To fix Windows activation error code 0xC004f074, you will need to execute various commands in Command Prompt. Command Prompt is the input field in a text-based user interface screen, a command line interpreter application available in most Windows operating systems. Update Your KMS Host 9 (Windows Server 2003) Are you running later versions of Windows Server? Until I received another phone call from another person, and then another person, and you get the point. It seems for some reason EVERY single desktop and laptop we have Office 2010 installed on is asking for reactivation. The only thing in our environment that changed was an upgrade to Exchange 2010.

1. Microsoft Office 2010 Activation Wizard Error Code 0xc004f074
2. Office 2010 Activation 0xc004f074
3. 0xc004f074 Office 2010 Kms Activation
4. Error Code 0xc004f074
5. Windows Error Code 0xc004f074

The client has sent an activation request to the key management service machine. Info: 0xC004F06C, 0x00000000,:1688, 36f27b39-2fd5-440b-be67-a09996d27a38, 2010/09/29 17:52, 0, 2, 41760, 68531fb9-5511-4989-97be-d11a0f55633f, 5 In the application event log.

This article helps fix the error 0xC004F074 that occurs when you activate Windows.

Original product version: Windows 7 Service Pack 1, Windows Server 2012 R2
Original KB number: 974998

Symptom

When trying to activate Windows 7 or Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 KMS client machines, you may get this error message:

0xC004F074 with description 'The Key Management Server (KMS) is unavailable'

At the same time, the following entries may get logged in the KMS Event Log on KMS Client and KMS Host

In the application event log on KMS Client, you see the following event:

Log Name: Application
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Security-SPP
Date:

Event ID: 12288
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer:

Description:
The client has sent an activation request to the key management service machine.
Info:
0xC004F06C, 0x00000000, <KMS Host FQDN>:1688, 36f27b39-2fd5-440b-be67-a09996d27a38, 2010/09/29 17:52, 0, 2, 41760, 68531fb9-5511-4989-97be-d11a0f55633f, 5

Microsoft Office 2010 Activation Wizard Error Code 0xc004f074

In the application event log on KMS Host, you see the following event:

Log Name: Key Management Service
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Security-Licensing-SLC
Date:

Event ID: 12290
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer:
Description:
An activation request has been processed.
Info:
0xC004F06C,5,<KMS Client name>,36f27b39-2fd5-440b-be67-a09996d27a38,2010/9/29 21:46,0,2,41520,68531fb9-5511-4989-97be-d11a0f55633f

Cause

This error can occur with a support version mismatch between the KMS client and the KMS host machine.

Most commonly we are seeing this when the KMS host is running on Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 and the KMS client is Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. An update is needed for the KMS host running on Windows Server 2003 and an update is needed for the KMS host running on Windows Server 2008 to be able to activate KMS clients that are Windows 7 or Windows server 2008 R2.

Office 2010 Activation 0xc004f074

This error also can occur when there may be a time difference between the KMS client and KMS host machine.

The error 0xC004F06C listed in the info section may occur if the difference between system time on the client computer and the system time on the KMS host is more than 4 hours. We recommend that you use a Network Time Protocol (NTP) time source or the Active Directory service to synchronize the time between computers. Time is coordinated between the KMS host and the client computer in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Resolution

If you are running Windows Server 2008 as your KMS host, you need this update hotfix 968912.

Make sure that the system time on client and KMS host is the same.

The time zone that is set on the client computer does not affect Activation, since that is based on UTC time.

Run the w32tm /resync command to resync the time on the client.

References

The Error code 0xC004F074 often arises during windows and office activation. It is common when you had a version of Windows 7, 8.1 and 8 that was KMS activated before upgrading to Windows 10.

0xc004f074 Office 2010 Kms Activation

The January 2016 Windows 10 upgrades also led to the error. The error displays a message that your operating system cannot connect to an activation service. The error will also arise when you try to activate Microsoft Office 2016 volumes. However, some simple methods will fix the error.

Table of Contents

Fixing Activation Error code 0xC004F074

Method 1: Use activation key and fix Error 0xC004F074

You can use your activation key when fixing the error.

First, uninstall the current key before loading the new one.

Open the command prompt as an admin and run the command “slmgr.vbs /dlv”. Do this before you uninstall the current key.

Next, enter “slmgr.vbs /upk” to remove the current KMS key.

Once the initial key is deleted, use “slmgr.vbs /ipk <NewKMSProductKey>” to apply the new key.

Next, go to settings and click on the update and security option. Click on activation, and a new window will open showing you that you window 10 has already been activated.

Method 2: Using Command Prompt

The error message can also arise when trying to activate Windows versions 7,8, 8.1 and 10 using the 25-digit product key.

In this case, open the RUN window by pressing Windows key and R.

Once the command prompt window opens, type “slmgr.vbs -ipk xxxxx-xxxxx- (product key)”, and press enter.

Type “slmgr.vbs -ato”, then press enter. If the error has not been resolved, go back to the command prompt and type Slui 3.

Error Code 0xc004f074

You can then input the product key in the pop-up window. Press the activate button and then open the command prompt again. You should elevate it to administrator level by right clicking and choose the administrator option.

In the window, input “sfc /scannow” and press enter.Once the steps are complete, restart your computer. You can then try to activate your copy of Windows. This time, it should be successful.

Method 3: Install license pack to fix 0xC004F074 error

The error code can arise when you are trying to activate a volume-licensed client Office 2016. This would mean that there are two KMS hosts in the system. In this case, both the Office 2016 and Office 2013 KMS are co-hosted on the same system.

This commonly occurs in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. You can easily solve the issue by downloading the Microsoft Office 2016 Volume License Pack (16.0.4324.1002).

Method 4: Update to fix error code 0xC004F074

If you are relying on Windows Server 2003 as the KMS host, then you have to install an update. This is update version 968915 that installs the KMS 1.2 pack for your Windows Server 2003. For Windows Server 2008, you can install update 968912.

You should ensure that the system time on both the KMS host and client is similar. This can be achieved through several steps. First, you should try to ping your license/kms server.

Open the command prompt as an administrator. Enter the code “cscript ospp.vbs /sethst:< server name or IP address of kms server>” and run it. This will set the kms license server to match with your server.

Windows Error Code 0xc004f074

Alternatively, you can re-sync the host to the client by running the code w32tm /resync in the command prompt.The next step is activating ms office by entering “cscript ospp.vbs /act“.
All the methods above can resolve error code 0xC004F074. If one fail, you can be guaranteed that there is an alternative that works.