Resolving WinCC 7.0 License Dongle 'No License Keys' Error

Problem Description

The Siemens Automation License Manager (ALM) is the canonical tool for inspecting and transferring license keys across USB dongles, hard drives, and network license servers in the SIMATIC WinCC, STEP 7, and TIA Portal product family. On a typical WinCC 7.0 RT (Runtime) installation the WinCC runtime license is delivered on a USB stick that contains a hidden, system-marked directory named AX NF ZZ holding the protected license container files. When ALM is launched and the operator selects the dongle entry in its drive tree, the expected output is a list of license keys with their MLFB order numbers, license numbers, validity dates, and assigned product names.

The failure mode addressed in this article is the exact opposite: the dongle is plugged in, ALM enumerates the USB volume in the left-hand pane, and after selecting the drive the right-hand pane reads "There are no license keys saved on this drive". The same message is also reported when the operator copies the dongle's files onto the local hard drive, archives them with WinRAR, 7-Zip, or Windows compressed folders, and then attempts to inspect the archive contents in ALM or copy them back onto a fresh stick.

The error is non-fatal in the sense that the WinCC Runtime itself does not generate a fault; rather, ALM is unable to enumerate any usable license. When WinCC 7.0 RT is started under this condition it either downgrades to demo mode (frequently with a one-hour or twenty-four-hour grace timer) or refuses to launch with error codes in the 700000–700001 range recorded in the Windows event log and in the WinCC_SStart_<computer>_.log file under C:\ProgramData\Siemens\Automation\Logfiles\.

Affected Products, Versions, and License Types

The failure pattern has been reproduced against the following product stack. WinCC 7.0 RT is the canonical trigger, but the same ALM error wording applies to any Siemens license that ships on a USB stick bound to the AX NF ZZ directory.

Root Cause Analysis

Four mutually exclusive root causes produce the same ALM message. Each must be ruled in or out before a remediation path is selected because the remedies are not interchangeable and an incorrect action can permanently destroy the license.

Cause A — Genuinely Empty Dongle (Shipped Empty, Wiped, or Awaiting Transfer)

If the customer opens the USB stick in ALM before any license transfer has been performed, the dongle may simply not contain any AX NF ZZ license container. Historically, Siemens delivered some WinCC 7.0 RT orders with the license keys pre-installed on the stick and others with the keys delivered as a separate download or as a .upk container requiring manual transfer via ALM. A stick that contains only a README file and a few Windows shortcut files will report zero license keys in ALM — and this is technically the correct response from ALM, not a software defect.

Cause B — License Files Corrupted by Archive or File-Management Tool

When the operator uses Windows Explorer or a file-archiving utility (WinRAR, 7-Zip, Windows "Send to compressed (zipped) folder") to copy or back up the hidden AX NF ZZ folder, two failure mechanisms are triggered simultaneously:

1. Hidden/system attribute stripping. The license container files are stored with both the H (hidden) and S (system) NTFS attributes. Many archive tools, when extracting, do not preserve these attributes. ALM uses the attribute combination as part of its enumeration filter, so files that lose the system attribute are silently ignored during the directory scan.
2. Volume binding via hardware fingerprint. Each license key is cryptographically bound to the volume serial number and the hardware ID of the medium on which it was originally installed. Copying the files to a different medium, re-archiving them, then copying them back to a third medium produces license containers whose hardware fingerprint no longer matches the target medium. ALM correctly refuses to enumerate them, and Windows Explorer simply shows them as ordinary files because the cryptographic mismatch is not surfaced at the file system layer.

Cause C — Dongle Hardware Fault

A USB stick that has been physically damaged, written to with a low-level imaging tool, or formatted (even a "quick format" that does not actually re-initialize the volume) can lose the AX NF ZZ directory and its container files. ALM will show "no license keys saved" because the license container is no longer present on the medium. This case cannot be recovered without a replacement from Siemens, regardless of whether the visible FAT / NTFS allocation tables still appear healthy.

