So, silly me, walked away from my win 10 home pc today...

pek

prairie dog
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Nov 7, 2005
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When I returned, it had rebooted. logged in, found that M$ hit me with 1709. Without my telling it it could, after I told it not to install updates. And, funny thing, my win 10 was no longer activated! Had an error code that wasn't on the win10 activation site (0xc004f012 if it matters, and no, it was a fresh install of a copy from the M$ store, they just give a download link in the email, not a key, and no key in my account on the store, either). So begins my journey through M$ support hell. I was a good little boy and went to the MS help pages, did "slui 4" from the command line, got to watch the little dots go around in an infinite circle. Called the activation help line after yelling at the voice response a few times. They followed their playbook, went thru what I already did. Watched the dots go in circles again, no drugs to give me new insight about whatever the dots are trying to tell me. Transfered to M$ support, he wanted to remote in, told him hell no, I don't log in with my win account and he wants to take over my box? Tried the slui 4 again, still didn't work, he bitched about not being able to give me the long cli, so I broke down and went to the M$ web site and downloaded the applet. He tried a few things, even had me log in with my M$ account, which I had to reset since I haven't used it since i bought win 10. He piddled around and dumped me after he tried his playbook, dial tone. That reset my expectation (and frustration level) for my call back to activation and then to M$ store accounts to verify I was me (but they can't give me my key, ohhhh no, they just do accounts), they forward me to hold commercial hell, telling me over and over how good 1709 is to add insult to injury. started about 90 min ago, the M$ store person at least gave me a case number, even though I despair of getting a damn human that can help again. Fsck M$.

Maybe this should be in genmay, but hell with it, it's here now.
 
Update, just got off the phone with M$ 2nd level, had to escalate to 3rd level, they couldn't get my pc to accept the new key, they did give me a copy of the key while I wait for real help. they said the wait time for 3rd level support was about 5 hours, imagine that, maybe they shot themselves in the foot pushing out that damn update. They're supposed to call me tomorrow to continue on. I kind of feel sorry for the support people, must be hell after the 1709 push if I'm any indication.
 
Update, just got off the phone with M$ 2nd level, had to escalate to 3rd level, they couldn't get my pc to accept the new key, they did give me a copy of the key while I wait for real help. they said the wait time for 3rd level support was about 5 hours, imagine that, maybe they shot themselves in the foot pushing out that damn update. They're supposed to call me tomorrow to continue on. I kind of feel sorry for the support people, must be hell after the 1709 push if I'm any indication.

Sue them.
 
When I returned, it had rebooted. logged in, found that M$ hit me with 1709. Without my telling it it could, after I told it not to install updates. And, funny thing, my win 10 was no longer activated! Had an error code that wasn't on the win10 activation site (0xc004f012 if it matters, and no, it was a fresh install of a copy from the M$ store, they just give a download link in the email, not a key, and no key in my account on the store, either). So begins my journey through M$ support hell. I was a good little boy and went to the MS help pages, did "slui 4" from the command line, got to watch the little dots go around in an infinite circle. Called the activation help line after yelling at the voice response a few times. They followed their playbook, went thru what I already did. Watched the dots go in circles again, no drugs to give me new insight about whatever the dots are trying to tell me. Transfered to M$ support, he wanted to remote in, told him hell no, I don't log in with my win account and he wants to take over my box? Tried the slui 4 again, still didn't work, he bitched about not being able to give me the long cli, so I broke down and went to the M$ web site and downloaded the applet. He tried a few things, even had me log in with my M$ account, which I had to reset since I haven't used it since i bought win 10. He piddled around and dumped me after he tried his playbook, dial tone. That reset my expectation (and frustration level) for my call back to activation and then to M$ store accounts to verify I was me (but they can't give me my key, ohhhh no, they just do accounts), they forward me to hold commercial hell, telling me over and over how good 1709 is to add insult to injury. started about 90 min ago, the M$ store person at least gave me a case number, even though I despair of getting a damn human that can help again. Fsck M$.

