Summary
You may receive the following error message during product activation/deactivation:
The type initializer for 'ThreadGuard' threw an exception.
Another symptom is that the activation tool and showhwfp utilities cannot retrieve the local machine's hardware fingerprint.
Cause
The activation procedure is unable to communicate with WMI. The Windows Management Instrumentation service may not be running.
Resolution
Use the Windows Services MMC snap-in to start the Windows Management Instrumentation service.