned by business and not become property of employee. License installed on machine of one employee can be removed from existing machine and applied to machine of new employee
  • Licenses will be able to transfer between devices in case of device failure
  • Don't want to enter agreement/contracts needed for volume licensing

For that purpose, we had determined that Windows Pro retail/fpp license which costs $199 will be suitable. I purchased 1 license to test if it will be able to transfer from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/d/windows-11-pro/dg7gmgf0d8h4.

  1. I created a virtual machine, installed windows 11 pro and applied license I purchased. It applied successfully and window become activate. At this point, this virtual machine was linked to Azure Active Directory domain. It shown message "Windows is activated with a digital license"
  2. I created another virtual machine, installed 11 pro. Joined virtual machine to same Azure Active directory domain. Tried to applied same license which was applied to virtual machine 1. It gave error saying that it was already in use on another machine which was correct at this point
  3. I then ran slmgr /upk and slmgr /cpky command on machine 1. It removed product key from machine 1. I then tried to apply same product key on machine 2. It still gave error that license is already in use which is not true and it should have activated.
  4. I tried several things but nothing seem to resolve issue including restarting both machines several times,
  5. Tried Reset this pc on machine 1 didn't work
  6. Tried phone activation. Number shown for my country is not responding. I tried US phone number, it asked me all information including installation id but it also responded that key is already in use and didn't provide me with confirmation id

Another thing to note is that even if I run slmgr /upk on machine 1, if I click troubleshoot activation on it, it automatically activates that machine again. This leads me to believe that slmgr /upk command isn't fully removing product key from old machine

Left = Machine 1, Right = Machine 2

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  1. Limitless Technology 44,766 Reputation points
    2023-05-03T15:53:32.8133333+00:00

    Hi,

    I'd be happy to help you out with your question. Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

    There are a few reasons why this could be happening. Please refer to below cause and solutions:

    Activation limit reached: Each Windows 11 Pro retail license has a limit of one activation at a time. If the license is already activated on one machine, it cannot be activated on another until it is deactivated from the first machine. To deactivate it, you can use the "slmgr /upk" command or reset the machine to its default state.

    Azure AD connection: The Azure AD connection may be causing issues with the license activation. Try disconnecting the first machine from the Azure AD domain before deactivating the license key and activating it on the second machine.

    Phone activation: If the phone activation option is not working, you can try contacting Microsoft support. They may be able to provide you with a confirmation ID for activation.

    License type: Make sure that the license key you purchased is a retail license and not an OEM or volume license. These license types have different activation rules and may not be transferable.

    Time delay: Sometimes, there can be a delay between deactivating a license on one machine and being able to activate it on another. Wait a few hours and try again.

    If you have any other questions or need assistance with anything, please don't hesitate to let me know. I'm here to help.

    If the reply was helpful, please don’t forget to upvote or accept as answer, thank you.

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