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Now I am puzzled. I cleaned wife's Compaq 2+ months ago, downloaded win 7 from Digital River( I think) and she has been using the PC without any problems(that she told me about). Today I turned it on and was greeted with 'not genuine' in the lower right corner of the window. TIA, as usual.
There are many possibilities on why that happened but in most cases it's best to go to Microsoft directly to solve them. There's a lot of proprietary information that they have and can glean from the procedures they ask that we don't have access to here including lists of all legal and compromised licenses.
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/e...enuinewindows7
Do read this before posting ...
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/e...enuinewindows7
Your reply makes sense. However, I have now checked and I find that I used an ISO file I had burned to disk--X17-58997 from Microsoft to install Win 7 SP1. Perhaps I will try to install the ISO tomorrow and report back.
X17-58997 is Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit. Is that the same version that's currently installed on the computer? And is that the version you/she has the the license for? Where did you buy the license?
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...w7itproinstall
Thanks for your continued help. We have two Compaq computers that are identically alike. The OS in each machine came with each of the PCs and I have never bought any additional license.
If you download and install Windows 7 or any Windows OS onto those machines the existing license would not be recognized. You would have had the default trial period and then gotten the message that you saw. If that's what has happened then you should see if there is a way to reinstall the original OEM operating system that came with the computer whether it was supplied on a repair/Windows DVD or is still on a separate partition on the computer.
What is the model of the computer?
buf--
When you installed the Digital River Win 7 what product key did you use? Could you have used the one for the other Compaq PC?
On the Start|Right click Computer|Properties screen near the bottom what info is in the Activation section?
At the bottom of this link you can test whether your Win 7 is genuine
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/genuine
Now, armed with the answers to those questions, you should probably do as fink has suggested--contact MS.
'Sounds' like I may have to restore the computer to the day I bought it. What a waste of time this project has been or will be. Had I known, or even suspected this may occur; I would have never cleaned the hard drive. The troubling PC is a: Compaq Presario CQ 5210F. Thanks for the help fink.
What would or may the circumstances be if I did nothing and ignored MS message? Hate to ask what appears to be a stupid response.
At this point, unless you want to buy a license from Microsoft there would be no other option.Quote:
'Sounds' like I may have to restore the computer to the day I bought it.
If you do nothing you'll continue to get warnings and will not be able to download many OS updates. Not worth it if you ask me.
Edited to change answer re updates: security updates will still be available.
More on recovery options for Presario CQ5210F
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...roduct=4005896
buf--
You have not answered my earlier questions. Have you telephoned Microsoft?
At the bottom of this reference are Methods A and B which may give you a little more time to solve the problem
http://blog.getspool.com/194/fix-win...genuine-error/
"What would or may the circumstances be if I did nothing "
A long winded answer
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/this-c...is-not-genuine
"I would have never cleaned the hard drive"
If you used a Registry Cleaner, such as CCleaner, you may have deleted or corrupted necessary system files. If that is the case you can run a Repair Install using the .iso DVD you made from the Win 7 files you downloaded from Digital River.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...r-install.html
buf--I forgot to add this reference on how to activate Win 7 by phoning MS
http://www.kodyaz.com/articles/how-t...-by-phone.aspx
I haven't been ignoring your replies Jim and with the info I gathered; info gathered from you and fink's input, I was to form good questions to Microsoft. Spent about an hour+ with their support and it all came down to paying them $99. Had a most helpful lady from the Philippines. In my readings I did find a way to turn off the not genuine message but I hardly think that would do any good. Had I known these things, I would have never wiped the hard drive. Oh well, live and learn--maybe.
buf--Thanks for telling us the outcome. I am sorry to hear you had to pay.
Did you and/or MS define why you were getting that message?
Didn't mean to imply I paid the $99 but rather that was to be their charge [B]if[B] if I wanted them to fix the problem. I was never sure that the problem would be fixed in such a way that I would not have to reinstall my files. I turned MS down on the offering because I would just buy the win 7 install CD and I would then always have an install CD. Got to looking around and found that I had a System Recovery disk. I burned this after I had fresh installed win 7. I don't really know what good these will do if I tried using them. Any ideas; anyone?
BTW, I allowed the lady access to my machine and she revealed my OS project #---and I wrote it down!!
If you made a system recovery disk you will still need a licensed copy of Windows 7 to re-install. The one you downloaded will not work unless you pay 99 dollars for it's license which is different than the license you have/had for the original operating system that came with the computer.
If you still have the original operating system image on a DVD or on a (hidden) partition on the computer's hard drive then you could use the recovery disk to go back to a factory state on the computer at no cost.
If you want to keep the operating system that's now on the computer it will cost you 99 dollars to keep that one. The licenses are not interchangeable.
Not the answer I would have rather have received; naturally. I'll think over my options and decide shortly.
Thanks for more info fink. Got another question; suppose I buy the windows 7 install CD, what would I have to do to install it? Does the CD clean or remove all that I now have on the hard drive and then install win 7 on the cleaned hard drive?
Depends.
You're actually buying the license, not the DVD so if you buy the proper license for the version of Windows currently installed on the computer then all you have to do is use it to legitimize the computer/Windows 7 and nothing changes except you stop getting warnings.
If you buy a different version's license, say to upgrade then you'd need to install that version on top of the current install but you would not need to wipe/format the drive first.. it would just upgrade Windows 7 to a higher version but keep the things that are there now (programs, data, etc)
I have never had a windows 7 OS cd so that had something to do with my buying the OS software. Guess I just wanted one for my use for current and future use, if ever needed. I now have the win 7 Home edition---the same as I have always used in the win 7 family.
In your reply, no 3, you say..
That downloaded .iso is a complete version of Windows, not just SP1 by the way. Perhaps this is where the confusion is coming from.Quote:
I have now checked and I find that I used an ISO file I had burned to disk--X17-58997 from Microsoft to install Win 7 SP1.
So you do have a Windows 7 install DVD. Did you use that or another download to install Windows 7 on the laptop? What is running on the illegal laptop now? You had to have installed it from some downloaded .iso/DVD.
Again, just to be clear, when you buy a license from Microsoft you are getting the key which allows you to install the specific version of Windows 7 you've chosen to pay for. The Win 7 .iso downloads are all identical (except for different versions of course) which means they can each be activated by any legit license/key but only once each after they are installed on a computer.
This afternoon I worked on the "invalid windows" problem. I woke up long enough to look for the HP sticker on the side of the tower, wrote down the letters/numbers and then actually installed Windows 7!! Don't know why I didn't do this 4 months ago! There were several B's and 8's on the sticker and these two characters cause problems for my eyes but after a process of elimination, while trying to enter the correct code, I succeeded. Many thanks to those who have offered help.
PS. Am running my software on the drive now and hope I don't find any animals. Thanks again.