Fixed! Error Codes 0x8007232b & 0x8007007B On Windows

The typical scenario will go as follows: you have gotten a new computer, have installed Windows 8 and right when you are about to activate it you get one of the following error codes: 0x8007007b or 0x8007232b.

If this scenario sounds incredibly familiar to you and you are wondering how to fix error codes 0x8007007b and 0x8007232b on Windows, I have good news for you! Not only have to come to the right place but you are now closer than ever to being able to fix this error yourself.

Yes, just like that, by the end of this article you should be able to not only fix this error but also be able to understand it to a reasonable point. The main goal is fixing these two errors, and the more you will understand them the better prepared you will be to fix them.

I will start by look about these two error codes in some detail. The point of this will be to understand this error before you make any serious attempt at fixing it.

Here at Error Codes Pro, we tend to strongly suggest that users investigate and find out as much as they can about any errors they face before trying out any of the solutions we pretend. This is because we firmly believe that understanding an error is the best way to ensure that we are ready to tackle it full on.

Although reading about an error before attempting to fix it may seem like a waste of the time, the reality is that, in the long run, doing this may save you time and effort. This is because, very often, there is more than just one possible fix for every error and choosing the right one could very well depend on how deeply we understand the nature of the error. Other times, knowing what causes a specific error may prevent you from having it reoccur once you have fixed it (yes, sadly, some errors reoccur after you fix them).

“As someboyd who participates in the overall PC ecosystem, it’s totally great when faster wireless networks and standards come out or when graphics get faster. Windows 8 was like this giant sadness. It just hurts everybody in the PC business”. – Gabe Newell

This general advice applies to most kind of errors: Windows errors (like the ones I am discussing in this very article), Mac errors, appliance errors, gaming errors, and any other errors we frequently discuss on this website.

Having said all that, it is really up to you whether you would like to learn more about the error or just go ahead and follow the tutorial to fix it as soon as possible. Of course, even if you skip ahead to the steps involved in fixing these two error messages, you can always go back and refer to anything else on this article if you then decide that, after all, you would like to understand the error in more detail or if, indeed, you then feel like you actually need to.

So, What Do The Error Codes 0x8007232b and 0x8007007b Mean On Windows

Although these are actually two different errors they are essentially related. As I already mentioned briefly in the introduction to this article, both this error codes only come up when attempting to activate Windows 8. As a matter of fact, these two error codes are so closely related that the have the same cause and, as such, all the possible solutions will work just as well for error code 0x8007232b as for error code 0x8007007b.

It is time now to look at both of these errors separately and in more detail. So, let’s begin by going through the error messages in full. If nothing else, this will help you make sure that you are actually dealing with the same errors I am discussing. Windows error codes are notoriously similar so it can be quite easy to confuse them.

All that being said, here are the error codes this article is about in full:

Windows Activation Error Code: 0x8007232b 

If you get that activation error code, you will also get the following full error message:

“Windows couldn’t 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 code: 0x8007232b. Error Description: DNS name does not exist.

Windows Activation Error Code: 0x8007007b 

If you get that activation error code, you will also get this other full error message:

“Windows couldn’t be activated. Go to Control Panel to learn other ways to activate. Error code: 0x8007007b. Error Description: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.”

The main question you probably have at this point is: why am I getting these error codes? Well, the main reason is that the wrong product key has been entered. So, really, unless you have a valid product key for Windows 8 that you are able to enter (or change, as the case may be), you will not be able to complete the installation successfully.

Now that I have explained both these activation error codes in detail and also explained what you will need in order to bypass them, I am finally in a position where I can go through the different methods to fix them once and far all – because these are activation errors, there is no risk they will come up again in future once you have managed to activate Windows 8 successfully.

So, without much further ado, here are the possible fixes. As I pointed out earlier, all the possible fixes apply equally to either error code 0x8007232b as for error code 0x8007007b.

Possible Fix Number 1

The first possible fix for error code 0x8007232b as for error code 0x8007007b will involve changing the product key for Windows 8 and activating Windows 8, using GUI (graphical user interface).

Here are the steps that you will need to follow (make sure that you follow them to the letter and do not skip any of them):

1. Grab your Windows
2. Close all the programs that are currently open.
3. Once all the programs have been closed, you will need to place the cursor in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen and right-click there. This action will prompt a pop-up menu to display on your screen.
4. Go over all the different options on the pop-up menu until you locate Run and select it. By choosing Run, you will be prompting a Run command box to display on your screen.
5. Once the Run command box displays on your screen, type the following in it: “slui 3” (no quotation marks).
6. Once you have typed in that command, click on the OK This action will prompt the Windows Activation to display on your screen. You will be asked to enter a valid product key, so do so.
7. Once you have entered a valid product key for Windows 8, click on the Activate

After you have followed all those steps carefully, all that is left for you to do will be to wait until Windows 8 is activated successfully!

Possible Fix Number 2 

The second alternative to fixing either of these activation error codes would involve changing the product key for Windows 8 and activating Windows 8, using the Command Prompt.

Here are the steps that you will need to follow (again, make sure that you follow them to the letter and do not skip any of them):

1. Grab your Windows
2. Close all the programs that are currently open.
3. Once all the programs have been closed, you will need to place the cursor in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen and right-click there. This action will prompt a pop-up menu to display on your screen.
4. Go over all the different options on the pop-up menu until you locate Command Prompt (Admin) and select it. By choosing Command Prompt (Admin), you will be prompting a User Account Control (AUC) to display on your screen.
5. The User Account Control (AUC) will ask you the following question: “Do you want to allow the following program to make changes to this computer?” Make sure that you click on the “Yes” option. This action will make the Command prompt window display on your screen.
6. Once the prompt window displays, type the following command “slmgr.vbs –ipk [a valid product key for Windows 8]” (no quotation marks].
7. Then, type the following: “slmgr.vbs /ato” (not quotation marks).
8. Click on Enter.

Once you have followed these steps to the letter, just sit back, relax and wait for Windows 8 to be activated successfully.

As you can see, in this case, the two possible fixes are just really variations of the same thing. Just pick out the method that you feel more comfortable with as they both should work just the same. So, usually choosing the one you feel more comfortable with is a good to approach fixing these errors.

If you have any feedback about this article, or would like to share your experience fixing error codes 0x8007232b and 0x8007007b, please leave us a message in the comments section below!