Activation issues continue to prevail with newer versions of Windows. Another issue that has come upfront is activating Enterprise and Business editions of Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008. When an attempt to activate Vista and Server 2008 is made the following error message shows up,

Activation Error: Code 0x8007232b
DNS Name does not exist

While for Windows 7 it looks something like this,

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: 0x80092328
Description:
DNS name does not exist.

The reason to this problem is that the volume licensed media and the activation wizard in these versions are unable to connect to the host computer of Key Management Service (KMS). This problem is faced by those who are using a computer that is a part of a network. If you are using TechNet, MSDN or MAPs you are most likely to have volume licensed media and a Multiple Activation Key (MAK) along with. The first solution requires a MAK.  Some solutions summarized below and for more help visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929826. For general information regarding Volume Activation visit http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb871044.aspx.

Solution 1

You need to change you activation key from a KMS key to a MAK. To do that, you need to run command prompt as administrator enter the following command,

slmgr -ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

Change the x’s with your MAK.

Solution 2

To activate a KMS product, it is necessary that you have a KMS host server configured as well. If you don’t have a KMS host server activated in your environment, then you need to install and activate one. One you have configured and activated a KMS software, you need to publish the DNS Settings. Visit http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc303280.aspx#_Install_KMS_Hosts, for further information regarding installation of KMS host server in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and 2008. To setup video on KMS in Windows 7 and Sever 2008 R2 visit http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd996588.aspx.

Solution 3

If a KMS host is configured on your network, and still the client is unable to access it to activate then first you need to confirm that the computer on which the host is installed and activated, is registered in DNS. To check that, enter the following command in the command prompt of the KMS host server.

nslookup -type=all _vlmcs._tcp>kms.txt

A KMS.text file is generated as a result. Open it and check for one or more entries that look like this,

_vlmcs._tcp.contoso.com                            SRV service location:

priority       = 0

weight         = 0

port           = 1688

svr hostname   = kms-server.contoso.com

If you find these “_vlmcs” entries and they contain the expect host names then move on to solution four. If not then check out other options under Method 3, second step on http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929826.

Solution 4

A KMS client by default uses an automatic discovery feature in order to ask the DNS for a list of servers available, that publish a _VLMS record, in its membership area. The DNS returns a random list of KMS host servers available. The client selects a KMS host and if a connection is established successfully, the client saves it’s settings for next time. If however a connection is not established, the client picks another server and attempts on it. It is recommended that you use these setting but if you want to try manually then check out Method 4 on http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929826.