Windows 7 or Vista OEM PC Cannot Activate Due to Invalid Volume License Key

One of the following symptoms of error related to activation of Windows 7 or Vista may happen when user tries to activate Vista or Windows 7 on a desktop PC or laptop and notebook computer obtained from an OEM, where the activation process can fail due to missing or corrupted ACPI_SLIC table in the computer’s BIOS.

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 upgrade license, or a full license for Windows 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.

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.

Symptom 2 only occurs when user is using the Key Management Service (KMS) to perform activation, and the computer uses an ACPI_SLIC table in the computer BIOS program.

The 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 causes or reasons:

1. You purchased a computer that has a qualifying Windows operating system installed. However, the Windows marker in the ACPI_SLIC table is corrupted.
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.

Note: An ACPI_SLIC table is used by an Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)-compliant BIOS program to store Software Licensing description information. The table has been used by hackers to bypass Windows 7 and Vista activation.

According to KB942962, the problem has been reported for the following BIOS versions of Lenovo portable computers:

• Lenovo X60 – BIOS : 2.00 (7BETB3BL) 2006-08-07
• Lenovo T60 – BIOS : 2.00 (79ETB3BL)

A computer that was obtained from an OEM and that has an ACPI_SLIC table in the system BIOS must have a valid Windows marker in that ACPI_SLIC table. This Windows marker is important for volume license customers who plan to use Windows Vista or Windows 7 volume license media to re-image or upgrade an OEM system according to the re-imaging rights in the volume license agreement. A computer whose ACPI_SLIC table lacks a valid Windows marker generates an error when you install a volume edition of Windows Vista or windows 7.

Volume edition of Windows 7 or Vista cannot be activated by using KMS, although user can activate the system by using a multiple activation key (MAK) or a retail key. In addition, Windows Volume License is for upgrades only. If Windows marker is not present in BIOS, which may imply that there is no underlying, qualifying, and genuine Windows license on the system for the upgrade.

The solution is to contact the OEM for a replacement motherboard that contains a valid Windows marker in the ACPI_SLIC table. Or, if the OEM computer does not have Windows pre-installed, purchase a new computer that has an operating system and a valid BIOS installed.

Tip: Use the MGADiag tool to detect and determine if BIOS information for the ACPI_SLIC table exist, and appear in the GUI output. To see the BIOS information, click the Windows tab, click Copy, and then paste the output into Notepad or another text editor. The output will resemble the following example:

OEM Activation 1.0 Data-->
N/A
OEM Activation 2.0 Data-->
BIOS valid for OA 2.0: yes, but no SLIC table
Windows marker version: N/A
OEMID and OEMTableID Consistent: N/A
BIOS Information: 
ACPI Table Name OEMID Value OEMTableID Value
APIC DELL WS 380 
FACP DELL WS 380 
HPET DELL WS 380 
BOOT DELL WS 380 
MCFG DELL WS 380 
SSDT DELL st_ex
ASF! DELL WS 380