Fix: Windows 11 Setup cannot verify product key

Users who attempted an in-place update using the Windows 11 ISO received an error during installation of Windows 11 notifying the installer that the product key could not be verified.

This can happen for a number of reasons, including the presence of an unzipped installer in the temporary folder or interference from a third-party antivirus application.

Regardless of the underlying issue, we'll walk you through the process and demonstrate in this article how to fix the associated error message with relative ease. But first, let’s take a closer look at what might be causing the problem. Follow!

What causes the Windows 11 Setup cannot verify product key error?

We've put together a list of possible reasons for the Setup cannot verify product key error in Windows 11, but keep in mind that there could be other reasons for this too:

• Third Party Antivirus- This happens when an antivirus program interferes with the installation process and therefore generates an error message. To resolve this issue, you just have to turn off the antivirus software on your computer system.
• Missing Configuration File – It turns out that the first instance of an error notification being displayed is that a required critical configuration file is not installed on your computer. In this case, you will need to rebuild the configuration file.
• Bad temporary files – In this case, you need to use the disk cleanup tool on your computer to delete all the temporary files that have accumulated on your computer’s hard drive.

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Without further ado, let’s wrap this up by troubleshooting the Setup cannot verify product key error in Windows 11. continue!

How to fix Setup cannot verify product key in Windows 11?

1. Disable your antivirus software

1. Click the arrow in the taskbar to expand the icon and right-click your antivirus software and select Avast shields control , then select Disable for 10 minutes.
2. If you have other antivirus software installed, you can temporarily disable it by following the same steps above or similar steps.

Please note that not all antivirus software will cause problems with the product key activation process or any other system activity. One of them is ESET, which provides high-quality antivirus and anti-malware protection without interfering with internal programs.

2. Create the missing configuration file

1. Open the search box and enter notepad. Right-click on the top result and select Run as administrator. After
2. , copy and paste or type the following text in the file: <strong>[EditionID] [Channel]Retail[VL]0</strong>
3. Now you need to download the Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft and unzip the folder.
4. When completed, save the Notepad file in the Sources subfolder under the Windows 11 ISO folder and name it ei.cfg.
5. Finally, run the installation file from the ISO folder and see if the error still occurs.

3. Perform Disk Cleanup

1. First open the Windows search box and enter Disk Cleanup and access it.
2. Select the system drive you need to clean, usually C, and click OK to start the search process, which will find redundant files.
3. Once the process is complete, click Clean System Files and select the C drive again.
4. After the results are displayed, check the Temporary Files and Temporary Internet Files boxes and click OK to delete these files.

For more information and potential solutions, check out our post on what to do if you can’t activate your copy of Windows 11.

Alternatively, check out How to fix Windows 10/11 activation key not working to find more solutions and explanations for this error.

As a bonus, users found it helpful after reading How to Activate Windows 11 on a Virtual Machine. Don't miss it either!

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