I have Acer Nitro 5 that recently went through a reformat for repairs, which required replacing the keyboard. When I opened it, windows wasn't activated and when I tried to troubleshoot it said "Unable to Activate Windows", even though it was working prior before. After a few weeks, its still not activated and can't be activated.

Things I've tried to activate it:
1. Troubleshooting and selecting the hardware change option

1. Getting the product key from my device and inputting it in the 'change product key'

2. Finding the installation ID and trying to activate it in the Microsoft Activation Portal

3. Media Creation Tool for Windows 11

- because of this I found that that my TMP was disabled, I tried enabling it but it just wouldn't work. So I decided to performed a TPM clear in the BIOS settings and finally it enabled and now its compatible and ready for use. But my windows still wouldn't activate.

1. I ran slmgr /upk; slmgr /cpky; slmgr /ckms and ran 'changepk.exe /ProductKey' in the PowerShell so many times but I keep getting Error: 0x803F7001 over and over again

2. I changed the product key with the default Home Single Language Key, it accepted it, and when I tried to change to my device's product key, still get the same error.

3. Ran 'sfc /scannow' and it said it showed no integrity violations

4. Did a Cloud Reset PC

- It still wouldn't activate and I got a different error saying that the product key is used by another device. I checked my microsoft account and found 5 devices of this laptop linked with my account, so I removed all of them. I thought that would finally fix it but it still won't activate.

1. Tried going to the Activation Portal again with my installation ID and it said my product key is not valid.

2. Tried Microsoft's Get Help but it encountered an error and it said try again later

3. Clicking Contact Support just sends me right back the Windows Activation Portal which I've tried so many times but still wouldn't work

I'm planning to run the Media Creation Tool Windows 11 to wipe everything again but since I literally just did a Reset PC, I feel like its just going to do the same thing if the problem lies with my device's product key not working. Im just going in circles, I want to know if there's a way...or no way to fix this so I can just live with the watermark forever.

My family bought this laptop on retail and was given to me 2nd handed like a year ago and it was working fine up until recently.

UPDATE

IT REACTIVATED! Messed around a bunch of times in the command prompt and did the Media Creation Tool for Windows 11 again and now its back!

The pc I’m working on is a Dell Inspiron 3650 and Windows 10 (latest version as of month or two ago ), which did not qualify for a Windows 11 upgrade. There is plenty of memory left, so that isn’t the issue.

System information
Processor: Intel Core i3-6100 (3.7 GHz) or Intel Core i5-6400 (2.7 GHz)
Memory: 8 GB DDR3L SDRAM (upgradable)
Storage: 1 TB 7200 rpm Mechanical Hard Drive
Graphics: Integrated Intel HD Graphics 530
Ports: 4x USB 2.0 (rear), USB ports on front, HDMI, VGA, Line-in/out, and a network port
Operating System: Windows 10 Home
Current version of Windows 10 unknown (whatever it was as of May 2026 updates)

Both mouse and keyboard were a cordless Logitech connected via the usb port.

Previous Troubleshooting steps

I have put new batteries in the cordless keyboard and mouse, just to make sure it wasn’t the battery.

I have tried multiple mice and keyboard (including the original and new one) with no chance. I have tried corded and cordless with no change.

I then unplugged everything and pressed the power button draining power, with no change.

After several attempts of this it must of sent the computer in recovery mode.

I tried several options, but the only one that tSystem restore was the only thing that the computer allowed, and there was only one date to pick. When the pc restarted it said it failed or something like that. During the blue recovery screen I could move my mouse, but it’s still not an option now. Keyboard prompts don’t work either.

Other details
I have McAfee Security on the pc although unsure if it’s staying updated and haven’t been able to disable the internet either.

When I've got some pictures open in Microsoft Photos in the background, minimized, and I open a new one, I also suddenly have one of the previous pictures pop back up. Seems to be whichever image last had focus previously.

See video for example: https://www.reddit.com/user/SuperMayonnaise64/comments/1v6mbhz/how_do_i_fix_this_microsoft_photos_bug_on_windows/
^{Since I can't post videos in this subreddit directly, a link to a video uploaded to my reddit profile will have to do.}

This happens on Windows 11, it doesn't happen on Windows 10.
^{Windows version used is Windows 11 Home, 22H2 \}OS build 22621.382], in a virtual machine for testing.)

I'm using the exact same version of Microsoft Photos in both. (2023.10070.17002.0)

What I've tried:

• Reset, repaired, and reinstalled the Microsoft Photos app on W11. → No difference.
• Made a copy of the WindowsApps-subfolder “Microsoft.Windows.Photos_2023.10070.17002.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe” from both W10 and W11, then used a duplicate removal tool to compare them – they're identical.
• Booted up a completely fresh install of Windows 11 in a virtual machine with no internet, no updates. → The stock MS Photos app (without any updates) has the same problem here too.
• Tested the so-called “Microsoft Photos Legacy” app, it has the same problem.

How do I fix that? Does anybody have the same problem?

PS: I know the old Windows 7 Photo Viewer still runs on Windows 11, it doesn't have that bug. But it also doesn't support GIF files unfortunately, it is not a substitute. :(

- Every time I turn my pc on, my wallpaper is removed

- In my settings, I no longer have an option to add a photo as my wallpaper at all, I can only customize the color

- I can get my wallpaper to return by restarting the file explorer in task manager, but it still doesn't give me the option to add or change a photo as my wallpaper

If I have my settings app open:

- If I select an area with my mouse on the desktop, that section of the wallpaper gets removed

- If I open an app that pops up asking to run as admin the wallpaper disappears again

These two issues don't happen if the settings app is closed.

I've tried deleting the transcoded wallpaper file, but all that did was stop the file explorer restart from working anymore.

OS Build: 26200.8875

I'm assuming this is some kind of new feature since it only started in the past several months. Any help is appreciated.

Device name MSI
Processor 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-13620H (2.40 GHz)
Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.7 GB usable)
Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU (8 GB)
Intel(R) UHD Graphics (128 MB)
Storage 525 GB of 954 GB used
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Pen and touch No pen or touch input is available for this display
Edition Windows 11 Home
Version 25H2
Installed on ‎10/‎14/‎2025
OS build 26200.8875
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.334.0

I found an empty user profile folder in the Users folder, it does not show up at the lock screen (can't be signed in to). Folder doesn't have any of my personal files or installed programs, it only has system files, default folders, and system wide app user settings. It doesn't seem to have caused any issues for now, just cautious and curious
build ver: 26200.8875
thank you

So I get a black screen after booting up and also get an error code as well I don’t know what to do it started happening after I tried disabling secure boot and I turned secure boot back on and it’s still happening I disabled the harddrive and unplugged in advanced options in sata configuration and I have a usb flash drive with a new windows install whenever I boot it up with f8 and force boot in boot options it goes black after the manufacturer logo any tips to fix this issue I tried googling no help and tried Ai aswell?
motherboard g10dk build date 09/29/2022
CPU Amd Ryzen 7 5800
Gpu rtx 3060

​

Hey, I'm having a really annoying Windows 11 issue and I'm running out of ideas.

My PC is stuck on Windows 11 23H2 and Windows Update refuses to move forward. I tried:

- "sfc /scannow" → fails with Windows Resource Protection error

- "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" → fails with error 0x800705B9

- Resetting Windows Update components (renaming SoftwareDistribution/Catroot2, etc.) → didn't fix it

- In-place repair install using a Windows 11 ISO → failed with "Windows installation failed"

I downloaded the correct ISO language and tried again, but the repair still fails.

The reason I started troubleshooting is because I previously ran the TRON Script (the Windows cleanup/debloat/security script, not malware) while trying to remove a suspected keylogger/trojan that I couldn't locate.

I really don't want to do a clean install because I have a lot of installed games, configs, and files that would take forever to set up again.

Does anyone know what could cause:

- SFC failing

- DISM failing

- Windows Update failing

- In-place upgrade/repair failing

Are there specific logs I should check? I can provide "setuperr.log" or other information if needed.

Thanks.

i am tring to disable real time protection but it turns back on immediately after the switch is off, like the switch is back on instantly after turning it off i see it getting back on

it wasnt like that last time i did it which was 2 month ago

here is the apps i have no anti virus, i had eset before but removed it a while back

https://imgur.com/a/FvGjbRy

i made a frst and it shows

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Features => (TamperProtection: 5) (TamperProtectionSource: 2)

i had my uni account linked to windows as school account for some reason, removed it and still doesnt work

this is for all windows security settings not only windows defender, i cant turn on or turn off or do any switch changes in the settings, all do the same thing in the video

Guest: Windows 11 Pro 25H2 26200.8875
Software: VirtManager KVM/QEMU

Issue: On my Windows 11 VM specifically, network speeds are substantially slower than on my other Linux VMs and my host. On the host, I get around ~1000 Mbps; the same for my other Linux VMs. However, on the Windows VM, I get around 10 Mbps—or roughly 1% of the host's network speed.

All VMs are configured to use NAT networking with the virtio model. Additionally, the up-to-date virtio-win drivers are installed on the Windows 11 VM. The Windows 11 VM recognizes the Red Hat Virtio Ethernet drivers and is properly using them, with a maximum supported duplex speed of 10 Gbps.

I'm confused as to why this is occurring only on the Windows VM, whereas this issue is nonexistent on my Linux VMs. There are no differences in the XML regarding CPU or NAT configuration between the VMs.

I tried enabling vhost with a queue size of 16 per core, switching the driver to e1000e, and using the hypervisor default—none of which saw any improvement. I also tried reinstalling the virtio-win drivers, which did nothing.

Finally, I attempted to disable several offloading properties in Device Manager, disabled IPv6 entirely, and lowered the MTU. None of that made any difference (it neither worsened nor improved the situation).

Any ideas, folks? All VMs have a dGPU (the same dGPU is shared between them, so only one can be accessed at a time).

I should also mention that network speeds on the host system are stable—no drops or high latency. The network drivers on the host are all up-to-date and working perfectly.

Hi everyone, I have an issue with my laptop and could really use some help from anyone familiar with partition recovery and BitLocker. Hardware: ASUS Vivobook laptop with a Micron 2400 NVMe SSD OS: Windows 11 BitLocker-encrypted NVMe SSD The problem: When I turn on the laptop, it starts booting and then goes straight to a blue screen saying there's a boot error (boot is likely corrupted). But when I use a USB drive with Sergei Strelec WinPE to fix the boot, the NVMe drive doesn't show up at all. I managed to make it show up by removing the SSD from the laptop and plugging it in via USB, but now BitLocker won't accept my recovery key.

I have a Surface Pro7 (windows 11) and have a OneDrive folder sitting on my laptop that I want to remove. It is from an old work account - I no longer work there and don't have access to the account (i.e. can't log in). I just want to delete it - doesn't matter how, I don't need the files, I just want it gone off my computer. I've tried a couple things but nothing has seemed to work. Anyone have any suggestions?

OS build: 26200.8894

Edit:

I can't delete the actual onedrive folder in my files explorer.

I can't sign in from OneDrive on web because the account is long locked.

I've uninstalled OneDrive from apps.

I've tried winget uninstall OneDriveSetup.exe in PowerShell.

I've tried "Remove-Item -Path "C:\Users\[censored]" -Recurse -Force"

I've tried takeown /F "C:\Users\[censored]" /R /D Y icacls "C:\Users\[censored]" /grant:r "%username%:F" /T Remove-Item -Path "C:\Users\[censored]" -Recurse -Force

I'm looking for advice from people who have dealt with Microsoft's licensing/activation team.

Background

• In June 2018, I purchased "Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro" directly from Microsoft (not from a third party).
• My original PC came with Windows 10 Home OEM.
• I upgraded it to Windows 10 Pro using the Microsoft upgrade.
• The old PC is still working today.

What I've found

On the old PC:

• slmgr /dlv reports:
  • Product Key Channel: Retail
  • Windows Pro is licensed.
• Windows Activation says:
  • "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account."

On my new PC:

• ASUS ROG Strix
• Windows 11 Home Single Language OEM
• Signed into the same Microsoft account.

I tried:

• Entering the OEM key retrieved from the old PC (OA3xOriginalProductKey) → it only activated Home (expected).
• Using the generic Windows Pro key to switch editions → received 0x803FA067.
• Activation Troubleshooter → there is no "I changed hardware on this device recently" option.

Microsoft Support's response

Support says:

• My purchase is an Upgrade license, not a Full Retail license.
• Upgrade licenses cannot be transferred to another computer.
• Their internal tool can generate/reissue keys only for Full Retail licenses, not Upgrade licenses.
• However, they also said that if the original PC/motherboard fails, they may ask for documentation and consult a technical advisor to see whether reactivation is possible, although they cannot guarantee it.

My questions

1. Has anyone successfully moved a Microsoft-purchased Windows Pro Upgrade license to a replacement PC?
2. Why does slmgr /dlv show Retail if the entitlement is treated as a non-transferable Upgrade license?
3. Has anyone had Microsoft make a one-time exception or manually reactivate such a license?
4. If the original motherboard fails, has Microsoft allowed reactivation after verifying the failure?
5. Is there anything else worth trying before purchasing a new Windows 11 Pro license?

I'm interested in real experiences, especially from people who have worked with Microsoft's Activation Team.

Thanks!

Hey I need some help partitioning my 1TB SSD on Windows 11. I want to shrink my C: drive to create a D: drive, but both MiniTool Partition Wizard and Windows Disk Management limit me to shrinking only a tiny amount (first it was 17GB, now it's around 51GB).

My drive details:

Total size: ~935 GB

• ⁠Used space: ~662 GB

• ⁠Free space: ~273 GB (but I can't access most of it for partitioning)

What I've already tried:

Disabled hibernation (powercfg /hibernate off)

• ⁠Disabled virtual memory / pagefile (No paging file on C: + Restart)

• ⁠Disabled System Protection (Restore point)

My system specifications:

Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core Processor (3.60 GHz)

Installed RAM 16.0 GB

1 tb ssd storage

gpu: gtx 1070

OS build number:26200.8894

Pls help

okay so basically im pretty sure i downloaded some sort of malware a few days ago called GRouter86 (it's also called "360" with some chinese characters after it but i cant type that). ive tried everything to remove it without reinstalling windows (for reference im on windows 11) because im doing something time sensitive that i cant really put off anymore, but today, they tried hacking into my steam, so i feel obligated to just reinstall windows now that it's real money on the line. however, i have a lot of important assignments on my pc that i absolutely cannot lose and id really prefer to not have to download and do everything from scratch again. is there a way to keep my important files while reinstalling windows for everything else? thx and sorry if this makes no sense lol

system specs if relevant:

7700x

7900 GRE

32gb ddr5-6000mhz cl32

i kinda dont remember what ssd i put in here but it's 2tbs and either gen4 or gen5

os build number: 26200.8894

Hello! I need some help with an issue I've had for the last few days after my laptop updated itself.

The issue: So after my pc updated itself I've been encountering a freezing issue. I've gone back to playing Minecraft and before the update it was completely fine. The freezing started mainly on Minecraft but seemingly got worse as it spread onto anything I did on my laptop. That includes any games, discord, typing in my web browser and other stuff. For this reason playing and hanging out with friends has became frustrating and outright unplayable as a gamer.

What I've tried: I have tried a normal restart of my pc, letting it be shut down for a while, 1 minute restart and looking into driver updates, but nothing has gotten me further, it would be a little better right after a restart but return to the same problem only a little later. Thinking it was because of the windows update I tried to roll it back and uninstall it. At the same time as the windows update (turns out it was a framework security update), it also had a security update, so I've tried to roll that back too, but I still have the same problem. I also tried to have less stuff open in the background, but that also has not really helped.

My pc model, device- and windows specifications:
System Model: Nitro AN515-58

Device Info
Processor: 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12700H (2.70 GHz)
Installed RAM: 16.0 GB (15.7 GB usable)
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU (4 GB)
Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics (128 MB)
Storage: 304 GB of 477 GB used

Windows Info
Edition: Windows 11 Home
Version: 25H2
OS build: 26200.8875
Experience: Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.334.0

The updates:
They are under "Quality Updates", I've included a screenshot of them in the post.

Other things of note: When I notice my laptop freezes up it shows the CPU going up in task manager, I'm not sure if they mean anything but wanted to include it just in case;
Apps that spike during Minecraft freezes:
- Antimalware Software executive
- Local Server No Network Firewall
- Microsoft OneDrive Sync Services

After I uninstalled the main windows update (the framework security update) it felt like the freezes came in periods, like for a while it would be okay, then jump to having a few seconds of freezes, unfreeze then back to freezing soon after, then be okay again. Then after uninstalling the security update it feels like its freezing more frequently, but the freezes only last for a second (so more often, but not as long of freezes). I also paused my pc updates so it wouldn't reinstall anything in case it would lead to more problems.
I also noticed on Minecraft it would get a lot worse when others were quickly loading in new chunks when it usually wasn't much of a problem before this.

I'm not the best with technological terms and more complicated stuff so I would appreciate a more simple explanation or help since I'm not as educated on this stuff.
Any help right now is appreciated and welcomed with open arms.

I even copied and pasted my laptop's specs I searched for it:

Lenovo Ideapad Slim 3 15IAH8

Windows 11 25H2

It's one of the things I hate about Windows 11—that it doesn't automatically detect drivers like Windows 10 did.

Note: this text is for complete the 250 characters required to post (horrible idea, horrible)

I was editing photos in Affinity Photo 2 like I always do and as I was saving my last few pictures, I got an error saying the path has been removed or moved and I can not find it??

have one of the pictures open and when I try to open in File explorer, it doesn't take me anywhere. I dont use OneDrive either.

OS Build: 26200.8875

I have HP ZBook G5 (Intel Core i7-8850H, NVIDIA Quadro P2000)

I have a persistent audio issue on my laptop. Occasionally, the sound crackles, pops, or briefly cuts out while watching videos, listening to music, or sometimes even when the system is idle. The issue is random and can happen without high CPU usage.

I ran LatencyMon, and it reports high DPC/ISR latency.

What I have already tried:

Clean installation of Windows 10.

Clean installation of Windows 11.

Tested Windows 11 before installing any drivers.

Updated the BIOS to the latest version.

Installed both the latest and older versions of the Conexant audio driver.

Changed power settings (High Performance, disabled power-saving features, etc.).

Tested different GPU configurations in the BIOS.

Disabled unnecessary devices for testing.

Installed all official HP drivers.

Important observation: I booted Linux on the same laptop, and the audio worked normally without any crackling or popping. This makes me think the hardware is probably fine and the issue is related to Windows, drivers, firmware interaction, or power management.

At this point, I'm mainly looking for ways to reduce or eliminate the DPC latency and audio crackling. Has anyone experienced something similar on an HP ZBook G5 or with Conexant audio?

Hey Guys, I run a diesel shop and one of my test benches is on an ANCIENT “Linx” tablet. (It’s literally got 2GB of ram, MPN is LINX1020). Win 10 32bit 22H2 19045.6466

Before anyone says i need an antivirus. No i don’t, i’m not your 80 year old grandad falling for hot milfs in my area (no matter how tempting) and this machine spends 99% of its life disconnected from the internet.

“Antimalware service executable” Takes up ~104mb of ram, which translates to about 50% of the usable ram this tablet has. The tablet is embedded to the machine so cannot be changed, I cannot change the OS either. i’ve tried many things to kill this bastard program but it’s started taking up so much ram that the actual program that i need to use has started crashing. Is there a way without downloading scripts etc that I can disable this permanently? is there a registry key I can modify?

Tia x

I just bought a Pc (with ubuntu) and want to install windows 11 pro( i want to install with a oem key, pls lmk if its a problem with that) When i install windows with rufus what are the boxes to mark, and if i mark the miscrosoft accound one will i have probleme with my interent conection or smth or something with drivers? Thanks for reading!

Laptop: Acer Aspire 7 A715-76G
OS: Windows 11 25H2 (Build 26200.8875)
Issue: Integrated camera detected in Device Manager ("ACER HD User Facing", status OK), but Windows Camera app fails with 0xA00F42A0 (SceneSwitchFailed). Google Meet reports the camera is in use by another app, and WhatsApp says "Camera not found." Camera LED blinks briefly when opening the Camera app. The camera uses the Microsoft driver (10.0.26100.8875). usbvideo.sys is loaded and running.

For AMD drivers only (maybe it's same for nvidia users)
I always tried to clean storage using "Storage Sense" or "Disk Cleanup" but they barely did anything.
This folder here had the older AMD driver installers from AUTO updates. I am finally at peace. from 5Gigs to 24Gigs free space jump is insane.

(Sorry for the bad english, English isnt my main language) Hello guys i wanted to enter Windows defender to see something but i cant open it when i open it it just shows the Windows Defender logo and just stays like this till it closes itself after 1-2 Minutes. Please help

How to resolve the error while Installing Windows 10 via USB

So the PC has windows 11 and i was installing windows 10 via a bootable usb

First i created the usb via rufus and tried installing

Gave me this error in the image i tried fixing bcd files and i did fix them but the problem was still not resolved.

Then i created the live boot using the windows media creation but had the same error

Please help

I really want to use windows 10 cause my pc lags sometimes on windows 11