11/23/2018 Activate Windows watermark bottom right of screen

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Activate Windows watermark bottom right
0 of screen
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Windows 10 IT Pro > Windows 10 General

Travis Fisher
Joined Mar 2018 Question
Travis Fisher's thr…
I went to the bathroom at least an hour ago and came back to see the Activate Windows thing in
1 Show activity
watermark on the bottom right corner of screen, it said "Go to Settings to activate Windows" under it.
The problem is my PC is running Windows 10, everything has been updated correctly and Windows 10
was installed last year. I had clicked on the Update to Windows 10 notification back when my computer
0 ran Windows 7, I updated to Windows 10 and had no issues with it. 
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to vote I done as the watermark said by going to Settings and it said We can't activate Windows on this device
because you don't have a valid digital license or product key. If you think you have a valid license or key,
select Troubleshoot below. Error code: 0xC004F012

I clicked on Troubleshoot and after waiting for 30 minutes it, the Troubleshoot thing said "We found a
Windows 10 Pro digital locense for this device running Windows 10 Pro. To activate using this digital
license you need to install Windows 10 Pro. I don't know what this means, I have already got Windows
10 Pro activated and it makes no sense that the text is appearing on screen to begin with. 

Friday, March 2, 2018 5:07 PM

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Travis Fisher 0 Points

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11/23/2018 Activate Windows watermark bottom right of screen

Open C:\Windows\System32\SPP\Store\2.0.

Rename ‘tokens.dat’ file in the 2.0 folder to ‘tokens.old’.

Open Command Prompt as Admin and type the following command:

0
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net start sppsvc and hit the Enter key.
to vote

Next execute the following command:

cscript.exe slmgr.vbs /rilc and hit the Enter key.

Reboot the system twice.

Open Settings > Activation > Run Activation Troubleshooter

If the above doesn't fix then either change the product key or try Phone Activation.

S.Sengupta,Microsoft MVP Windows and Devices for IT, Windows Insider MVP

Saturday, March 3, 2018 2:55 AM

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S.Sengupta (MCC, MVP) 43,871 Points

I figured Windows got deactivated and the error code 0xC004F012 appearing was because I forcefully
rebooted my computer. I restarted the computer and it's back to normal. I guess Windows didn't have
enough time to load properly and that made the system go iffy. 

0
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to vote Proposed as answer by -Mr Happy- Saturday, March 3, 2018 1:00 PM

Saturday, March 3, 2018 11:01 AM

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Travis Fisher 0 Points

Hi,

Error code 0xC004F012 will occur when the activation status is lost. You might lost connection with
activation server at that time. But at last, the issue was resolved after reboot computer, it is really a
0 good thing to celebrate.
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to vote Bests,

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help.

If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact tnmff@microsoft.com.

Edited by Joy-Qiao Microsoft contingent staff, Moderator Monday, March 5, 2018 9:01 AM
Proposed as answer by Joy-Qiao Microsoft contingent staff, Moderator Friday, March 30, 2018 9:56 AM

Monday, March 5, 2018 9:01 AM Moderator

Reply | Quote Joy-Qiao wicresoft (MSFT CSG) 5,410 Points

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/8fda5b8a-56e7-4648-9a95-8368eec2499d/activate-windows-watermark-bottom-right-of-screen?forum=win10i… 2/3
11/23/2018 Activate Windows watermark bottom right of screen

This worked perfectly.

Thank you!

0
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calluhain 0 Points

I'm having the same problem but after upgrading from Windows 10 Home Edition to the PRO.

I Upgraded the System back in March and everything was working just fine until this afternoon...

When I run the troubleshooting, I get the message stating " "We found a Windows 10 Home digital
0
license for this device running Windows 10 Pro. To activate using this digital license you need to install
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to vote Windows 10 Home"...

I tried the instructions given by S.Sengupta but I'm still stuck with the same watermark..

Because i'm in a trip to China, I have no way to get a phone support (we just can't call the support
numbers)

Hope it doesn't stop before I get back to Portugal... 

Thursday, November 8, 2018 2:30 PM

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Miguens 0 Points

Please see: Windows 10 suddenly deactivated

Carey Frisch

0
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Moderator

Carey Frisch Microsoft MVP since 2003 (MCC, Partner, MVP) 115,315 Points

Running a quick scan for malware using McAfee Internet Security Suite resulted in removal of the
opaque "Activate Windows" watermark in the bottom right corner of the display screen.  Apparently it
was malware that got installed somehow. 

0 Also fyi, I have received ' An item has been added to you startup, run a quick scan now? ' several times
Sign in from SuperAntiSpyware over the last few days, and a quick scan with SASpyware removed then.
to vote
Best Wishes.

Saturday, November 10, 2018 6:17 PM

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jacques330ci Jacques de la Hunt Consu... 0 Points

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