Microsoft Confirms November Windows Updates Cause Activation Error 0x80041008 and Printing Failures

Microsoft has confirmed that the November 2026 Patch Tuesday security updates for Windows cause activation and licensing failures. Affected devices show error 0x80041008 when administrators run commands to activate Windows, set up Key Management Service (KMS) activation, or manage product keys. Microsoft has also confirmed a separate printing bug in the same updates.

Who the Windows Activation Bug Affects

The activation problem mainly hits organizations that automate Windows activation and licensing, or that use the Software Licensing Management Tool (SLMGR) from the command line. Microsoft describes the error as "0x80041008, Invalid parameter (SWbemObjectEx)." The failures appear after running these commands:

• slmgr.vbs /skms-domain followed by a domain, which sets the KMS host
• slmgr.vbs /ipk followed by a product key, which installs a key

The bug affects these versions of Windows:

• Windows 10 21H2 and 22H2
• Windows 11 23H2
• Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022, and Windows Server 2025

Devices that are already activated stay activated. Microsoft says customers whose images already include the KMS client key and KMS configuration, and who do not need to run the affected commands, are not expected to be affected. Microsoft notes that KMS activated devices typically remain activated for up to 180 days after a successful activation.

Microsoft says a fix will be available in the coming days. Organizations that need an immediate mitigation should contact Microsoft Support for business.

November Updates Also Break Some Printing

The second known issue affects printing on Windows 10 and later and Windows Server 2016 and later. After the November 2026 security update, printing can fail for documents that contain images with a height or width of zero at the selected print resolution.

These invisible images are common in complex document formatting. Microsoft lists examples such as:

• invisible images used as a document watermark
• images used for layout anchoring
• image objects that document generation tools insert even when no graphic is present

The bug mainly affects Microsoft Word documents printed through the Windows Graphics Device Interface (GDI), but Microsoft says it can also cause failures when printing from other applications.

The two bugs add to other problems Microsoft confirmed this week. The November Windows 11 security updates fail to install on systems that have the October 2026 preview update, and Windows updates released since the October Patch Tuesday cause SQL Server performance and stability issues.

Microsoft has not said when a fix for the printing problem will be released.