Maybe this should be in genmay, but hell with it, it's here now.
Where did you buy your Windows 10 key from?
 
I got win 10 from M$ store, Store people can verify that I actually did purchase it, but can't issue a key (spent 90+ min on the phone and hold for that). They transffered me to 2nd level support to actually give me a key, that was another 90+ min on hold, and then them trying and giving up getting a key to actually activate windows. At least they did give me the key after 2nd level gave up and passed my ticket up the line. Supposed to get a call back today.

And, no choice for win 10, if you recall they were dropping support for 8.1 on new hardware, so I had to upgrade after my old mobo crashed and I got a new z270 with 7700K. I primarily game, and linux wont run 95% of the games I play.
 
And, no choice for win 10, if you recall they were dropping support for 8.1 on new hardware, so I had to upgrade after my old mobo crashed and I got a new z270 with 7700K. I primarily game, and linux wont run 95% of the games I play.

Z270 and 7700K run fine on 8.1 and 7
Z370 and 8700K run fine on 8.1 and 7

I switched my Z370/8600k to 8.1 after the 1709 debacle. I hung in there for a while with 10 but it adds nothing noteworthy over 8.1, but lots of downsides and headaches. 8.1 runs all the same windows games except two boring windows store exclusives, and 8.1 will get patched until 2023 unless MS reneges on that too (wouldn't be surprised).

Tired of having to fight my OS and half my programs getting broken every few months with these lame full install "Creator" updates. I also dualboot Linux Mint 18.3 now when I'm not gaming.
 
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And, once again, after waiting for M$ support to call me back, I started poking around myself, trying various things I found on the net. Oddly enough, it steadfastly would not accept the key that M$ gave me, I did get another error code trying slmgr /dti (display the code to activate with M$ support, it gave me error 0xC00020036, which, when I searched along with "1709", found a M$ forum entry about that code. The initial fix wasn't relevant, but, at the bottom was a suggested fix:

TheUnknown0782 replied on

I had the same error, to fix this I went to the search bar at the bottom and type in "regedit". when that opens go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Services > sppsvc. Then in that folder near the bottom there is one called "Start" right click on that and click "modify" make sure it is in "Hexadecimal" and change the "value data:" to "2". After you have changed that restart your computer and go to your settings to re-type your product key and it should work. Well mine did anyway. I know its late but might help if you still have this problem or someone else.

And, low and behold, when I changed that damn key to 'two' and rebooted, I was able to run slui 3 "windows key" and it let me activate my damn pc again. It shouldn't be this (H)ard. If I could find that person I'd give him/her/it a big, fat sloppy kiss.

And NO, forum members are not included in this offer. I'm looking at you, Sextron.
 
Seriously? The very first thing I thought was to go back to a previous version. In all seriousness, why did you not do that?
 
Backing it out made no change for the activation error, I was truly fscked. And, no way to make sure that once I backed it out, M$ wouldn't just turn around and reinstall the damn thing.
 
Backing it out made no change for the activation error, I was truly fscked. And, no way to make sure that once I backed it out, M$ wouldn't just turn around and reinstall the damn thing.

So, you are saying that you did a previous versions roll back then? Also, whether 1709 is installed again or not would not be the immediate issue, just doing a roll back should have taken care of everything. (I mean a roll back before trying to do a bunch of other fixes, just saying. I am talking from experience here and screwing things up myself. :) )
 
Windows 7 is still a very good option. I did it myself and remember how good it was to be in control of my updates, no Cortana, no AppStore, no junk apps, no advertisements in my os, and not even having to deal with feature updates that I don’t want. It’s good until 2020 so that gives me plenty of time to prep myself and my system to full Linux switch.
 
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i have a hard copy/key for 8.1 here, not 7. and 98, well hell, I found a (legal, owned by me) cd/key for 7 home premium 64 & 32 bit. Now how ballsy am I going to be?

Well hell, it's an upgrade license. I do have that 98 cd, though.
 
