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Ryan Bolger
Asked: 2009-08-05 13:55:03 +0800 CST

Why won't my Windows 7 KMS key work on my Server 2008 KMS server?

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Our Microsoft volume licensing site was recently updated to include our Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 KMS keys. We have an existing KMS server running on Server 2008 (not R2). In an attempt to be proactive about supporting the new OSes in our environment, I unregistered the old KMS key with slmgr.vbs and tried registering the new key. The registration failed with Error 0xC004F050. The description for that error was "The Software Licensing Service reported that the product key is invalid."

What's wrong? I've checked and double checked that for typos against what is listed on the Volume Licensing website.

windows-7 windows-server-2008-r2 kms

5 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    As it turns out, the version of the KMS software included with Server 2008 is version 1.1. In order to use Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 KMS keys, you need to be running KMS 1.2. KMS 1.2 is included as part of Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2, but requires a separate download to run on Server 2008 (non-R2) or Server 2003.

    I found the answer and more info on Microsoft's site: FAQ About Volume License Keys

    KB article 968915 is now available and contains links to download KMS 1.2 for Windows 2003 Server. Here are direct links for x86 and x64.

    KB article 968912 is now available and contains links to download KMS 1.2 for Windows Vista and Server 2008. Here are some direct links for Server 2008 (x86, x64, ia64) and Vista (x86 and x64).

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  2. 2003 SP2 32 bit is posted at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=f3a0d90c-b7fd-44cf-bf81-11587adc599f

    I cant see it listed as KMS 1.2 anywhere, nor can I find the update for 2008 (yet). It also needs a restart apparently... However, I have just tested it and it seems to accept our new KMS keys... Now to see if it will activate the clients...

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  3. 2003 SP2 64 bit is posted at https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=1678151b-b577-476f-87da-df54024b98e2

    Sorry for the double post but it wouldn't let me insert 2 links on one post because I am a new user...

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  4. KMS 1.2 for 2003 is up, but no sign whatsoever that 2008 will be getting anything today.

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  5. sorry, i don't find the KMS 1.2 for Windows 2008 (only a version for Windows 2003)

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