How to Check MAK Product Key Remaining Activation Count

MAK (Multiple Activation Key) product key, as its name implied, is a product key that provided by Microsoft to its customers on volume licensing agreements to activate many computers running Windows operating system or Office productivity suite. Corporate clients of Microsoft has a choice of activating the systems running in their organizations through KMS host or MAK product key. MAK product key allows companies to activate against Microsoft’s server instead of having installed and maintained a server running KMS service.

One MAK product keys can potentially activate hundreds or even thousands of computers running Windows Vista or Windows 7, or Office 2010 (separate type of product keys for two different products required). The number of activations can be done by each product key is determined by the software licensing agreements (and the money paid to Microsoft, of course).

Once a MAK product key is been used to activate many machines, most administrators will probably lose count of actual times of remaining activations that can be done with the serial codes. In addition, some MAK product keys may have been “leaked” to Internet, or “shared” with outsiders, causing the numbers of remaning activation count available dwindling faster than expected.

Microsoft provides a Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) which can be used to check how many activations remain unused for a MAK product key.

If you have a MAK product key, you can check how many activations remain using Volume Activation Management (VAMT) Tool:

Download and install Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT).Go to Product Keys in the left pane.Enter the Product Key and a Remark (as description) under the “Add Product Key” section.Click on Verify button, and click on Add Product Key button.

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How to Get Refund for MobileMe Subscription or Activation Codes

Steve Jobs announced during the WWDC 2011 keynote address that iCloud will be replacing MobileMe, which will be closed down by June 30, 2012, and has not been accepting new subscribers since February 2011. iCloud will be launched by Fall 2011, which many expects in September. The MobileMe boxes, Individual or Family Pack versions, which were sold in Apple Retail Stores, Apple Online Store, and other authorized resellers until June 6, 2011 has also been taken off the shelves. When signing up for iCloud, MobileMe users will be easily transitioned mail, contacts, calendars and bookmarks to iCloud and kept existing me.com or mac.com email address.

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Backup and Restore Windows 7 Retail, OEM and MAK Activation with 7Tokens Manager

There is a limit to number of times activation of Windows 7 can be made online automatically, even though the product key been used to activate Windows 7 is genuine and legally paid for. The online activation limit brings inconvenient to Windows users who love to reformat and reinstall Windows more than frequently, causing them to fall back to time consuming and cumbersome phone activation with many numbers crunching. Callers have to enter installation ID which consists of a total of 54 numbers in 9 groups of 6 numbers with phone’s keypad, and then receive a confirmation ID made up of 48 numbers in 8 groups of 6 numbers to enter on Windows 7′s activation wizard.

To avoid the dreadful phone activation, and possibly to avoid contacting Microsoft for the purpose of activation to protect privacy, there is undocumented way to preserve current Windows 7 activation status by backing up several software licensing related files with the product key, and then restore them on the reinstalled Windows 7 system.

Windows 7 system activated by restoring backed-up activation status works exactly the same with system that is activated online or by phone, but in offline mod without the need to connect to Microsoft’s activation server or even Internet access.

Instead of having to manually copying the required system files and retrieving the product key, there is a software utility called 7Tokens Manager that automates the activation backup and restore procedure on Windows 7.

7Tokens Manager, developed by Josh Cell, makes a complete backup of Windows 7 activation, which can then be used to be restore in a new installation to achieve instant offline activation. No further activation step is required.

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Troubleshoot Volume Activation error codes and error messages on Windows

If you are trying to activate your copy of Windows using the Multiple Activation Key (MAK) or the Key Management Service (KMS) to perform Volume Activation on one or more on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista-based computers, but find that you get an error code and message, then this article may help you.

 

The following is the list of Volume Activation error codes and error messages which one could get while trying to activate Windows:

0xC004C003 The activation server determined the specified product key is blocked.

0xC004B100 The activation server determined that the computer could not be activated.

0xC004C008 The activation server determined that the specified product key could not be used.

xC004C020 The activation server reported that the Multiple Activation Key has exceeded its limit.

0xC004C021 The activation server reported that the Multiple Activation Key extension limit has been exceeded.

0xC004F009 The software Licensing Service reported that the grace period expired.

0xC004F00F The Software Licensing Service reported that the hardware ID binding is beyond level of tolerance.

0xC004F014 The Software Licensing Service reported that the product key is not available

0xC004F02C The software Licensing Service reported that the format for the offline activation data is incorrect.

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.

0xC004F038 The software Licensing Service reported that the computer could not be activated. The count reported by your Key Management Service (KMS) is insufficient. Please contact your system administrator.

0xC004F039 The software Licensing Service reported that the computer could not be activated. The Key Management Service (KMS) is not enabled.

0xC004F041 The software Licensing Service determined that the Key Management Server (KMS) is not activated. KMS needs to be activated.

0xC004F042 The software Licensing Service determined that the specified Key Management Service (KMS) cannot be used.

0xC004F050 The Software Licensing Service reported that the product key is invalid.

0xC004F051 The software Licensing Service reported that the product key is blocked.

0xC004F064 The software Licensing Service reported that the non-Genuine grace period expired.

0xC004F065 The software Licensing Service reported that the application is running within the valid non-genuine grace period.

0xC004F066 The Software Licensing Service reported that the product SKU is not found.

0xC004F068 The software Licensing Service determined that it is running in a virtual machine. The Key Management Service (KMS) is not supported in this mode.

0xC004F069 The Software Licensing Service reported that the computer could not be activated. The Key Management Service (KMS) determined that the request timestamp is invalid.

0xC004F06C The Software Licensing Service reported that the computer could not be activated. The Key Management Service (KMS) determined that the request timestamp is invalid.

0×80070005 Access denied the requested action requires elevated privileges.

0x8007232A DNS server failure.

0x8007232B DNS name does not exist.

0x800706BA The RPC server is unavailable.

0x8007251D No records found for DNS query.

0×80092328 DNS name does not exist.

To see specific troubleshooting which Microsoft has recommended, visit KB938450.

If you need additional assistance, you can always contact the Product Activation Call Center.

Anand aka HappyAndyK is an end-user Windows enthusiast, a Microsoft MVP in Windows Desktop Experience since 2007, and the Admin of TheWindowsClub.com & WinVistaClub.com. Creating a System Restore Point before trying out a new software or a tweak is always recommended.

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How to Verify and Check Windows 7 or Vista Activation Status (Retail, KMS or MAK)

All versions and editions of Windows 7 and Windows Vista has to be activated, including copies of Windows 7 and Windows Vista licenses acquired through either retail or volume licensing channels. Although by default the Windows operating system can run for free for 30 days (extendable to 120 days with rearm) as evaluation or trial period, however without proper activation, end-users will be kept reminded with frequent messages to activate the system, and the system may be unusable if not activated post activation-free period expiry date.

Thus, it’s important to ensure that the Windows 7 or Vista is activated, especially for machine that requires repetitive activation tokens at regular interval, such as Windows operating system activated with KMS (Key Management Server) for large corporations on volume licensing agreements.

In case you want to check and verify the activation status of Windows 7 or Windows Vista, here’s the way to check and see the Windows Vista or Windows 7 activation status. The trick works on any versions of Windows 7 and Vista, regardless of activation method, including retail product key, KMS or MAK (Multiple Activation Key).

Type cmd or Command Prompt in Start Menu, then right click on the first result (cmd.exe or Command Prompt) and select Run as administrator to open a Command Prompt window in elevated privilege mode.

Alternatively, go to Start Menu -

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