I built a new (used) system for my wife, mobo had a windows 10 license, as well as her MS account. Got it installed, spend 3 hours waiting for all the updates, get the drivers going. "activate windows" hmmm. ... Went through the activation shit, tells me to call a number and tell them you changed hardware.. ok. Did that, sit on hold for an hour, he couldn't help me, get transferred to tech support after another 30 minutes on hold he wants to remote in.. fine. He remotes in, can't find anything. disconnects, but calls me back.

"OH! You installed Windows 10 Home, and you have a license for Pro, you need to reinstall the correct version of windows."

I hang up on him and "activate" it myself.
 
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Now that I put in all that effort to find a fix, I kind of hate to start all over. I do have a couple of spare m/b's and a couple of 2500k's, and ram, and my r9 295x2, not sure how win 7 will like that,though. had a lot of problems with drivers for that with some of my games. No case though. sigh, amazon here I come again.

Other than my genmay posts, that is.
 
I did finally get a call back from M$ support level3, ignored it, fixed it myself. The ol' pioneering spirit, that's us.
 
I built a new (used) system for my wife, mobo had a windows 10 license, as well as her MS account. Got it installed, spend 3 hours waiting for all the updates, get the drivers going. "activate windows" hmmm. ... Went through the activation shit, tells me to call a number and tell them you changed hardware.. ok. Did that, sit on hold for an hour, he couldn't help me, get transferred to tech support after another 30 minutes on hold he wants to remote in.. fine. He remotes in, can't find anything. disconnects, but calls me back.

"OH! You installed Windows 10 Home, and you have a license for Pro, you need to reinstall the correct version of windows."

I hand up on him and "activate" it myself.

Sounds close to what I went through. Had a brand new License that wouldn't activate. Called Apu in India. After and hour of fiddling including remoting in and another hour on hold off and on, he ended up giving me a new key and activating it for me. Wasn't worth my time. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't.
 
I built a new (used) system for my wife, mobo had a windows 10 license, as well as her MS account. Got it installed, spend 3 hours waiting for all the updates, get the drivers going. "activate windows" hmmm. ... Went through the activation shit, tells me to call a number and tell them you changed hardware.. ok. Did that, sit on hold for an hour, he couldn't help me, get transferred to tech support after another 30 minutes on hold he wants to remote in.. fine. He remotes in, can't find anything. disconnects, but calls me back.

"OH! You installed Windows 10 Home, and you have a license for Pro, you need to reinstall the correct version of windows."

I hang up on him and "activate" it myself.

I hate this. Occasionally a system we buy has home on it. I dont notice until we try and put it on the domain. There is a super easy fix though.

Change your product key to this: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

It will change your version to Pro. Change the key back to the pro license and you are set.
 
I hate this. Occasionally a system we buy has home on it. I dont notice until we try and put it on the domain. There is a super easy fix though.

Change your product key to this: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

It will change your version to Pro. Change the key back to the pro license and you are set.

That is an awesome post, will be extremely useful
 
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they're in too far now to turn back.
 
And, as a funny postscript. level 3 was supposed to call back at 0600 (the next days from them giving up). Gave up waiting @ 1830. Put phone away with ringer off. Looked at it the next day and saw the M$ number tried @ 2130, by then I tracked down fix on my own, but I did need M$ to actually get my key. Then, the 3rd night, the level 2 tech called and asked why I didn't answer my phone the previous day. Told them I found the fix on my own, wasn't going to wait all day for them to call. Then they put their supervisor on and he asked me the same things. I do level 4 support on networks and if I tell a customer I'll cal back at a certain time, I'll call back.
 
I hate this. Occasionally a system we buy has home on it. I dont notice until we try and put it on the domain. There is a super easy fix though.

Change your product key to this: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

It will change your version to Pro. Change the key back to the pro license and you are set.

Is this in any way legal or are you just using a vendor supplied OEM Windows Pro key to work around your problems?! Which would be illegal.
 
