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:
- In Windows 8, open the Registry Editor
- Search for MediaBootInstall and set the value to 0.
- Open an elevated command prompt (run as administrator) and enter:
slmgr /rearm - If you get an access denied error message, you’re not running the command prompt with administrator privileges
- Restart the computer
- Open a command prompt and enter:
slui 3 - Enter your Windows 8 upgrade license key and activate it
- Done!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Thank you sir!
Awesome :)… You saved my day. I was thinking of downloading windows 7 and install. No need of it now.
Worked Great Thanks a lot for post. Thumbs UP
Freaking legend! Worked like a treat.
great !!god bless you
Lovely! Thanks a bunch!
Fantastic. I want you to have my babies.
Great stuff, it worked for me.
Just a quick note for those confused with elevated admin privileges…
To do this you need to right click the command prompt shortcut (search for cmd at the win8 start) and select ‘run as administrator’ from the bottom of the screen. I’m sure there are other ways to access it but this is what worked for me.
Thanks! Excellent help!
Perfect thanks. Solved a whole lot of heartache there.
Thank you!
Will it work for Windows 7 too?
Thank you and for google to find you. You made my day!
I just wanted to thank you for this fix. After spending hours on the phone with the(useless)tech support of microsoft. I just googeld the error code and found this amazing fix. So thank you, from a very greatful(now)fan.
Thanks a lot !
I love you !!
Thanks! Awesome!
Hey thanks it works !! really great !! thanks a ton again !! :)
Funktioniert bestens, vielen Dank für das Tutorial.
Thanks, it works perfectly.
Worked like a charm. Thank you!
You are a legend! this trick saved me a lot of time, thanks!
Thaaaaaanks!!!!
Fails mfor me with the 0xC004F061 error
It works perfectly!
Many thanks!
Worked for me :) Thank you.
Brilliant–works great. Many thanks
It’s working perfectly – Działa perfekcyjnie.
Win 8 pro update, clean install. – Succeed
Worked for me in Windows 7 re-activation error 0xC004F061. Thanks.
Works like a charm
Yep, worked for me too!!
Thanks for the work-around!! :)
This is freaking awesome!! thanks a million!!!
Thank You Man
Thanks it worked
Worked perfectly! To change the value, right click folder and choose edit.
Thanks, it worked :)
Worked like a charm!
You DO need to restart after the slmgr.vbs /rearm though :)
Tested and Works..
Thanks! Worked perfect!!
It’s work!
Thank you!
Unfortunately I can’t get it to work. Tried it several times.
Thanks! Works Perfectly!:)
Dident work the bastards at all 4 me still same error :(
Thanks man, you’re a life saver!
It worked just fine! Thanks a lot!
Please help me, I bought it today and I need it ready by Christmas.
I’m getting “The security processor reported that the trusted data store was rearmed” help!
You are a genius and it is such nice from you to share this with us! Have a great holiday season! THANKS!!!
Many thanks!! Absolute time saver!!
Saved me from installing a prior version of windows in order to circumvent this nonsense. THANK YOU !!!!
Many thank, it work,
you are the man!!!
Thank you, it worked like a charm.
Thank you. It works perfectly.
Thank You. Without theses steps i would have struggled all day long. I was having issues with the media server and the only way my TV would be compatible is if i had done new install. Windows has given one more reason to piss me off and switch to Mac.
Thank you! Staples personnel did not know what they were selling me, and trusting them, I bought what I soon found out is an ‘upgrade’ version to put on a PC we just built ourselves. This work-around saved the day!
Awesome – thank you so much. I was dreading having to go through the whole install process again!
Thanks a lot dude!!!!!!!!
Work fine ! Thanks !
Worked for me. Thank you!
Many thanks!!
Thanks a lot man! It worked for me!
it worked !! wooohooo !!
Works very well for me, thank you man!
Worked perfectly! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, sir!
I’m getting “The security processor reported that the trusted data store was rearmed” help!
спасибо(thx)
Same problem, thanks for the trick it works !