First we try to restart Windows Explorer. Because the problems often have a small cause that can be solved quickly and easily.

• Press the key combination “Ctrl + Shift + Esc”. This opens the Task Manager.
• In the list of processes, look for the entry “Windows Explorer”.
• Right click on it and choose “End Task”. This ended the Explorer.
• Now press the key combination “Windows key + R” to open the Run dialog.
• Enter the command “explorer.exe” and confirm by clicking “OK”.
• Now press the Windows key and enter “cmd” so that Windows displays the prompt as a result.
• Right-click on it and select “Run as administrator”.
• Enter the command “slmgr –rearm” and confirm with the Enter key.
• Now restart your computer. If this does not help, try the command “slmgr / upk” in the command prompt.

If the test time of Windows 10 expires, it may be possible to reset it. Then the message “Your Windows license will expire soon” is no longer displayed.

• Open the Run dialog by pressing the key combination “Windows key + R”.
• Now enter the command “cmd” and confirm with “OK”.
• Now enter the command “slmgr –rearm” in the command prompt and press the Enter key.
• Immediately restart the computer for the change to take effect.

Next we try to disable the Windows License Manager service and Windows Update.

• Press the Windows key and enter the command “services.msc” then click on the result “Services” to start the app.
• In the overview with all services, look for the entry “Windows License Manager Service”.
• Double click on it to open the settings window.
• After “Start type” select “Deactivated”, then click on “Exit”.
• Do the same in the services overview with the entry “Windows Update”. Again, deactivate and stop the service.
• Then restart and check the changes.

Was the Windows 10 product key not stored correctly in the settings? We’ll check this and add the key again:

• Press the Windows key and enter the command “cmd”. Now right-click on “Command Prompt” and select “Run as administrator”.
• At the command prompt, type the following command: wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey
• Now press the Enter key to execute the command. Now Windows 10 shows you the product key. Please write this down.
• Now press the key combination “Windows key + I” to open the Windows settings.
• Then select the “Update and security” option
• Click on the “Activation” entry in the left overview and then on “Change product key” in the window on the right.
• Now enter the product key you just received in the command prompt and click on “Next”.

Windows 10 may now have been activated and the error message will disappear.

Windows 10 comes with a handy activation troubleshooter, which automatically searches for errors and may fix them.

• Press the key combination “Windows key + I” to open the settings.
• Now click on the “Update & Security” entry and then on “Activation” in the left overview. Windows 10 may already display various error messages here.
• Now click the “Troubleshoot” button to start it.
• Now it may take a while to complete the process and complete the troubleshooter.
• If this is done, confirm by clicking on “Close”.

Furthermore, changing the group policy would be a suitable solution to the problem:

• Press the key combination “Windows key + R” to open the Execute dialog.
• Now enter the command “gpedit.msc” and confirm with a click on “OK”.
• In the overview on the left, click on the following subfolder: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
• Double-click the “Windows Update” folder to open it.
• Now double-click on the entry “Do not restart automatically for scheduled installations of automatic updates when users are logged in”
• Now click on “Activated” and then on “Apply”. With a click on “OK” you accept the changes and close the window.

Are there any problems with the date or time? This can also cause the operating system to display the message “Windows license expires soon”.

• Press the key combination “Windows key + I” to open the settings.
• Now click on the entry “Time and Language”.
• In the new settings menu, activate the two entries “Set time automatically” and “Set time zone automatically” so that they are set to “on”.
• Now restart.

With these solutions, the problem message “Windows license is about to expire” should be resolved if a valid product key is available. However, if you performed a free upgrade to Windows 10 at the time, the license is limited in time. In this case it is necessary to buy and enter a new product key.

You can find suitable product keys in the online shop Vollversion-kaufen.de, which are valid for a lifetime. This means that the error message “Your Windows license is about to expire” never appears again.