0x803FABC0 and 0x803FABC2: Device or Licence Blocked From Transfer

Fix it now

Microsoft publishes no meaning for these four codes, so do not take anyone’s word for what they mean – including that the refusal is permanent. Run the three-way test instead: it separates a problem with the licence from a problem with the machine or the account in about five minutes and costs nothing.

cscript //nologo %windir%\system32\slmgr.vbs /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
cscript //nologo %windir%\system32\slmgr.vbs /ato
cscript //nologo %windir%\system32\slmgr.vbs /dli

1. Wait a full day and try once. If the code is identical afterwards, this is not something that clears by itself.
2. Test the machine: install a different key you know is good and activate. If that works, only the original licence is affected.
3. Test the licence: try the same key on a different machine. If it fails there too, the licence is the problem rather than either computer.
4. Test the account: sign in with a different Microsoft account and check Settings > System > Activation.

Gather the purchase evidence for the original licence while you are doing this – invoice, order reference and licence statement. If you need to escalate, that is what any escalation will be built on.

The three-way test tells you what to fix. The next section covers what each result means and which of them has a documented code behind it.

Why it happens

None of the four codes in this record is published by Microsoft. Articles about them describe them as permanent blocks applied to a device, an account or a licence. That story is plausible and it is not sourced, so treat it as a hypothesis rather than a diagnosis, and use the test rather than the number.

The test works because the three things that could be at fault can be separated experimentally. A licence that fails on two different machines is the licence. A machine that refuses two different keys, while those keys work elsewhere, is the machine. An account that fails while another account succeeds on the same hardware is the account. None of that requires knowing what the code means, which is the point.

It matters because the three have completely different endings. If only the licence is affected, the computer is healthy and a valid key activates it in minutes. If the machine refuses everything, a new licence alone may not help and the installation is the thing to look at. If the account is the common factor, both the hardware and the licence may be fine and the answer is to stop activating through that account.

Microsoft does publish codes for a blocked key, and they are worth checking for before you accept an unpublished one. 0xC004F051 is documented as the Software Protection Service reporting the product key is blocked, and 0xC004C003 as the activation server determining the same thing. If the machine will show you one of those, you have a documented diagnosis and a documented remedy.

Full reference

Reading the three-way test

The codes Microsoft does publish for a refused key

Those four are worth trying to surface before you conclude anything from an unpublished code. Run the activation attempt from an elevated prompt under cscript, so the real code is written to the console rather than summarised in a dialog, and see whether one of them appears. Two of the four have remedies that are not a purchase.

Before you replace the licence

• Try once from a different network. An intercepting proxy rewriting the request produces failures that look like refusals.
• Try once the following day. Something that clears overnight was never what this article is about.
• Read the exact code from the console rather than the message in the dialog. Several codes in this area produce almost identical wording.
• Check whether the machine was ever activated by an unofficial tool. If so, the installation is the suspect and a new licence on top of it may not help.
• Ask support about a hardware change exception if the pattern is device-count related. Microsoft documents that route for the neighbouring device-limit code, and it costs nothing to ask.

If you want to escalate

Only whoever holds the entitlement can raise a refusal with Microsoft, and realistically only where you bought directly or through a reseller who can escalate with proof of purchase. Keep the exact code, the date, the invoice and the order reference. That is the practical difference between the two ways of buying a licence, and it only becomes visible on the day something goes wrong.

Every code this article covers

Confirm the fix worked

1. slmgr /dli shows the partial key of the replacement licence, not the refused one.
2. Licence Status reads Licensed and slmgr /xpr reports permanent activation.
3. Settings > System > Activation still reports Windows as active after a reboot.
4. The machine activates a second, different key as well – which proves the device itself was never the problem.

Questions people ask about this