What is the trigger that changes “Deferred activation state” to “Not activated state” in Windows 10 IoT?

Question

_{Thursday, December 12, 2019 9:29 AM}

I am designing a medical device using Windows 10 IoT Enterprise.
Because this device is not connected to the Internet and is located on the internal network, the device is created as a “Deferred activation state”.
However, it has been reported that some of the shipped devices show the "Activate Windows" watermark.

This device is on a network that does not have access to Microsoft servers, but I don't know why the state of this device has changed from “Deferred activation state” to “Not activated state”.

What is the trigger that changes “Deferred activation state” to “Not activated state”?

Please help me if you know anything.

All replies (9)

_{Tuesday, December 24, 2019 3:10 AM ✅Answered}

Hello GoodTime1031,

Yes, that makes sense. You may use Manual Activation, KMS Activator or phone to active the OS when without internet.

You can get help with Windows activation errors here.

Best Regards,
Michael

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_{Thursday, December 12, 2019 10:06 AM}

Hello GoodTime1031,

Have you contacted with the distributor for the licence? Windows 10 IoT Enterprise allows you to build fixed purpose devices with specific allowances and restrictions in the license agreement.

Best Regards,

Michael

MSDN Community Support Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" the responses that resolved your issue, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if not. This can be beneficial to other community members reading this thread. If you have any compliments or complaints to MSDN Support, feel free to contact [email protected].

_{Friday, December 13, 2019 12:32 AM}

Hello Michael,
Thank you for your reply.

I checked my (Japanese) distributor based on the environment of our device.

Our understanding is as follows.
(1) This device operates only on the local network and does not connect to the global internet. Therefore, this device can be operated in the “Deferred activation state”.
(2) Even if connected to the global internet, Windows is activated in the background and can be operated in the "Activated state".

It seems wrong to our understanding.

I would like to have a little more information on how to consider Windows as an internet-accessible environment for discussion with my distributor.

And is there any information on “fixed purpose devices with specific allowances and restrictions in the license agreement”?
I will check that information with my distributor.

_{Friday, December 13, 2019 2:42 AM}

Hello GoodTime1031,

All Windows 10 IoT Enterprise images must be enabled for activation, which includes activation and deferred activation. If the device is never connected to the Internet, it will remain in a deferred activation state. Your understanding is right. 

For more information about fixed purpose device, please see here.

/en-us/windows/iot-core/windows-iot-enterprise#fixed-purpose-devices

Best Regards,

Michael

MSDN Community Support Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" the responses that resolved your issue, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if not. This can be beneficial to other community members reading this thread. If you have any compliments or complaints to MSDN Support, feel free to contact [email protected].

_{Friday, December 13, 2019 7:43 AM}

Thank you for your reply.I would like to know a little more...

This device never connects to the internet, but accesses another device on the LAN using HTTPS (port 433).
This LAN and the internet are not connected.

In such an environment, there are several devices that display the “Activate Windows” watermark.
(Not all devices.)

Is this state when Windows is connected to the internet?
Or was there an accident that caused the device to connect to the internet?

_{Sunday, December 15, 2019 6:59 PM}

Did you include a run time license key in the image? The key is still needed even if the system is not activated.

Sean Liming - Book Author: Starter Guide Windows 10 IoT Enterprise - www.annabooks.com / www.seanliming.com

_{Monday, December 16, 2019 12:43 AM}

Thank you for your reply.

I have included the runtime license key I got from my distributor.
(Specified in the answer file used by Sysprep.)

_{Monday, December 16, 2019 3:53 PM}

Ok. Then the only explanation is that the system touch the internet somehow.

Sean Liming - Book Author: Starter Guide Windows 10 IoT Enterprise - www.annabooks.com / www.seanliming.com

_{Tuesday, December 17, 2019 8:10 AM}

Thank you for your reply.

This watermark is displayed after our product has been delivered to the customer, so we are going back and forth.

My distributor suspects that this device has unintentionally connected to the microsoft activation server and the network might have been disconnected before the license was activated.
If that is true, I am trying to change the firewall settings on this device so that this device never has access to the microsoft activation server before sysprep.
Does it make sense?