Cause D — ALM Version Mismatch

Older ALM versions (V5.2 and earlier) cannot read newer license container formats introduced with V7.0. Conversely, ALM V6.0 has been observed to lose visibility of certain legacy .lic containers issued for early WinCC 7.0 builds. If ALM has been upgraded independently of the WinCC installation (for example, by a side-by-side STEP 7 install), the version mismatch can manifest as a "no license keys saved" message even when the files are intact on the stick. The fix in this case is to install the ALM version that matches the WinCC Service Pack on the workstation.

Diagnostic Procedure

Use the following decision tree to classify the failure before attempting remediation. Each branch ends in a specific recovery path described in the next section.

Step 1 — Inspect the USB Volume in Windows Explorer

1. Insert the WinCC 7.0 RT USB dongle into the service computer.
2. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the USB drive letter (typically E:, F:, or G: depending on the host's partition map).
3. From the menu bar, choose View → Options → Change folder and search options (Windows 7/8/10) or View → Show → Hidden items (Windows 10/11 quick toggle in the ribbon).
4. Also enable View → Show → Protected operating system files (Windows 7) or untick Hide protected operating system files in Folder Options → View.
5. If a folder named AX NF ZZ appears with both Hidden and System attributes, the license containers are physically present. Proceed to Step 2.
6. If no AX NF ZZ folder appears at all, the dongle is either genuinely empty or has been formatted/wiped. Proceed to Step 3.

Step 2 — Re-Inspect in ALM

1. Launch Automation License Manager from Start → Siemens Automation → Automation License Manager or directly from C:\Program Files (x86)\Siemens\Automation\ALM\ALM.exe.
2. In the left-hand drive tree, locate the USB dongle (it appears under the local computer node with the drive letter).
3. Click the dongle entry to inspect it. If ALM still reports "There are no license keys saved on this drive", proceed to sub-step 4.
4. Open the License Key menu and select Move license... or Transfer license... depending on the ALM version.
5. Try a drag-and-drop from the dongle entry to the local hard drive node in the left-hand tree. If a license selection dialog appears with one or more .lic entries listed, the licenses are intact and can be moved (see Remediation Path A). If no dialog appears, the files are corrupted (see Hotline escalation).

Step 3 — Confirm Filesystem Health and File Attributes

1. Open an elevated Command Prompt (cmd.exe → Run as administrator).
2. Run chkdsk <drive>: /R to scan for and recover bad sectors. Replace <drive> with the actual USB letter from Explorer.
3. If chkdsk reports unrecoverable sectors, the dongle is hardware-faulted and must be replaced.
4. If the folder is present, list its attributes by running dir <drive>:\AX NF ZZ\ /a:hs. The output should show files with both the H (hidden) and S (system) attribute flags.
5. If attributes are missing, restore them with attrib +H +S "<drive>:\AX NF ZZ\*.*" /S /D and retry ALM enumeration.

Step 4 — ALM Diagnostic Log

1. Enable verbose logging by setting the registry value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Siemens\Automation\ALM\TraceLevel to 3 (DWORD).
2. Restart ALM, reproduce the failure, then inspect %TEMP%\ALM_Trace.log for enumeration events. Lines beginning with enumerate_drive show whether ALM found the AX NF ZZ directory and whether the license containers passed the cryptographic binding check.
3. Disable the trace after diagnosis by resetting the value to 0.

Remediation Path A — Move License Within ALM

If Step 2 above produced a license selection dialog, the licenses are intact and the dongle was simply not enumerated on the first view. Complete the move:

1. In ALM, select the source USB dongle in the left tree.
2. Mark the desired license entries with the mouse (Ctrl+A selects all).
3. Drag the selection onto the destination drive (typically C:) in the left tree.
4. Confirm the transfer in the dialog. ALM will rebind the container to the destination volume.
5. Verify under C:\AX NF ZZ (hidden, system) that the files now appear with Hidden + System attributes.

Remediation Path B — Archive Recovery Warning

If the customer previously used WinRAR, 7-Zip, or Windows "Send to compressed folder" to copy the AX NF ZZ folder onto a hard drive or another USB stick, the licenses have already been cryptographically re-bound to the destination medium and cannot be re-imported. Do not attempt the following operations:

• Extracting the archive back to the original USB stick and expecting ALM to recognize the keys.
• Copying the archive contents onto a fresh USB stick.
• Importing the archived files via ALM's "Import license" option.
• Renaming the archive's .rar / .zip extension to .lic to trick ALM into reading it.

Any of these operations will silently re-bind the keys to the wrong volume and leave the original dongle unusable. The recovery requires an Authorization Hotline ticket for a new license issued via the offline transfer workflow (Remediation Path C).

Remediation Path C — Offline License Transfer (Replacement License Request)

When the original dongle is lost, formatted, or has been corrupted by archive manipulation, the only supported recovery path is to request a replacement startcode.aut file from the Siemens Authorization team and perform an offline license transfer. The procedure is fully disconnected (no internet connection on the WinCC PC required) and produces a new license container bound to the target computer's hardware fingerprint.

Phase 1 — Request the Startcode File

1. Open a ticket with Siemens Customer Support via the regional support channel. For Asia-Pacific, the standard channel is the SIMATIC support portal at support.industry.siemens.com. For North America and Europe the same portal serves all regions under the global Siemens Industry Online Support umbrella.
2. Provide the following identifying information so that the Authorization team can verify entitlement without round-tripping the request:
   • MLFB (Order Number) — format 6ES7... for SIMATIC software, or 6AV6... for HMI software. Example: 6AV6371-1CA07-0AX0 for WinCC V7.0 RT 128 PowerTags.
   • License Number — format 00411000xxxxxxx. This is the alphanumeric key printed on the license certificate or stored on the original USB stick.
   • Serial Number — format VPCxxxxxxxx. The VPC prefix denotes a Siemens Volume License Center (VLC) issued container.
   • Photograph of the original USB stick, including any handwritten labels, barcodes, and the contents of the stick visible in Windows Explorer (with hidden files enabled).
   • Shipping address for the replacement USB stick if Siemens decides to ship physical media instead of the digital replacement.
3. Siemens will respond with a startcode.aut file attached to the email reply. This file is the request seed for the offline transfer. The Authorization team will not re-issue the license directly because the original hardware fingerprint is lost; they will issue a new entitlement that the local PC's ALM will activate against its own fingerprint.

Phase 2 — Generate the Request Code Locally

1. Save the startcode.aut file to a known directory on the WinCC PC (for example, C:\License\).
2. Open Automation License Manager with administrative rights. ALM requires elevated privileges to read and write the hardware-bound license containers.
3. From the menu bar, select License Key → Offline Transfer → Generate request code.
4. In the wizard, click Load and select the startcode.aut file. ALM will display the order summary for confirmation.
5. Follow the ALM prompts. Save the generated file as <computername>_request.aut in the same C:\License\ directory. Use the Windows hostname as the file name; it is referenced later by the Authorization team when they mint the response.
6. Click Next until the wizard finishes. The generated .aut file contains the local hardware fingerprint (volume serial number, CPU ID, BIOS UUID where available) required by Siemens to mint a matching response key.

Phase 3 — Send the Request Code to Siemens

1. Email the <computername>_request.aut file back to the Siemens support contact handling the ticket via the same ticket thread.
2. Reference the original ticket number, MLFB, and license number in the reply to avoid verification round-trips.
3. Wait for Siemens to return a <computername>_response.aut file. Typical turnaround for this workflow is two to five business days, depending on regional support load and whether the master key must be sourced from HQ rather than the regional licensing server.

Phase 4 — Import the Response Code Locally

1. Save the received _response.aut file to C:\License\.
2. In ALM, select License Key → Offline Transfer → Import response code.
3. Load the _response.aut file.
4. ALM will install the new license container and bind it to the local hard drive's hardware fingerprint. The progress dialog shows the MLFB being activated and the destination drive letter.
5. Verify under License Key → Overview that the license is now listed and marked as valid (green status icon, no expiration date for perpetual WinCC RT licenses).
6. Launch WinCC 7.0 RT and confirm the runtime starts without the demo-mode countdown timer. Confirm the project loads and the process tags are recognized.

