This started about 3 months ago, on an old Dell Inspiron 660. I had made no hardware changes at or anywhere close to that time, and the only system software changes were those performed by Windows Update.
Immediately after reboot, everything looks normal, but after several hours, a semi-transparent message saying 'Activate Windows' and 'Go to Settings to activate Windows' appears in the lower right corner of the first monitor (despite this, the computer continues to work normally, as far as I can tell.)
The activation settings window initially shows it not activated, and provides links to non-specific activation documentation. On returning to it a second time, I get a 'troubleshoot' option, an after this runs for a few seconds, it comes back saying that windows has been activated, and the original message disappears.
I used slmgr with /dlv and /xpr to check the status immediately after reboot, after the message appears, and after the activation. In each case, the response is the same (except for the Trusted Time value, which is always the current date and time):
/dlv:
Name: Windows(R), Professional edition
Description: Windows(R) Operating System, RETAIL channel
Application ID: [redacted]
Extended PID: [redacted]
Product Key Channel: Retail
Installation ID: [redacted]
Use License URL: https://activation-v2.sls.microsoft.com/SLActivateProduct/SLActivateProduct.asmx?configextension=Retail
Validation URL: https://validation-v2.sls.microsoft.com/SLWGA/slwga.asmx
Partial Product Key: [redacted]
License Status: Licensed
Remaining Windows rearm count: 1001
Remaining SKU rearm count: 1001
Trusted time: 7/18/2024 7:27:42 AM
/xpr:
Windows(R), Professional edition:
The machine is permanently activated.
The only thing that struck me as perhaps out-of-place is the product channel being 'Retail' (rather than something like 'OEM'), as this machine was originally delivered from Dell with Windows 8 Pro pre-installed (though I did not check at the time whether the license was classified as OEM or retail, and I do not recall what steps, if any, I had to follow in order to initially activate it.) Since then, the only OS upgrade has been the automatic one to Windows 10 (I don't recall when, but it was not immediately after the upgrade was initially offered, and for years afterwards, the current problem was absent.)
This machine is not eligible for upgrade to Windows 11.
The motherboard battery was replaced a couple of years ago, and the computer is not exhibiting any of the problems which accompanied the original battery failure. The activation problem did not occur either before or after the battery replacement (until recently, of course.)
At the time of the original problem, and also just now, sfc /scannow reported 'Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations' and dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth reported 'no component store corruption detected.'
Does anyone have a solution of this problem, or at least some further diagnostic steps that I could take?
