Win 7 Prof not genuine and cannot enter genuine OEM product key

I have to agree as well, even as one of the pedantic responders/defenders. The other offender wouldnt drop it, and neither would I. I am sorry for any harm that it has caused!

Ultimately, the OP's issue was solved... and that's truly all that matters!

JMH said:

There are times when we ALL need to take a deep breath, stop & think about what is most important at times like this. :)

That was one reason why I went to bed at that point :)

I'm happy enough to leave the subject to lie - the evidence in the thread is quite sufficient to dis/prove the points at issue.

ToddB said:

I want to apologize to all as well as I believe this all may have been caused by my obsessive compulsive disorder for cleaning my machine at times which likely led to me deleting some registries which I should not have. A good point was made that I should not treat (and apply the same tools) to this OS like my previous OS (XP) and I definately will not be doing that going forward.

With that being said I want to again THANK all of you for your time, expertise, and willingness to help those of us who are learning the ins and outs of this OS.

This is a GREAT forum!

You've nothing to apologise for - we all like to keep our systems clean, and until we learn better, registry cleaners can seem a good way to do it.
Unfortunately, they are like AV's, in that they are out of date and useless if not kept updated. The problem is that they start from a low level of usefulness anyhow, as Windows does a pretty good job of organising the registry, even if it does get 'bloated' by frequent installs/uninstalls. In the days of Win9x, registry cleaners did at least serve some purpose, since there was a low and finite limit to the size to which the registry could grow. The limit now is so high that it's largely irrelevant - and the speed penalty is nearly so, even in the worst registries.

I'm of the firm opinion (Yeah - I'm opinionated<g>) that if you should ONLY use a registry cleaner to help *if you know enough to do it manually* - and then approve every single mod it wants to make.

Hope things keep going well - Good Luck!

NoelDP said:

ToddB said:

I want to apologize to all as well as I believe this all may have been caused by my obsessive compulsive disorder for cleaning my machine at times which likely led to me deleting some registries which I should not have. A good point was made that I should not treat (and apply the same tools) to this OS like my previous OS (XP) and I definately will not be doing that going forward.

With that being said I want to again THANK all of you for your time, expertise, and willingness to help those of us who are learning the ins and outs of this OS.

This is a GREAT forum!

You've nothing to apologise for - we all like to keep our systems clean, and until we learn better, registry cleaners can seem a good way to do it.
Unfortunately, they are like AV's, in that they are out of date and useless if not kept updated. The problem is that they start from a low level of usefulness anyhow, as Windows does a pretty good job of organising the registry, even if it does get 'bloated' by frequent installs/uninstalls. In the days of Win9x, registry cleaners did at least serve some purpose, since there was a low and finite limit to the size to which the registry could grow. The limit now is so high that it's largely irrelevant - and the speed penalty is nearly so, even in the worst registries.

I'm of the firm opinion (Yeah - I'm opinionated<g>) that if you should ONLY use a registry cleaner to help *if you know enough to do it manually* - and then approve every single mod it wants to make.

Hope things keep going well - Good Luck!

I agree... 100%!!!

So called Registry Cleaners tend to create more problems than they solve. They tend to remove some entries and leave others stranded in the registry, marooned there forever! Even back to the Win95-98 (9x) days, they have done so, although their task was much easier with the smaller size of 9x's registry. Personally, I only use them in extreme circumstances, and then with extreme caution. Even Ccleaner, the most used/popular of these cleaners, will try to correct registry errors... and often times fail.

More often than not, if I believe the registry is "hosed", I will backup the user data, format, and perform a clean install. I have been supporting users as a system builder, instructor, and consultant for over 20 years (DOS 5.0 days on). I too am passionate about what Im doing, and a fervent supporter of my opinions! LOL!

I'm also hoping that this new key holds for you ToddB, if not... let us know!