Contract Tools Won’t Activate Due to a Problem with Windows Management Instrumentation

  • What happens: When you try to activate or begin a trial of Contract Tools, an alert message about re-enabling Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) appears.

  • What this means: Windows Management Instrumentation is Microsoft software that Contract Tools and other Windows applications require. Either Windows Management Instrumentation is disabled, or a Windows configuration problem is preventing Windows Management Instrumentation from working as expected.

  • What you should do: Make sure that Windows Management Instrumentation is running. You may need an administrator account to do this. If this doesn’t resolve the issue, other resources are available to help you troubleshoot problems with Windows Management Instrumentation.

To confirm that Windows Management Instrumentation is running:

  1. View local services. One way to do this in Windows 11 is to open Control Panel, choose System and Security > Windows Tools, and then open Services.

  2. Double-click Windows Management Instrumentation in the list of services.

  3. Make sure that the “Startup type” pop‑up menu is set to Automatic. If Running does not appear to the right of “Service status”, click Start or Resume.

To troubleshoot problems with Windows Management Instrumentation, you can use Windows Management Instrumentation Tester. To use this program, enter wbemtest in PowerShell or Command Prompt. Additional resources for troubleshooting problems with Windows Management Instrumentation are available at WMI Troubleshooting.

If an alert message about connecting to the internet appears, see Contract Tools Cannot Connect to the Internet. If an alert message about enabling network adapters appears, see Contract Tools Won’t Activate Due to Disabled Network Adapters.