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Issues with Missing Product Key After Factory Reset on Acer Nitro AN515-57 (Windows 11 Home 24H2)

After performing a factory reset on my Acer Nitro AN515-57 laptop running Windows 11 Home (24H2), I encountered issues with Windows activation and system services. Before the reset, the system was activated without problems, but after the reset, I was prompted to activate Windows. Despite being connected to the internet, activation failed, and I encountered several errors related to system services. I tried multiple troubleshooting steps, but the issues remain unresolved.

Chronological Details:

  1. What Happened: The issue likely began after downloading a game, which may have caused system crashes due to low storage and RAM, leading to BSODs (Blue Screens of Death). Eventually, the system became unbootable. After attempting a reset while keeping my files, the laptop remained unstable, so I proceeded with a full factory reset.

  2. Activation Failure After Reset: After the reset, I was prompted to activate Windows, but the activation failed with error codes 0x80004005 and 0xC0000022. The Software Protection Service (sppsvc) was unable to start with "Access Denied (Error 5)." The activation troubleshooter also reported "No internet connection," even though I was connected.

Key Issues and Errors:

  • Activation Errors:

    • Error codes: 0x80004005, 0xC0000022.

    • Software Protection Service (sppsvc) failed to start with "Access Denied (Error 5)".

    • Troubleshooter reports "No internet connection," despite being connected.

  • Service Errors:

    • Access Denied errors when repairing the sppsvc service using sc sdshow and sc sdset.

Additional Notes:

  • I don't know my Product Key

Answer
Answer
Ok, I think this is more of a corruption issue than license issue.

The reset you did was a factory reset from the Settings, right ?

If you don't mind, I would suggest doing a clean install instead, that way you start with a clean image. You do have to backup your files, but since you just did a reset, hopefully this is not a heavy lift.

Video tutorial is available here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsinsider/...



The following steps should be done on a working Windows computer:

Download the Windows Media Creation Tool from Microsoft's official website. https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/win... click on the "download now" button under "Create Windows 11 Installation Media"

Run the tool and select "Create installation media for another PC."

Choose "USB flash drive" as the media to use for the installation and select "Next."

Connect a USB flash drive with at least 8 GB of free space to your computer.

Select the USB flash drive you want to use, and then select "Next."

The tool will then download the required files and create the installation media.
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Now these steps will  be done on your problematic computer:

Go to the computer's BIOS boot menu to have it boot from the USB drive.

Follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows 11, making sure to choose "Custom install" and select the option to delete all existing partitions.

Once the installation is complete, you'll have a clean installation of Windows 11 on your computer.
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Question Info

Last updated April 17, 2025 Views 85 Applies to: