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Post by Himmy! on Aug 12, 2014 12:10:12 GMT -5
Hey, any help here is greatly appreciated.
I've had my laptop coming up 3 years, and out of the blue it's stated randomly saying I'm not running genuine Windows when I am? I have Windows 7 and everything with it is legit so I'm unsure why this message has started to pop up.
Anyone know of this problem with an uncomplicated solution?
Thanks.
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Post by T R W on Aug 12, 2014 13:27:54 GMT -5
Did you register your Windows key when you got your laptop? You should be able to verify the key with Microsoft if so and it should go away. Assuming you didn't use a disc to install it that someone else used before or after you.
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Post by SE4NY on Aug 12, 2014 13:29:20 GMT -5
I actually had this same problem.. I think its when Windows isn't installed with a disc?
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Post by Himmy! on Aug 12, 2014 13:36:59 GMT -5
Did you register your Windows key when you got your laptop? You should be able to verify the key with Microsoft if so and it should go away. Assuming you didn't use a disc to install it that someone else used before or after you. I really can't remember! The laptop was brand new and I believe that Windows was already installed, like I said I can't remember. It may be worth giving them a call tomorrow so I can give them the key over the phone. You sound on the money though mate. Thanks.
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Post by T R W on Aug 12, 2014 13:38:30 GMT -5
Did you register your Windows key when you got your laptop? You should be able to verify the key with Microsoft if so and it should go away. Assuming you didn't use a disc to install it that someone else used before or after you. I really can't remember! The laptop was brand new and I believe that Windows was already installed, like I said I can't remember. It may be worth giving them a call tomorrow so I can give them the key over the phone. You sound on the money though mate. Thanks. I think you can do it online too without calling. Been a while since I have had to do it though.
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Post by Himmy! on Aug 12, 2014 13:47:28 GMT -5
I really can't remember! The laptop was brand new and I believe that Windows was already installed, like I said I can't remember. It may be worth giving them a call tomorrow so I can give them the key over the phone. You sound on the money though mate. Thanks. I think you can do it online too without calling. Been a while since I have had to do it though. Hmm following the steps they've said to do online it says it's already activated so it may be best to call them.
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Post by T R W on Aug 12, 2014 14:00:10 GMT -5
I think you can do it online too without calling. Been a while since I have had to do it though. Hmm following the steps they've said to do online it says it's already activated so it may be best to call them. Yeah, that sucks. Hopefully it's just a mix up. Worst case someone else used your Windows key and registered it, and you might have to buy another key.
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Post by Himmy! on Aug 12, 2014 14:05:12 GMT -5
Hmm following the steps they've said to do online it says it's already activated so it may be best to call them. Yeah, that sucks. Hopefully it's just a mix up. Worst case someone else used your Windows key and registered it, and you might have to buy another key. I'm assuming that would mean I've been hacked? That would totally suck!
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Deleted
Joined on: Sept 28, 2024 17:50:05 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2014 15:09:51 GMT -5
Yeah, that sucks. Hopefully it's just a mix up. Worst case someone else used your Windows key and registered it, and you might have to buy another key. I'm assuming that would mean I've been hacked? That would totally suck! I doubt that would happen. But it's possible you have some kind of malware. So have you tried scanning your computer?
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Post by Himmy! on Aug 12, 2014 15:40:39 GMT -5
I'm assuming that would mean I've been hacked? That would totally suck! I doubt that would happen. But it's possible you have some kind of malware. So have you tried scanning your computer? I did scan it relatively recently with Microsoft Security Essentials and removed some viruses. It also claims my computer is 'protected'. Not sure how reliable the software is though.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2014 16:21:06 GMT -5
I doubt that would happen. But it's possible you have some kind of malware. So have you tried scanning your computer? I did scan it relatively recently with Microsoft Security Essentials and removed some viruses. It also claims my computer is 'protected'. Not sure how reliable the software is though. I would try installing Malwarebytes and using that instead. It's really the best at detecting malware out there. www.malwarebytes.org/
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Post by Himmy! on Aug 12, 2014 16:38:23 GMT -5
I did scan it relatively recently with Microsoft Security Essentials and removed some viruses. It also claims my computer is 'protected'. Not sure how reliable the software is though. I would try installing Malwarebytes and using that instead. It's really the best at detecting malware out there. www.malwarebytes.org/Okay man, thank you for that. Will give it a shot in the morning and update the post then.
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Post by ¡Twist Of Lime Green Jello! on Aug 13, 2014 2:34:55 GMT -5
I've had this happen to me before. My computer randomly asked me about three years after buying it to enter the code that's on the Windows disc and side of the hard drive. Only problem is that the code wasn't on the side of the computer and I didn't have the Windows disc anymore. A quicker solution, I ended up going down to a computer store to see if they had codes on the sides of the display models. Sure enough they did, I took a sneaky photo of one of them and entered it on my computer. I didn't expect it to work but it did.
