After updating my BIOS and Intel Management Engine firmware on my Windows 11 Pro system, my activation broke with error codes 0xC004F211

Question

After updating my BIOS and Intel Management Engine firmware on my Windows 11 Pro system, my activation broke with error codes 0xC004F211 (“hardware of your device has changed”) and 0x803F7001 / 0x803F700F.

The system was digitally licensed to my Microsoft account prior to the update, and I’ve confirmed the edition matches (Windows 11 Pro).

The activation troubleshooter says it can’t reach the servers or doesn’t recognize my hardware anymore. I’ve tried slmgr /ato, slmgr /rearm, and re-signing in to my Microsoft account, but it won’t reactivate.

Can someone from the activation or licensing team clarify how to rebind a digital license after a firmware or ME region flash changes the hardware hash, without reinstalling Windows?

Answer 1

Hi Tom,

Updating BIOS should not invalidate the license. That's odd.

Maybe you could ask support since this is a user- user supported forum.

Please get in touch with Microsoft Support for further help.

Please go to https://support.microsoft.com/contactus page

type the "Chat with someone" option and press Enter. Please click on the "Contact support" button at the bottom.

Select the Product and Category for support according to your requirement.

The available support methods will be shown to you.

I hope this helps, please keep me updated for any other help.