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FIXED: Windows Cannot Find the Microsoft Software License Terms
Try disconnecting the installation media during the installation process
6 min. read
Updated onNovember 8, 2024
updated onNovember 8, 2024
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Windows cannot find the Microsoft license software termserror can sometimes appear while trying to install Windows.
How do I fix the Microsoft license software terms issue?
1. Disconnect the installation media during the installation
This solution might sound a bit counter-intuitive, but some users claim that you can fix theWindows cannot find the Microsoft license software termsmessage simply by removing your installation media.
2. Use a third-party tool to create an installation media
Many users prefer using theMedia Creation Toolfor creating installation media.
The Media Creation Tool lets you download a Windows 10 installation file to a flash drive for use in reinstalling Windows 10.
This backup option is essential in the event that something goes wrong with your computer. Furthermore, having a physical copy of the operating system is helpful.
After you download the ISO file, add it to the dedicated software and create the installation media.
3. Try using a different flash drive
If you keep gettingWindows cannot find the Microsoft license software termsmessage, perhaps there’s an issue with your flash drive.
Your flash drive can sometimes be a problem, and in order to fix this issue, you might want to try replacing it.
If you have an extra USB flash drive, use it to create an installation media andboot Windows from USB. This isn’t the most reliable solution, but it might work for you, so feel free to try it.
4. Check your hardware
According to users, sometimesWindows cannot find the Microsoft license software termsmessage can appear due to hardware issues on your PC.
Several users reported that their hard drive was the issue, but after replacing it, they were able to install Windows 10 without issues.
Another cause can be your CPU, and few users reported that the problem was resolved after replacing their CPU, so you might want to check your processor as well.
Finding out which hardware component is the problem can be a bit complicated, but you can resort tohardware diagnostic tools for Windows.
If your PC is under warranty or you don’t know how to do fix hardware errors properly, perhaps you should contact a professional.
5. Use Diskpart to clean your drive
6. Change the virtual machine settings
After doing that, you can start your virtual machine and the Windows installation should work without any problems.
If you’re gettingWindows cannot find the Microsoft license software termsmessage while installing Windows on a virtual machine, then your settings might be an issue.
To fix the problem, you just need to create a new virtual machine and make a few changes. To do that, follow the steps above.
If you need reliable virtual machine software we recommend getting the one below. It’s the most popular among coders and it’s great for running under Windows 10.
⇒Get vmware
7. Enable Secure Boot in Hyper-V
Some users claim that this error is caused by the fac that the Secure Boot option is disabled in Hyper-V. Therefore, you can enable it by using the simple steps above to fix the problem.
8. Increase the amount of RAM and remove the floppy drive in the virtual machine
SometimesWindows cannot find the Microsoft license software termserror can occur on a virtual machine due to your settings.
To fix the problem, many users are suggesting that you remove the floppy drive from your virtual machine, so be sure to open the hardware settings and remove it.
In addition, some users are suggesting disablingDynamic RAMfeature and instead setting the fixed amount of RAM that the virtual machine will use, so be sure to try that as well.
Some users are suggesting increasing the amount of RAM that the virtual machine is using, so feel free to try that as well.
If all those solutions fail, useRAM optimizers for Windowsto speed up your PC.
9. Create your own ei.cfg file
If you’re unable to install Windows due to this error message, perhaps the problem is your ei.cfg file. To fix the problem,create a new ei.cfg filewith the following values:
Now open the installation media and navigate to thesourcesfolder. Paste the ei.cfg file to it. If asked to replace a ei.cfg file, be sure to chooseYes.
Alternatively, you can open ei.cfg file on the installation media and make sure that it has the same values as above.
Once you overwrite or modify the ei.cfg file, try to install Windows again and the error message shouldn’t appear anymore.
One of our readers managed to fix this problem by disabling the floppy drive in the virtual machine so make sure you try that too.
Windows cannot find the Microsoft license software termsmessage can be quite problematic, but we hope that you managed to fix the problem using one of our solutions.
If you have other solutions, we haven’t already covered, don’t hesitate to leave us your suggestions in the comment section below.
More about the topics:Activation Errors,Windows Installation errors
Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He’s a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology.
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.
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Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s specialized in Windows errors & software issues.
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