After the retro server had not been started for a long time, I was suddenly greeted by a dialog box with the message “This copy of Windows Server 2003 R2 must be activated” with the options “Yes,” “No,” or “Cancel,” the latter of which shut down the server.

When I selected “Yes,” the WGA activation dialog box familiar from XP appeared with the text “This copy has already been activated.” Clicking ‘OK’ only took me back to the first message. “No” did not change anything at all. Great, a dead end.

What to do?

After googling the error message in fragments in English (“Error: This copy of Windows must be activated before you can log on.”), I came across a solution. This is presented by “The Rambling IT Man” on his blog (archive.org), which is hosted directly by WordPress.

I am “reblogging” the content of his solution mainly to present the process in German. At the same time, this provides a second version of the information, as websites unfortunately often disappear at some point.

The solution:

The process should work both in a VM and on a physical server. In my case, it worked immediately on a physical server.

Step 1: Shutdown

Shut down Server 2003 R2.

Step 2: Boot again

Restart the computer, pressing “F8” repeatedly to display the startup options.

Step 3: Safe mode

When the menu appears, select “Safe Mode” (first option). If not, restart and try again with “F8”.

Step 4: Run

Either press the Windows key + R or select “Run” from the Start menu.

Step 5: Command line

Execute this command exactly, Oo are not zeros but letters. Pay attention to upper and lower case!

rundll32.exe syssetup,SetupOobeBnk

Step 6: Wait

Wait a moment until the “Busy” icon appears on the mouse cursor. No confirmation will follow.

Step 7: Final reboot

Simply restart the server. The message should now disappear for at least 30 days, allowing you to log in normally and, if necessary, fix the underlying problem or back up your data.

Thanks, “The Rambling IT Man”!

Der Beitrag Reactivation of Windows Server 2003 (R2) erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.