Windows 11 Pro activation issues, system corruption,

Question

Windows 11 Pro activation issues, system corruption,

Yabri 20

Hello,

I'm experiencing several problems with Windows 11 Pro on my Dell Latitude 7420, and I would like to understand whether they could be related

When I first received the laptop, Windows 11 Pro was installed and activated, and everything seemed to work normally.

After using it for some time, Windows stopped showing as activated. I tried opening Settings > System > Activation, but the page would not open. I decided to reset Windows to its factory settings, thinking that the installation might be corrupted.

After the reset, Windows showed as activated again. However, a few days later, the same activation problem returned, and the Activation page stopped opening once more.

I also started experiencing other Windows problems. Windows Update failed to install updates, Settings and other applications became unresponsive, and some system processes stopped working correctly.

I tried running SFC, which detected corrupted files that it could not repair. DISM repeatedly failed with error "0x80041032". I also attempted to repair Windows through Windows Update, but the process reached 99% and failed with error "0x80240069".

Next, I downloaded the official Windows 11 ISO and tried running "setup.exe" to repair the existing installation, but nothing happened, even when running it as administrator.

Since I could not repair Windows, I created a bootable USB to perform a clean installation. The USB boots correctly, but when I reach the drive selection screen, the internal NVMe SSD does not appear.

I checked the BIOS storage settings. It was initially configured as RAID On, so I changed it to AHCI/NVMe, but the SSD still does not appear in Windows Setup.

I also ran Dell ePSA diagnostics, which did not report any errors with the SSD, RAM, or processor. I attempted to load the Intel RST driver manually, but I only had the ".exe" package and could not load the required ".inf" files.

My questions are:

What could cause Windows 11 Pro to lose its activation status after previously being activated?
Could the activation issue, corrupted system files, and Windows Update errors be related?
Why does Windows Setup fail to detect the NVMe SSD even after changing the BIOS setting to AHCI/NVMe?
Does the Dell Latitude 7420 with an Intel Core i7-1185G7 require a specific Intel RST or storage controller driver?
How can I determine whether the SSD is working correctly or whether there is a BIOS, driver, or hardware problem?

I would appreciate any guidance on how to diagnose these issues and perform a clean Windows 11 Pro installation.

Thank you.

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Answer 1

Sounds to me like the activation, SFC, DISM and update errors are probably all one problem. If Settings won't even open and SFC can't repair things, the Activation page not loading is more likely a symptom of the broken install than a lost license.

The one thing I'd check is how you got the laptop. If it's refurbished or used to belong to a company, it may have been activated with a volume license, and that could explain it coming back after the reset and then dropping off again. If you can get an admin Command Prompt open, slmgr /dli will show you which kind it is.

The SSD not showing up is the usual thing with 11th gen Intel like your i7-1185G7. Setup doesn't have the Intel RST/VMD driver built in, so it can't see the drive when the BIOS is on RAID On. AHCI/NVMe normally gets around that, so since it didn't, I'd go back to RAID On and load the driver. While you're in the BIOS, also check the M.2 PCIe SSD port is enabled in the storage settings.

That Dell .exe you've got can actually be extracted. Run it on any Windows PC and choose Extract instead of Install, then copy the folder to your USB. At the drive screen in Setup click Load driver and browse to it. You're looking for the folder with VMD in the name, with iaStorVD.inf inside.

To tell if it's the driver or the drive, press Shift+F10 at that screen, type diskpart, then list disk. If the SSD shows up after loading the driver, the drive's fine. If it still doesn't and the BIOS doesn't list it either, I'd start looking at hardware, like reseating the SSD. Passing ePSA is a good sign though.

One warning, a clean install wipes the drive, so back up anything you need first, and have your BitLocker recovery key handy if the drive's encrypted. For the install, pick Windows 11 Pro and choose "I don't have a product key". If the Pro license came with the laptop from Dell, it should activate by itself once you're online.