New Microsoft bug deactivates Windows 10 Pro licenses, some users downgraded to Home edition

Ever since the Windows 10 October 2018 update roll-out, Microsoft users have been facing a number of issues, ranging from wiped data to files in compressed (ZIP) archives. Now, another critical bug has been spotted in Windows where some Pro users have been downgraded to Home edition. Users are facing issues with the activation of the license as well.

According to The Register, Microsoft servers have started to downgrade Windows 10 Pro users to Windows 10 Home edition. Note that Windows 10 Pro is more expensive than the Home Edition and comes with more features. Some users have also reported facing issues with fresh installations of the software.

"Same issue on Dell computers running Windows 10 Pro 1803 that we just bought. Need to deploy to clients but they wont activate. Office activated fine but Windows nope," wrote a user on Reddit.

"All of a sudden after years of having this key which was from windows 8 pro then migrated to windows 10 for free, I got a notification saying my key is Windows 10 home version and that I need to install it," wrote another user.

Twitter user Matt Wadley, who was among the first ones to report the issue, tweeted, "After updating to Insider Build 18277 my Windows 10 digital license became invalid. I don't understand! I've always installed Insider builds and retail builds on this machine and never had an activation problems. No hardware changes, nothing has changed. I don't know what to do."

Later, Microsoft acknowledged the bug in the activation servers.

"A limited number of customers experienced an activation issue that our engineers have now addressed. Affected customers will see resolution over the next 24 hours as the solution is applied automatically. In the meantime, they can continue to use Windows 10 Pro as usual," the company told The Register.

The company has issued a temporary fix to resolve the errors relating to Windows 10 Pro edition.

"We are aware of reports that some customers' Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise machines are not recognizing their licenses as activated. Users may receive the following notification: "Error: you are running Windows 10 Pro, but you have valid digital license for Windows 10 Home," or one of the following error codes 0X803F8001, 0xC004C003. We are actively working to resolve this within 24 hours. You can still use your PC; however, the watermark will appear until activation is restored. Thank you for your patience," wrote a Microsoft employee on the company's forum.