I have an XPS-15 laptop purchased last November. For the past few months I keep getting the Activate Windows watermark in the lower right corner. If I go to settings and use the Activation Troubleshooter, it successfully activates windows, but the watermark comes back again in a few days.
I have made no changes to the laptop at all.
I have search Microsoft and Google and most hits refer to creating a .bat file to get rid of it. I've done that but it still comes back in a few days. I have not made a change to the registry (also mentioned in Google search) but I will if there's no other way.
Has anyone else run into this and how did you solve it?
Do you have a Microsoft or Local account that you use to sign into the PC? You can go to Settings -> Accounts to check this. If a Microsoft account, is Windows 10 Settings -> Account -> Sync your settings on? If not, turning it on may resolve the issue. You may or may not need to reboot and/or activate Windows one more time.
I hesitate to use the registry edit that is frequently recommended because I'd rather make sure my activation is correct. I don't want problems in the future.
I finally gave up and was going to try to regedit solution, but found that the PaintDesktopVersion Value was already set to '0'. I've already reloaded the product key multiple times.
I don't want to reload Windows unless I absolutely have to as a last resort because I don't want to risk needing to reload all my programs and data files.
Another workaround concerns ease of access settings. The main idea underlying this solution is to remove background images. As you might have guessed, the watermark will also disappear. To do this, follow these steps:
Click on the next combination of keys Windows Key + S and choose Control Panel from the results shown.
From the list, choose Ease of Access Center.
Choose Options: Make the computer easy to see.
Select the tick box against the variants: Remove the background image (where available) and confirm.
Techgee
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Posted October 1st, 2019 11:00
Do you have a Microsoft or Local account that you use to sign into the PC? You can go to Settings -> Accounts to check this. If a Microsoft account, is Windows 10 Settings -> Account -> Sync your settings on? If not, turning it on may resolve the issue. You may or may not need to reboot and/or activate Windows one more time.