Verification Steps After Recovery

1. In ALM, expand the local hard drive node and confirm the license entry appears with a green status icon and either a perpetual validity flag or a non-zero expiration date matching the original entitlement.
2. Launch the WinCC 7.0 RT runtime. The startup banner should not display Demo mode or any grace-period countdown. If a banner appears, the activation did not complete and the response.aut must be re-imported.
3. Open Computer Management → System Tools → Event Viewer → Windows Logs → Application and filter by source WinCC. Confirm that no 700xxx-class license errors are present.
4. Inspect C:\ProgramData\Siemens\Automation\Logfiles\WinCC_SStart_<computername>_.log for any "License not found" or "License invalid" entries. The log line should report "License OK" with the matching MLFB.
5. Cycle the runtime: stop WinCC RT, wait 30 seconds, restart it. Confirm consistent licensing on the second start.
6. If the project uses a redundant WinCC server pair, repeat the verification on the standby server after triggering a manual failover from the WinCC Redundancy control panel.
7. For client-server architectures, verify each client PC can connect to the licensed server without displaying "License server unreachable" warnings.

Preventive Measures and Best Practices

• Always use ALM to manipulate license files. Never use Windows Explorer, command-line copy, xcopy, robocopy, PowerShell Copy-Item, or any archive utility on the AX NF ZZ directory. The cryptographic binding will be broken silently.
• Document the binding medium. When a license is moved to a hard drive, record the drive letter, volume serial number, and computer hostname in the project handover document. Recovery from a re-binding mistake requires these values.
• Maintain a clean ALM installation. When upgrading WinCC, verify that ALM is upgraded to the version bundled with the WinCC Service Pack. Mismatched ALM/WinCC combinations can cause silent license enumeration failures.
• Disable archive tools on engineering workstations. If WinCC engineering workstations are domain-joined, use Group Policy to block execution of WinRAR and 7-Zip. Operators reflexively archive unfamiliar folders, which destroys the hidden/system license attributes.
• Back up the license container via ALM, not via the filesystem. Use ALM's License Key → Backup option to produce a re-bindable backup that can be restored to the same computer without re-issuance. File-system backups of AX NF ZZ are useless and may be flagged as tampering by the Authorization team.
• Test dongle failover procedures. In redundant WinCC topologies, perform a planned failover at least once per year. License recovery after a failover failure often surfaces the "no license keys saved" condition for the first time.
• Avoid Windows in-place upgrades on licensed RT PCs. A major Windows feature update (for example, Windows 10 1909 → 20H1) can change the volume serial number of the system partition if the partition is re-laid-out. This breaks the license binding and triggers the offline transfer workflow.
• Label every USB dongle with the host name and date of transfer. Recovery from a mixed-dongle environment is dramatically faster when the binding history is documented.

ALM Interface Reference

Troubleshooting Matrix

Migration Notes — From WinCC 7.0 USB to TIA CodeMeter

Customers who upgrade from WinCC 7.0 to TIA Portal V17 or later must obtain new CodeMeter-based licenses; the legacy USB stick cannot be migrated. The CodeMeter stick uses a WIBU-SYSTEMS smart-card chip that performs the license check on-device rather than relying on a hidden filesystem directory. ALM continues to serve as the management console but reads the CodeMeter stick via the CodeMeter Runtime service rather than direct file enumeration. When retiring a WinCC 7.0 RT PC, archive the USB stick and the original ALM backup in the same secure location as the project source code so that a rollback to WinCC 7.0 remains possible.

Related Siemens Support Entries

The Siemens Authorization team maintains a knowledge base entry covering exactly this error class. The entry ID is 772175 in the legacy support numbering and remains reachable at support.industry.siemens.com/cs/ww/en/view/772175. For WinCC 7.0 SP4 installation and licensing context, the corresponding release notes are reachable at support.industry.siemens.com/cs/document/109751586. Always reference the original MLFB, license number, and serial number when opening the ticket to avoid a verification round-trip.

FAQ