Is this in any way legal or are you just using a vendor supplied OEM Windows Pro key to work around your problems?! Which would be illegal.


That's legit from a MS employee on their forums. It's not an activation key it just changes the installation to pro instead of home. You still need a valid pro activation key once it's installed.
 
That's legit from a MS employee on their forums. It's not an activation key it just changes the installation to pro instead of home. You still need a valid pro activation key once it's installed.

Ah, get it.

Gotta remember that one, good tip!
 
One of the reason why people pirate. We don't pay for crap.

It's not only the paying part. The pirates don't get screwed by MS dropping their activation and having to spend hours on technical support. That's way worse than the purchase price.
 
So, I was thinking of "upgrading" to Win10 from my trusty Win7.......is there an officially sanctioned phobia yet? X-phobia maybe?
 
So, I was thinking of "upgrading" to Win10 from my trusty Win7.......is there an officially sanctioned phobia yet? X-phobia maybe?

Some people love it, others don't. The OS itself is fantastic. If they offered the LTSB version of it on the retail market, I doubt you would hear much of anything negative about it since people who like things like apps and cortana could have their version, while enthusiasts who dont like that kind of stuff can go without it.
 
Went from 8.1 to 10 on my gaming pc (no, linux does not support any of my 'playing daily' games natively, and none of the win emulators support hi-resolution gaming (1440 @100-120 hz), so pretty much stuck with win 10 for things like vulkan, dx11/12. I don't do office things past a pdf reader, foxit does that for me. So if linux ever does any of the gaming I do, I'll give it a try, otherwise, win 10 on my gaming pc where I don't have to futz with it (my above experience notwithstanding) . I do have 7, 8.1 and linux (and pi flavors for that matter) on my other pc's that I use for, well, say , "other' uses. If you don't mind your pc being taken over by M$, win 10 is pretty good. Fast boot with a nvme m.2 drive, widespread software support (for the subset of software you may run, caveat emptor), drivers for high-end graphics cards (like 1080ti).
 
Remember the good old days with normal serial #s, that you would share with your friends and your software was yours?
 
Or protection that forced your floppy to read half-tracks or an offset track (probably halved the life of my floppy drives). lookin' at you, vic-20 & 64 (and 128). But, you did own the software.

Or copied the pages from the manual that passed for protection to share with friends. Of course, that was before the internet and on-line checks of serial numbers.
 
Remember the good old days with normal serial #s, that you would share with your friends and your software was yours?
Yep, shore dew... Now, dem big software cumpanees wit' dere big time law-yars and whutnot, they act like they own everything you have, and make ya pay thru the ass to get anything anymore. I guess it's time to go back to DOS and cheap software and games and such... but I ain't doin' shit 'til I finish this bottle'o 'shine...
 
Remember the good old days with normal serial #s, that you would share with your friends and your software was yours?

Ah, the days when you could just give away copies illegally but not get caught, yep, those were the days. :rolleyes: Giving a friend the actual software and key, removing from your computer and being done with it worked but, sharing is one of the "key" reasons things have changed. :D
 
Ah, the days when you could just give away copies illegally but not get caught, yep, those were the days. :rolleyes: Giving a friend the actual software and key, removing from your computer and being done with it worked but, sharing is one of the "key" reasons things have changed. :D
Sharing is a human thing, a normal activity that brought communities closer together and made the people in them better. Thanks to DRM and the Internet, that's changed us for the worse.
 
Remember the good old days with normal serial #s, that you would share with your friends and your software was yours?

The software was never yours, it just felt like it. Windows has always been used under license, that was Bill Gates' contribution to the computing world. IP patents and licensing were his brainchild, and how Microshaft cornered the market. But without it, I doubt personal computing would have made it to this point in usability. It's like a lot of other industries, you need standardization to see a solid development of technology. If it weren't for the Woz though, Bill Gates would be some corporate lap dog at best, and homeless transient at worst, Woz made Microshaft deliver on little Bill's big promises to IBM, along with some poor ignorant open source enthusiasts.
 
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