Subscription Errors

Here are some solutions for errors you may encounter when activating or maintaining your ARC Pro subscription.

1. Unable to register this computer. There was an error building the machine ID in ARC. {error}. Retry?

   This error occurs entirely on your PC, before ARC contacts our servers. It means Windows could not enumerate the hardware identifiers (motherboard serial and processor ID) that ARC uses to generate the seat registration token. This is almost always caused by a damaged Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) repository on your computer, not by your subscription.

   Step 1 — Confirm which identifier is failing. Open PowerShell and run:

   Get-CimInstance Win32_BaseBoard | Select-Object SerialNumber
   Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor | Select-Object ProcessorId

   Each command should return a value. A real serial like C02ABC123, or even an OEM placeholder such as To be filled by O.E.M. or Default string, is fine — ARC can use any of these. The problem is only if a command throws an error or returns nothing at all, which indicates a WMI fault.

   Step 2 — Repair the WMI repository. Open Command Prompt or PowerShell as an administrator (right-click → "Run as administrator"), then check the repository:

   winmgmt /verifyrepository

   If it reports the repository is consistent, WMI is healthy and the cause is elsewhere — contact support. If it reports inconsistent (or the commands in Step 1 failed), repair it with:

   winmgmt /salvagerepository

   Step 3 — Reboot and retry. Restart your computer, reopen ARC, and try registering the seat again.

   If the error continues after these steps, please contact support and include the exact error message shown in the dialog.