If you have been troubleshooting errors 0x8007232b and 0x8007007B recently then you will be very interested in a fresh knowledge base article, KB3166553, that Microsoft support published late last week.
According to Microsoft, you will see these two error codes when attempting to activate a new Windows installation on either a client or server machine.
There are three possible error messages you might see:
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Error Message 1
Activation Error: Code 0x8007232b
DNS Name does not exist
Error Message 2
Windows could not be activated.
Key management services (KMS) host could not be located in domain name system (DNS), please have your system administrator verify that a KMS is published correctly in DNS.
Error: 0x8007232b
Description: DNS name does not exist.
Error Message 3
Error: 0x8007007B
The file name, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect
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These errors are caused when you use volume-licensing to install these client/server operating systems and the activation wizard is unable to validate the install with a Key Management Service computer. It is also possible you will see one of these errors when you use a generic key that is for volume licensing situations.
Microsoft has a resolution in this knowledge base article that provides you steps using the following methods:
- Method 1: Use a Multiple Activation Key instead of KMS activation, or change to your user-assigned product key
- Method 2: Configure a KMS host server for the clients to activate against
- Method 3: The client cannot locate a KMS host on the network for activation
- Method 4: Manually assign a KMS server
- Method 5: The client cannot resolve the DNS name of the KMS server or cannot connect to the KMS server
The support page has all of the detailed steps for each of the above options to resolve these activation errors.
But, wait...there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.
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