Activating Windows 7
Unlike Windows XP and Vista, failure to activate Windows 7 leaves you with an annoying, but somewhat usable system. If you choose not to activate Windows 7 during installation, you will see an “Activate Windows Online Now” notification in the system tray. If you don’t activate then, you will see and “Activate Now” message every day from day 4 through day 27. You will get the “Activate Now” message every four hours until day 30. After day 30, you will get the “Activate Now” message every hour, along with a notice that your Windows version is not genuine whenever you launch the Control Panel. Windows 7 will also not perform any system updates after the grace period; access to the online Windows Update store will also be barred. Finally, Windows will automatically turn your screen background image to black every hour despite setting a preference. This behavior continues until you successfully activate Windows 7. The problem comes in when you try to activate Windows online, and all you get is error 0xC004E003. Even after entering the correct product key, the error persists. Now that we know how Windows activation works on Windows 7, let’s see why this error occurs and how to solve it.
Reason for the error Code 0xC004E003
Simply put, error 0xC004E003 indicates that ‘the Software Licensing Service reported that license evaluation failed’. This problem occurs if the license validity interval has expired, or if the license is not signed correctly. Providing the wrong key is likely to through this error. If you are trying to activate an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) version of Windows, your product key should be on a sticker under, at the side or behind your computer. If you are activating a retail version (bought a DVD from the store) then your product key should be inside your DVD or stuck to the side or on top of the DVD. Make sure you input the correct product key when activating Windows. Note that the following characters cannot be used – A E I L N O S U Z 1 0 5 – so don’t bother trying them if you are not sure about your product key characters. Be careful when purchasing Windows 7 from stores. Watch this video from YouTube for more information on counterfeit Windows 7 products. If you’re the Windows you installed is from a genuine source and your product key is correct, here is how to activate Windows 7.
Method 1: Activate Windows over the phone
Windows will use the data sent over the telephone to detect your computer’s product key and send you an activation code over the phone.
Method 2: Change the product key
It might be possible that your copy of Windows is sticking to the wrong product key. You will need to change to the correct key. The Product Key on the sticker should have 25 characters in this format: xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Method 3: Rearm Windows then activate
Rearming Windows will clear all stuck and corrupt keys. If the process was stuck halfway, rearming will solve the issue and enable you to activate Windows.
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