Microsoft confirmed that this month's Patch Tuesday updates are causing Windows activation and licensing failures, BleepingComputer reported on Friday, citing a Microsoft service alert from Wednesday. Admins who run the SLMGR tool, or who automate activation, see error 0x80041008. The errors appear when they run commands to activate Windows, set up Key Management Service (KMS, a company-run activation server), or manage product keys. Microsoft named the commands 'slmgr.vbs /skms-domain' and 'slmgr.vbs /ipk'. Affected systems are Windows 10 21H2 and 22H2, Windows 11 23H2, and Windows Server 2019, 2022 and 2025.
Microsoft said a fix will come over the next few days. It did not give a date. Devices that are already activated stay activated. Microsoft said devices with the KMS client key and KMS settings already in place, which do not need to run those commands, are not expected to be affected. Devices being set up for KMS may fail when they try to start activation. Microsoft noted that KMS-activated devices usually stay activated for up to 180 days after a successful activation. Organisations that need relief now can ask Microsoft Support. The sources do not say how many devices are affected.
This matters most to IT teams that build machine images or script Windows activation. Their setup steps may fail on new or reconfigured devices until the fix ships. It is one of several problems tied to recent Windows updates. BleepingComputer also reported install failures on some Windows 11 systems that had the October preview update. Microsoft said it would repair those devices automatically.