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Post by Himmy! on Aug 13, 2014 2:43:28 GMT -5
I did scan it relatively recently with Microsoft Security Essentials and removed some viruses. It also claims my computer is 'protected'. Not sure how reliable the software is though. I would try installing Malwarebytes and using that instead. It's really the best at detecting malware out there. www.malwarebytes.org/Downloaded and did a scan, it found 404 non-malware unwanted things so got rid of those. Not sure if that is going to make a difference. I've had this happen to me before. My computer randomly asked me about three years after buying it to enter the code that's on the Windows disc and side of the hard drive. Only problem is that the code wasn't on the side of the computer and I didn't have the Windows disc anymore. A quicker solution, I ended up going down to a computer store to see if they had codes on the sides of the display models. Sure enough they did, I took a sneaky photo of one of them and entered it on my computer. I didn't expect it to work but it did. Haha that's one way of doing it. I have the verification code on my laptop but it isn't asking me for that for some reason.
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Post by ahunter8056 on Aug 13, 2014 6:51:52 GMT -5
Have you ever sent it in for repair? I remember I had a netbook that originally came with a genuine copy of Windows XP, and then after sending it in for repair, it came back with an non-genuine copy of Windows 7.
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Post by Himmy! on Aug 13, 2014 6:55:35 GMT -5
Have you ever sent it in for repair? I remember I had a netbook that originally came with a genuine copy of Windows XP, and then after sending it in for repair, it came back with an non-genuine copy of Windows 7. I have yes! A couple of months back. I suspected it may be something to do with this. Not sure what I can do about it though. It was Windows 7 before and still is though, but I know they changed the processor and stuff. To be honest a lot of computer stuff just goes over my head.
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Post by ahunter8056 on Aug 13, 2014 6:59:16 GMT -5
Have you ever sent it in for repair? I remember I had a netbook that originally came with a genuine copy of Windows XP, and then after sending it in for repair, it came back with an non-genuine copy of Windows 7. I have yes! A couple of months back. I suspected it may be something to do with this. Not sure what I can do about it though. It was Windows 7 before and still is though, but I know they changed the processor and stuff. To be honest a lot of computer stuff just goes over my head. Ah, that could possibly be it then. I'm not saying it definitely is, but it could be a possibility. It takes a while for the non-genuine screen and warnings to kick in. How long ago did it come back from repair? When did the non-genuine issues start?
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Post by T R W on Aug 13, 2014 7:01:12 GMT -5
Have you ever sent it in for repair? I remember I had a netbook that originally came with a genuine copy of Windows XP, and then after sending it in for repair, it came back with an non-genuine copy of Windows 7. I have yes! A couple of months back. I suspected it may be something to do with this. Not sure what I can do about it though. It was Windows 7 before and still is though, but I know they changed the processor and stuff. To be honest a lot of computer stuff just goes over my head. Hmm. They might have run a new install of Windows, and used their standard Windows build. They are supposed to purchase a key for each one they install. Odds are they didn't, or they used a key that had already been used before and Windows just recently caught it as being invalid. To be honest the only thing you can probably do is either purchase a Windows 7 key from Microsoft, or you could upgrade to Windows 8.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2014 20:21:42 GMT -5
This is odd. Have you tried reporting this to them or even just installing your previous operating system?
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Post by Himmy! on Aug 14, 2014 4:05:04 GMT -5
I have yes! A couple of months back. I suspected it may be something to do with this. Not sure what I can do about it though. It was Windows 7 before and still is though, but I know they changed the processor and stuff. To be honest a lot of computer stuff just goes over my head. Ah, that could possibly be it then. I'm not saying it definitely is, but it could be a possibility. It takes a while for the non-genuine screen and warnings to kick in. How long ago did it come back from repair? When did the non-genuine issues start? Yeah I have a feeling it's something to do with the repair job. The repair was I'd say about 3-4 months back and the non-genuine issues began within the last week. I have yes! A couple of months back. I suspected it may be something to do with this. Not sure what I can do about it though. It was Windows 7 before and still is though, but I know they changed the processor and stuff. To be honest a lot of computer stuff just goes over my head. Hmm. They might have run a new install of Windows, and used their standard Windows build. They are supposed to purchase a key for each one they install. Odds are they didn't, or they used a key that had already been used before and Windows just recently caught it as being invalid. To be honest the only thing you can probably do is either purchase a Windows 7 key from Microsoft, or you could upgrade to Windows 8. A mate of mine suspects that they just have one disc that they put on each repaired computer, which obviously they are not supposed to do hence why I never had a new validation code from them. I think all I can do for the time being is giving Microsoft a call and seeing what they say, as being a student the idea of paying £80 for new Windows could be a real struggle at the moment. What's worse is that it will annoy me to have to do that considering it wasn't my fault that this has happened. This is odd. Have you tried reporting this to them or even just installing your previous operating system? I don't have a disc for Windows but apparently there should be a backup copy on my laptop so I'll have a look for that later. I'll take the computer into the repair people Saturday and tell them the problem, no doubt they will try to get out of it though...
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