Windows 7: 0xc004f063 Error Says not genuine windows

Hi,

I had to replace a failed HDD in a Win 7 laptop. The laptop is An Acer 5738Z (Intel CPU), and without any setup CD. I have another laptop which is the AMD version of this one so is very similar. I do have a Windows 7 CD for this and have used it to install windows on the 5738Z. It all seemed to work fine and I used the CD key which is printed on the target machine so I thought that all the licencing should be ok.

It seems not, I am getting an error 0xC004F063 which says the BIOS version is not right.

I feel surprised that it has a problem since the Windows 7 disc used is supplied by Acer (although for my AMD laptop).

Does anyone know of a way around this problem?

You can use any retail disk to clean reinstall factory OEM with the Product key on COA sticker, as long as it is same version: Reinstalling Windows 7

Your problem is likely using the Acer-supplied Reinstallation DVD for another computer which has the SLP (factory) activation slipstreamed into it.

Did you have to type the Product Key?

Try changing the Product Key at Computer>Properties to the one on the COA sticker. If that doesn't work find a Windows 7 retail installer to use to do the clean reinstall so that the SLP activation on the Acer DVD doesn't interfere.

Thanks. I always had trouble using retail discs with an OEM key when installing XP. It would always say the key is not valid. Is this different for win 7? I will give it a try.

Windows 7, unlike XP, doesn't have the activation baked into specific variants of the OS on the DVD itself (which is one of the ways XP was so easy to pirate - acquire a VLK version) - all of the installations are the same. The activation happens when the OEM provides a specific file in a specific place in the OS image when they build it, which when a PC is thus installed from that image causes Windows to check the ACPI_SLIC table in the BIOS to see if the file contents/signature and the BIOS table match - if they do, activation is successful, and if not, you get the above error you are seeing (yes, there's more to it than that, but to keep this post short I've summarized it in layman's terms).

Ultimately, you simply need to activate with the key on the bottom of the machine, assuming you're installing the version of Windows that matches the key on that sticker, of course .

Is the DVD you reinstalled with an Acer-branded Windows 7 Reinstallation DVD? What does it say on it exactly?

An Acer reinstallation DVD likely has SLP activation baked in which avoids the need to activate in the same way the Factory Recovery Disks (loaded with bloatware) do. But using one meant for another computer could foul activation.

You might be able to change the Product key to the one on the COA sticker at Computer>Properties. If not, open an Elevated Command Prompt, type slmgr -ipk followed by a space and the COA Product Key. Then activate at Computer>Properties link or running another command to slmgr -ato.

If this fails and continues non-genuine prompting then you'll need to start over with a retail Windows 7 DVD following the steps I gave you to get a Perfect Reinstall.

To further answer your question, retail and OEM installers are the same starting with Vista. The issue here is possible SLP factory activation meant for another machine interfering with COA activation.

You can Order Acer recovery disks from here:
https://secure.tx.acer.com/RCDB/Main.aspx?brand=acer

The Acer DVD was an upgrade one although I have since used it to do a clean install on my laptop with no problems.

I have tried first an upgrade install using a retail CD. Still same result. I then formatted it and did a clean install with retail cd. It just tells me "the product key is invalid for activation".

Most often there are characters typed incorrectly. Triple check.

Try MS phone activation. There should be a link to it on the activation-fail screen.

No, it seems to disable this. No phone option

Activate Windows 7 by Phone