Some other symptoms of associated with this issue are –
- The computer desktop background goes black, and you receive the following error message on the bottom right corner of the screen: “This copy of Windows is not genuine”
- You receive the following error message when you view the System Properties: (Control Panel –> System and Security –> System) “You must activate today. Activate Windows now”
- If you try to use slmgr.vbs /dlv to view the licensing status, you receive the following message: Error: 0×80070005 Access denied: the requested action requires elevated privileges Microsoft explained that its caused by lack of permissions in the registry key HKU\S-1-5-20. “The Network Service account must have full control and read permissions over that registry key. This situation may be the result of applying a Plug and Play Group Policy object (GPO). Computer Configuration –> Policies –> Windows Settings –> Security Settings –> System Services –> Plug and Play (Startup Mode: Automatic).” Those affected by this issue can turn to one of two workarounds detailed by Microsoft, documented below-
Method A: Disable the Plug and Play Policy
- Determine the source of the policy. To do this, follow these steps:
On client experiencing Activation error, run Resultant Set of Policy wizard by clicking Start, Run and entering rsop.msc as the command. Visit following location: Computer Configuration –> Policies –> Windows Settings –> Security Settings –> System Services If Plug & Play service is configured through a Group Policy setting, you see it here with settings other than Not Defined. Additionally, you can see which Group Policy is applying this setting.
- Disable Group Policy settings and force Group Policy to be reapplied.
Edit Group Policy that’s identified in Step 1 and change setting to “Not Defined.” Or, follow the section below to add required permissions for Network Service account. Force Group Policy setting to reapply: gpupdate /force (a restart of the client’s sometimes required)
Method B: Edit the permissions of the Group Policy
Note: Previous rights’re the minimum required permissions. [via]KB2008385 D:(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;SY) (A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA) (A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;IU) (A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;SU) S:(AU;FA;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;WD) (A;;CC LC SW LO CR RC ;;;SU is an Access Control Entry (ACE) that allows the following rights to “SU” (SDDL_SERVICE – Service logon user) A: Access Allowed CC: Create Child LC: List Children SW: Self Write LO: List Object CR: Control Access RC: Read Control SU: Service Logon User Note: If there’re no GPO’s in place, then another activity may’ve changed default registry permissions. To work around this issue, perform following steps:
