Article ID: 921471
Article Last Modified on 1/3/2008
APPLIES TO
- Windows Vista Home Basic
- Windows Vista Home Premium
- Windows Vista Ultimate
- Windows Vista Business
- Windows Vista Enterprise
- Windows Server 2008 Datacenter
- Windows Server 2008 Datacenter 32-Bit
- Windows Server 2008 Enterprise
- Windows Server 2008 Enterprise 32-Bit
- Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems
- Windows Server 2008 Standard
- Windows Server 2008 Standard 32-Bit
- Windows Web Server 2008
Beta Information
This article discusses a beta release of a Microsoft product. The information in this article is provided as-is and is subject to change without notice.
No formal product support is available from Microsoft for this beta product. For information about how to obtain support for a beta release, see the documentation that is included with the beta product files, or check the Web location where you downloaded the release.
SYMPTOMS
When you try to activate Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 over the Internet, the activation may be unsuccessful. Additionally, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms:
- Activation fails with error code 0x8004FE33.
- The following Error events may be recorded in the Application log:
- Activation is not successful, and you are not prompted for credentials.
CAUSE
This issue may occur when you connect to the Internet through a proxy server where Basic authentication is enabled.
When the proxy server is configured for Basic authentication, the server requires that you type a username and a password. However, the activation user interface does not let you enter these credentials. Therefore, the Basic authentication fails, and activation is not successful.
WORKAROUND
General users
Method 1: Use the telephone to activate Windows
Open the Windows Activation Wizard to use the automated telephone system and activate Windows. To open the wizard, click Start, click Run, type SLUI 04, and then click OK.
Advanced users
This method is intended for advanced computer users. If you are not comfortable with advanced troubleshooting, you might want to ask someone for help or contact support. For information about how to contact support, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
Method 1: Configure the proxy server to disable Basic authentication
For information about how to perform this method, see the documentation that is included with the proxy software.
Method 2: Configure your proxy server to exclude the URLs for the certificate revocation lists (CRLs) from the requirement for Basic authentication
To do this, configure the following list of CRLs to be unauthenticated on the proxy server:
- http://go.microsoft.com/
- https://sls.microsoft.com/
- https://sls.microsoft.com:443
- http://crl.microsoft.com/pki/crl/products/MicrosoftRootAuthority.crl
- http://crl.microsoft.com/pki/crl/products/MicrosoftProductSecureCommunications.crl
- http://www.microsoft.com/pki/crl/products/MicrosoftProductSecureCommunications.crl
- http://crl.microsoft.com/pki/crl/products/MicrosoftProductSecureServer.crl
- http://www.microsoft.com/pki/crl/products/MicrosoftProductSecureServer.crl
For information about how to perform this method, see the documentation that is included with the proxy software.
MORE INFORMATION
For more information about Windows Vista Volume Activation 2.0, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
929712 Volume Activation information for Windows Vista
For more information about how to activate Windows Vista, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
940315 How to activate Windows Vista
For more information how to troubleshoot Volume Activation error codes, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
938450 How to troubleshoot Volume Activation error codes on Windows Vista-based computers
If these articles do not help you resolve the problem or if you experience symptoms that differ from those that are described in this article, search the Microsoft Knowledge Base for more information. To search the Microsoft Knowledge Base, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
Then, type the text of the error message that you receive, or type a description of the problem in the Search Support (KB) field.
Keywords: kbresolve kbsetup kbactivation kbtshoot kbexpertisebeginner kbprb KB921471
