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You receive an error message when you try to activate Windows Vista on a computer that was obtained from an OEM

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Article ID:942962
Last Review:August 5, 2008
Revision:2.0
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SYMPTOMS

When you try to activate Windows Vista on a computer that was obtained from an OEM, you experience one of the following symptoms.

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Symptom 1

You receive one of the following error messages:

Error message 1
Error Code: Invalid Volume License Key
In order to activate, you need to change your product key to a valid Multiple Activation Key (MAK) or Retail key.
You must have a qualifying operating system license AND a Volume license Windows Vista upgrade license, or a full license for Windows Vista through an OEM or from a retail source .
ANY OTHER INSTALLATION OF THIS SOFTWARE IS IN VIOLATION OF YOUR AGREEMENT AND APPLICABLE COPYRIGHT LAW.
Error message 2
Error Code: 0xC004F059
Description: The Software Licensing Service reported that a license in the computer BIOS is invalid.

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Symptom 2

You receive the following error message:
Error Code: 0xc004f035
The Software Licensing Service reported that the computer could not be activated with a Volume license product key. Volume licensed systems require upgrading from a qualified operating system. Please contact your system administrator or use a different type of key.
This behavior occurs when the following conditions are true:
•You are using the Key Management Service (KMS) to perform activation.
•The computer uses an ACPI_SLIC table in the computer BIOS program.
Note An ACPI_SLIC table is used by an Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)-compliant BIOS program to store Software Licensing description information.

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CAUSE

This problem occurs if the KMS server does not find a valid Windows marker in the ACPI_SLIC table in the computer's BIOS program. This problem occurs for one of the following reasons.

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Cause 1

You purchased a computer that has a qualifying Windows operating system installed. However, the Windows marker in the ACPI_SLIC table is corrupted. To resolve this problem, see Resolution 1 or Resolution 2.

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Cause 2

You purchased a computer that does not have a qualifying Windows operating system installed. In this case, the Windows marker is not present in the ACPI_SLIC table. To resolve this problem, see Resolution 2.

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RESOLUTION

Resolution 1

Update or replace the BIOS program by using a BIOS program that contains a valid Windows marker. To do this, you must contact the OEM who supplied the computer.

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Resolution 2

Change the product key by using the user interface in Windows Vista, and then use a Microsoft server on the Internet to activate Windows Vista. To do this, you must change the product key to a Multiple Activation Key (MAK).

For more information about Volume Activation for Windows Vista, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
929712 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929712/) Volume Activation information for Windows Vista

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MORE INFORMATION

The behavior that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section may occur when the Windows marker is missing from the Software Licensing table or when the Windows marker information is present but corrupted. This behavior has been observed for the following BIOS versions of Lenovo portable computers:
•Lenovo X60 - BIOS : 2.00 (7BETB3BL) 2006-08-07
•Lenovo T60 - BIOS : 2.00 (79ETB3BL)
For more information about Volume Activation 2.0, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc303695.aspx (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc303695.aspx)
The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.

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APPLIES TO
•Windows Vista Enterprise
•Windows Vista Business

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Keywords: 
kboem kbexpertiseadvanced kbtshoot kbprb KB942962

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