Windows 8 clean install with upgrade license key error code 0xC004F061

Posted November 1, 2012 * Comments(49)

Even though I’m a Mac person, I decided to give Windows 8 a try. I was able get a promo code (using an old but genuine Windows 7 serial and this loophole) and the price dropped to $14.99. I wanted to get rid of all the junk from my Windows 7 installation so I decided to wipe the drive and did a clean install. I entered my new Windows 8 license key at the beginning of the installation process and the rest of the installation went on smoothly. However, after playing around with Windows 8 I found out that it had not been activated. Trying to activate it always resulted in  error code 0xC004F061. The reason was that I was using an upgrade license key, not a full license key. Microsoft wanted me to either fully install an old Windows version first or to buy a full license key. How ridiculous is this!?

Fortunately, there’s no need to install an old Windows version in order to activate Windows 8 using an upgrade license key. Here’s what worked for me:

  1. In Windows 8, open the Registry Editor
  2. Search for MediaBootInstall and set the value to 0.
  3. Open an elevated command prompt (run as administrator) and enter:
    slmgr /rearm
  4. If you get an access denied error message, you’re not running the command prompt with administrator privileges
  5. Restart the computer
  6. Open a command prompt and enter:
    slui 3
  7. Enter your Windows 8 upgrade license key and activate it
  8. Done!

49 Responses to “Windows 8 clean install with upgrade license key error code 0xC004F061”

« Older Comments
  • Jared says:
    December 25, 2012 at 20:05

    Dident work the bastards at all 4 me still same error :(

  • Eric says:
    December 26, 2012 at 15:14

    Thanks! Works Perfectly!:)

  • phred says:
    December 30, 2012 at 16:35

    Unfortunately I can’t get it to work. Tried it several times.

  • Hin says:
    January 4, 2013 at 04:11

    It’s work!
    Thank you!

  • Sara says:
    January 6, 2013 at 07:51

    Thanks! Worked perfect!!

  • Kian says:
    January 8, 2013 at 23:07

    Worked like a charm!

    You DO need to restart after the slmgr.vbs /rearm though :)

    Tested and Works..

  • Umit says:
    January 10, 2013 at 02:33

    Thanks, it worked :)

  • anon says:
    January 10, 2013 at 22:43

    Worked perfectly! To change the value, right click folder and choose edit.

  • Jorge says:
    January 11, 2013 at 04:25

    Thanks it worked

  • doa says:
    January 20, 2013 at 08:31

    Thank You Man

  • kee says:
    January 27, 2013 at 19:43

    This is freaking awesome!! thanks a million!!!

  • Asher says:
    February 3, 2013 at 01:14

    Yep, worked for me too!!

    Thanks for the work-around!! :)

  • Ouphe says:
    February 14, 2013 at 22:43

    Works like a charm

  • Stuchy says:
    February 21, 2013 at 05:54

    Worked for me in Windows 7 re-activation error 0xC004F061. Thanks.

  • Piotrek says:
    February 23, 2013 at 16:38

    It’s working perfectly – Działa perfekcyjnie.
    Win 8 pro update, clean install. – Succeed

  • Jay says:
    March 4, 2013 at 12:03

    Brilliant–works great. Many thanks

  • suthernfriend says:
    March 4, 2013 at 19:06

    Worked for me :) Thank you.

  • Ly Huynh says:
    March 19, 2013 at 14:54

    It works perfectly!
    Many thanks!

  • Maurice says:
    March 30, 2013 at 17:52

    Fails mfor me with the 0xC004F061 error

  • Steve-0 says:
    April 10, 2013 at 01:03

    Thaaaaaanks!!!!

  • Josh says:
    April 20, 2013 at 12:59

    You are a legend! this trick saved me a lot of time, thanks!

  • Raxx says:
    May 4, 2013 at 04:47

    Worked like a charm. Thank you!

  • Sascha says:
    May 12, 2013 at 16:32

    Funktioniert bestens, vielen Dank für das Tutorial.

    Thanks, it works perfectly.

  • Anish says:
    May 26, 2013 at 12:41

    Hey thanks it works !! really great !! thanks a ton again !! :)

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