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I performed a bios update a couple weeks ago, updated windows and now windows tries to reactivate error code 0x803FABC3
i have the original Retail Windows 8.1 Pro package and key card.
This same PC has been using that license for years, and my current Windows 11 Pro installation on my SSD was activated successfully for several months.
A few days ago, Windows suddenly deactivated itself and now says it's not activated.
I've already run the Activation Troubleshooter, signed out of and back into my Microsoft account, tried a local account, run DISM and SFC, and verified that I'm running Windows 11 Pro.
I also still have another Windows installation on my old hard drive that reports it is activated with a digital license linked to my Microsoft account.
However, the Activation Troubleshooter says there are no eligible devices linked to my Microsoft account, even though my Microsoft account shows my PC.
When I try to enter my original Windows 8.1 Pro retail key, I receive error 0xC004E016, saying the product key is invalid.
Hello
I see what the issue is here.
You obtained your Windows 11 by upgrading from Windows 8 - 10, then to 11.
This is what was considered a loophole that has now been closed, so you cannot use this license to reactivate Win11 anymore.
The original key is meant for activating Windows 8 only, not for 10 or 11.
the only thing that still confuses me is if i boot into the HDD (which has the installation that was upgraded from Win10 Pro to Win11 Pro) it still says that it's activated via digital license.
i've been told by many sources that a new install on an ssd with the same motherboard, cpu, ram, etc should be able to use the same code, and that seems to have been true since the beginning of April. it was only a couple days ago that Windows started doing this.
When you used the free upgrade from Windows 7 or Windows 8 to Windows 10, the resulting Windows 10 license became a digital license. This was true even if the original Windows 7 or Windows 8 license used a traditional 25-character product key.
The original product key could still be used to activate the original Windows version (7 or 8), but the upgraded Windows 10 installation was activated through its digital license. See here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activation/find-your-windows-product-key
For many years, Microsoft also allowed Windows 7 and Windows 8 product keys to activate Windows 10, and in some cases, Windows 11. Microsoft has since discontinued that activation path some time ago.
For Windows 10, a device that previously received the free upgrade must now reactivate through its existing digital license. For Windows 11,you can no longer use a license that was upgraded from Windows 7 or 8, digital or not.
The free upgrade did not provide unlimited upgrade rights across every future version of Windows.
