Windows 10 feature updates break activation, change computer name on domain PCs

[mdownes]

A customer has a batch of 40 identical Dell PCs, refurbished by an MS licensed refurbisher, who activated windows through KMS. When W10 version 1703 was installed, all PCs lost their activation status and the computer name (but not the netbios name) changed to a random string beginning with "WIN-". They also couldn't log onto the domain, initially. We resolved that on all PCs and assumed that would be the end of it.

But now, version 1709 is doing the same thing, except this time, it's weirdly reverting to the computer name originally given by the refurbisher (although again, netbios name stays the same). So it looks like this will crop up every time there's a new feature update.

When the original 1703 issue happened, nobody I asked seemed to have heard of this behaviour and couldn't believe that a feature update could cause it. However, the refurbisher didn't seem surprised and had activation codes paired to dell service tags ready to send.

Has anybody else heard of this behaviour or have any idea what's happening or how we could avoid it in future?

 

[Metanis]

... refurbished by an MS licensed refurbisher, who activated windows through KMS. ...

This seems wrong to me. A refurbisher key would be "permanent" with a sticker on the side of the case. A KMS key requires a KMS server. They were normally intended for large-scale domain environments by M$ customers with a Software Assurance contract. Since the "feature updates" actually involve a re-installation of Windows it makes sense they would attempt to contact their KMS server to re-activate the license. The fact the vendor "didn't seem surprised" and was ready with new activation codes means they realize they've made a poor decision regarding licensing.

Your customer should demand appropriate permanent licenses. Otherwise they will have to deal with this twice a year.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Yeah those aren't legitimate licenses, and that isn't a licensed refurbisher... sorry but you've been taken.

Refurbished machines have a COA on the side of them just like the old OEM stuff did. That key is permanent, and works against MS's servers. KMS servers are not used, indeed they cannot be used with these licenses. KMS is for volume licenses only.

Sounds to me like you're being resold someone else's volume keys, which aren't legally transferable.

 

[mdownes]

Thanks guys - they actually belong to a customer, which is a school. The refurbisher is a fairly well established one, which is also a charity that fixes up donated equipment and ships it to developing countries (or at least, that's their claim). First time this happened, I thought the KMS choice was unorthodox to say the least (and very awkward) but once I'd generated a unique shell command for each PC in a spreadsheet and just copy+pasted it, one by one, into screen connect, it worked well, so I didn't question it. The renaming and checking domain logins was a much bigger PIA. It's looking like the school will need to get tough with this crowd, or as advised, this will cost them a wad of cash every few months to rectify.

That aside, I'm still pretty curious as to what they could have done to cause the changed computer names (but not netbios name) on every feature update. It's pretty weird behaviour...