Microsoft confirms two new problems with the November 10, 2026 Windows security updates: slmgr activation and KMS commands fail with error 0x80041008 on Windows 10, Windows 11 23H2 and Windows Server 2019 to 2025, and documents with zero-size images, mostly in Word, can fail to print. Already activated PCs stay activated. A fix for activation is due in the coming days.
If your IT team activates new Windows PCs or servers with a script, expect it to fail this week with error 0x80041008. Microsoft confirmed that the November 10 Windows security updates break the slmgr commands that set a product key or point a machine at a KMS server. Devices that are already activated stay activated, so most people don’t need to do anything. Don’t remove the update to get around it: the same release fixes an Outlook flaw that attackers are already using. Microsoft also confirmed a second problem: some documents with hidden images, mostly in Word, fail to print.
Activation and licensing commands fail with 0x80041008
Microsoft lists the issue on its support page for KB5131096, the November update for Windows 10. After the update, some activation and licensing operations through the Software Licensing Management Tool fail with “error 0x80041008, Invalid parameter (SWbemObjectEx).” The two commands Microsoft names are slmgr.vbs /ipk <key>, which installs a product key, and slmgr.vbs /skms-domain <domain>, which tells a PC where to find its KMS server.
- Who hits it. Microsoft says it “primarily affects organizations that use command-line tools or automated processes to manage Windows activation and licensing.” That means imaging, provisioning and reactivation scripts on new or rebuilt machines.
- Who doesn’t. Activated devices stay activated. Devices that already have their KMS client key and KMS settings, and don’t run those commands, should be fine. KMS-activated PCs normally stay activated for up to 180 days after their last successful activation.
- Which versions. Microsoft’s page covers Windows 10 22H2 under Extended Security Updates and Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021. BleepingComputer and IT-Connect report that Microsoft’s advisory also lists Windows 11 23H2 and Windows Server 2019, 2022 and 2025. IT-Connect says Windows 11 24H2 and later are not on the list.
- Fix. Microsoft says a resolution “will be available in the coming days.” Until then, it offers a workaround to businesses that need one now through Microsoft Support for business. It has not published the workaround itself.
Some documents with hidden images won’t print
The second problem comes from a Microsoft service alert, WI1549472, reported by BleepingComputer. After the November security update or a later one, Microsoft says “printing might fail for documents containing images rendered with a height or width value of zero” at the selected print resolution. Its examples are invisible watermark images, layout anchors and images generated by software. It mostly affects printing from Microsoft Word through the classic Windows print path (GDI), but other apps can hit it too. It applies to Windows 10 and later and Windows Server 2016 and later. Microsoft hasn’t posted a workaround or a fix date.
What to do
- Keep the November update installed. It fixes CVE-2026-124194, an Outlook flaw already under attack, plus critical Windows Search and LDAP bugs. Our Patch Tuesday rundown has the list.
- Check your provisioning pipeline. If you build new PCs or servers on Windows 10, Windows 11 23H2 or Server 2019 to 2025, test your activation step now. If it fails with 0x80041008, open a case with Microsoft Support for business for the workaround and hold those machines until activation works.
- Leave activated machines alone. There’s no need to re-run activation on PCs that already show as activated.
- If one document won’t print, look for what Microsoft names as the trigger: a hidden watermark, an anchored object or a generated image. Removing it is our suggestion based on Microsoft’s description. Microsoft itself hasn’t published a workaround.
- On Windows 11 24H2 or later, you can skip the activation part based on the lists reported so far. The printing issue still applies to you.
A second week of cleanup for small IT teams
This is our analysis. This is the third problem Microsoft has confirmed with this month’s updates, after some Windows 11 PCs couldn’t install the patch at all on November 11. Big companies have a deployment ring that catches this before it reaches staff. A 20-person company that installs updates the day they ship finds out when a new laptop won’t activate or a contract won’t print. The useful habit is small: let one or two machines take a new Patch Tuesday first and set up the rest a day or two later. Keep installing security updates, though. One more Windows issue this week sits outside the patch entirely: SignDrop, a public Windows zero-day with no patch yet. The Outlook bug fixed this month is the kind of risk that outweighs both of these issues.
Primary source: Microsoft, KB5131096 known issues. Reported by BleepingComputer (printing, WI1549472) and IT-Connect (activation).