0x803FABB8 and 0x803FABBA: Digital Licence Transfer Refused After Rebuild

Fix it now

Microsoft publishes no meaning for any of these codes, so judge the failure by the procedure that produced it. Licence transfer works for a retail entitlement, recorded against a Microsoft account that was linked before the hardware changed, on a device you are signed into as an administrator. Miss any one of those and the transfer is refused.

cscript //nologo %windir%\system32\slmgr.vbs /dli

1. Sign in to Windows with the personal Microsoft account that was linked to the old device, not a local or work account, and make sure that account is a local administrator.
2. Open Settings > System > Activation, choose Troubleshoot, then “I changed hardware on this device recently”.
3. Sign in when asked, find the machine the licence came from in the device list, tick “This is the device I’m using right now”, and select Activate.
4. If the device is not listed, no account link was ever made to it and there is no record for the troubleshooter to find.

If the old licence was the OEM one that came preinstalled, stop. An OEM entitlement stays with the computer it was first installed on, and repeating the troubleshooter will not change that.

If the transfer completes, you can stop here. If it is refused, the next section works through which of the four requirements was not met.

Why it happens

Licence transfer exists for one specific case: a retail entitlement that belongs to you rather than to a machine, on hardware that has changed enough to break the binding. Microsoft’s procedure finds the entitlement recorded against your Microsoft account, and re-records it against the new hardware. Everything it does happens on Microsoft’s side, which is why nothing you change locally affects the outcome.

That design imposes requirements, and Microsoft documents all of them. The account must have been linked before the hardware changed, because the licence is found through the account. You must be signed in as an administrator, because the troubleshooter requires it. You must be signed in with the connected Microsoft account, because Microsoft states the troubleshooter only works with that one. And the licence must be retail, because an OEM entitlement is bound to the machine it shipped on as a condition of sale.

None of the four codes in this record is published, so no article can honestly tell you which requirement a particular number refers to. What is reliable is the device list in the troubleshooter, and it is a better diagnostic than the code: an empty list means the account holds nothing, and a list without your old machine means the link was never made to it.

Full reference

What the device list tells you, faster than the code does

The requirements, and where each is documented

• Sign in as an administrator. Microsoft states this for the Troubleshoot option on the activation page.
• Use the connected Microsoft account. Microsoft states the troubleshooter will only work with that account.
• Link the account before the hardware changes. Microsoft’s pre-change checklist has this as its main instruction.
• Have an internet connection. Activation requires one, and so does the troubleshooter.
• Tick “This is the device I’m using right now” against the correct machine in the list, then select Activate. Picking the wrong device is a real and easily made mistake.

Preparing a machine before you change its hardware

1. Open Settings > System > Activation while the machine is still activated and working.
2. If the status says Windows is activated with a digital licence and does not mention your account, use Add an account to link it.
3. Note the edition on the same page, so you install the same one afterwards.
4. If the machine is activated with a product key rather than a digital licence, retrieve the key now rather than after the board is out.

One machine at a time

A retail licence covers one device at a time. That is a licensing rule rather than a technical check, so nothing in the troubleshooter stops you applying an entitlement that is still in use on a working computer – it just leaves that computer unlicensed and gives you two problems. If the old machine is still in service, it needs its own licence and this one is not available to move.

Microsoft does not publish a limit on how many times a retail licence may be moved, so no honest article can quote you one. What can be said is that repeated reactivation attempts in a short period are what the throttling and refusal codes in the neighbouring articles are about, so space transfers out and fix the underlying problem rather than retrying the same request.

When the transfer genuinely cannot work

• The old licence was OEM. There is no supported route, and no command changes it.
• No account was ever linked and the hardware has already changed. The record exists but nothing can reach it.
• The old machine is still in use. The licence is not free to move.
• The entitlement is for a different edition from the one now installed. Install the matching edition first.
• The device is managed by an organisation. Activation is handled centrally and locally-run transfers are not the mechanism.

Every code this article covers

Confirm the fix worked

1. Settings > System > Activation reports Windows as active on the new hardware.
2. slmgr /dli reports Licence Status: Licensed.
3. The activation page shows the Microsoft account linked to this device.
4. The old machine is no longer presenting the same licence, either because it is retired or because the key was removed.

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