Forum Discussion

MorganDev's avatar
MorganDev
Copper Contributor
Mar 25, 2026

The New Activation Portal Is Partly Broken But It Is a MAJOR Inconvenience For Me & Others.

I Run Windows 7 Ultimate x64 And I need to Activate Windows,
I am used to the new aka.ms/aoh replacing the phone line.
But I Have Activated Windows XP & Vista Without Any Problems Multiple Times,
I Tested It Too, Tried 7, Starter, Home, Pro, Ultimate, Even x32 & x64.
Though, No matter what, everything BUT Windows 7 Works.
This Is Clearly a Server Sided Issue And I've Had This problem for the past months maybe even about a year.
(The Product Key I Am Using Is Not Public on The Internet So It's Not Blocked/Used Publicly By Everyone, it is the same product key that came with the CD)
And I Can Say For Certain This is a Server Sided Issue.
Please Help.
And Thank You For Your Time.

1 Reply

  • Charlie34000's avatar
    Charlie34000
    MCT
    Apr 03, 2026

    Hi,

    Windows 7 activation still works, but not through the new aka.ms/aoh portal. That portal only supports currently supported Windows versions, which is why XP/Vista behave differently — they still rely on the older activation infrastructure.

    For Windows 7, the only activation paths that still work are:

    • using the original OEM/COA key on the same hardware
    • using the original installation media
    • using the legacy activation servers (not the new portal)

    If the key is valid and tied to the original machine, Windows 7 should still activate automatically after installation. If it doesn’t, it usually means:

    • the key is OEM‑SLP and requires the original manufacturer’s BIOS marker
    • or the activation route used by the new portal isn’t available for Windows 7 anymore

    Since Windows 7 is out of support, the newer activation tools don’t apply to it.

    If you can share the exact activation error code (0xC004xxxx), I can help interpret it.