Problem: On Windows Vista or Windows 7, or Server 2008 (XP activation could very well have the same bug) After I try and activate Windows, I receive the error code “8007232b” and the error message “DNS name does not exist.”
(Variations on message might also include: “Key management services (KMS) host could not be located in domain name system (DNS), please have your system administrator verify that a KMS is published correctly in DNS. “)

Cause: According to Microsoft, users who downloaded these operating systems from the MSDN/Technet are using the product under volume licensing, which requires KMS on your domain — a domain you likely do not have in the first place, with a service you probably wouldn’t be running in a home installation — though this issue could easily affect the commercial world as well.
Microsoft words it like this: “If you use MSDN, TechNet, or MAPs, you probably have volume-licensed media and were supplied a Multiple Activation Key (MAK).”

Solution: Open Command Prompt as an administrator
(Press Start, type CMD, right-click CMD and click “Run as Administrator” — a UAC prompt may ask you to verify this action.)

Type the command:
slmgr -ipk product-key-here
(where “product-key-here”, type the product key you received from the MSDN/Technet WITH dashes.)
Example: slmgr -ipk FGX5-AFDA8-85ASD-5ADF5-FDA5
(That product key is fake)

Press ENTER after typing the command, and wait for a box to prompt that the action has completed (takes 10-15 seconds in most cases).

Run the activation wizard again (Right click “Computer” from the start menu, click “Properties”, and scroll down to the bottom of the properties window to “Windows Activation”

Sources:
Direct from Microsoft (contains two other solutions you can try if this fails)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929826

Technet Forums:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winservergen/thread/3d1e007e-a5b0-453a-b92c-17696b93dfc2

If you use MSDN, TechNet, or MAPs, you probably have volume-licensed media and were supplied a Multiple Activation Key (MAK).

“Windows could not log you in. The trust relationship between this computer and the primary domain failed.”

If you have ever seen this error, and said to yourself:”*@*$&@@ !! How the !*$&@^@ did this happen?” then I am totally with you.

What this means:
Really, I have no idea. Nor why it happens, or why XP never had this issue but Vista and 7 do. Essentially, it’s a security thing when either the client or the server has reasons not to trust the other.

How to fix it:

1. Unplug the computer from the network, and log in using cached credentials.
2. Drop the computer from the domain by changing the domain name to a workgroup.
3. Reboot the computer.
4. Log in using the built-in administrator account (you should make sure you know this before dropping it from the domain! Otherwise, you will need to create this user by alternative means).
5. Join the computer back to the domain,
6. Reboot.

If this fails, you can try another method located here:
http://community.tigranetworks.co.uk/blogs/tim_long/archive/2009/05/16/windows-7-rc-failed-trust-relationship.aspx

“Account Already Exists” error on Windows 2000, XP, and Windows 7/Vista indicates that Active Directory already has the computer listed. You can not have two computers of the same name, even if one is offline. (If the other is online, you will see: “Duplicate Name on Network”. More about this further down)

How you fix it:
Log in to your Active Directory computer, and go to “Active Directory Users and Computers”. Find the computer name you wish to use and delete it.
Return to the computer, and set the computer name as you normally would. (Sometimes, Active Directory changes can take a short period of time before actually taking place. Also, if you have multiple Active Directory computers, you may run across the issue of having to wait for them to synchronize the change).

How to avoid it:
Before changing the name of any computer, you should drop the computer from the domain. The best way to do this is to switch the computer from being on the domain to being on a workgroup. The computer says: “I’m leaving” to the Active Directory server, and Active Directory drops the computer from it’s database.

Duplicate Name on Network:
You must find the other computer name and change it before you can use the name without receiving this error. You should still be able to log in and use the computer with this error, but it is very bad network practice to do so.