Windows 7: Windows not genuine error after HDD upgrade

I'm not certain this will work in WIn 7 - but it shouldn't hurt.....
Try running the fixit from here....
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822798
Then reboot and try the CheckSUR again

...never mind - I found a better one....
Try all of the steps on this article apart from #8 and #10

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2509997

I have NOT yet followed your last suggestions. I went to turn on my computer this morning, and now it is not booting at all. Here's what I know:

Dell XPS M1530
When I press the power button, the led on the button lights up for a second, and then nothing. No sounds, no other LEDs light up, the LED on the button is back off.
I have found many mentions online about the GPU melting, but those people seem to have a boot without a display. I don't have a boot.
I am a PhD student working on my dissertation, so I am really freaking out right now. Do I have to go buy a new computer, or is there a fix you can suggest?

Thanks.

This does sound like a (possibly terminal) hardware problem - 'hopefully' it's a motherboard one that hasn't affected your hard drive!
If that is the case, then a new machine is your best (and quickest) bet - together with an external case for your existing hard drive so that you can pull the data off it.

In the way of computers, the solution was apparently to leave the house for a few hours and try again. It turned on without a problem. Thanks. I will try your previous suggestion later, but for now it is time to just spend time with the kids.

Backing up your data to external storage would be a good move at this point!!

I tried to run CheckSUR again, and again got error 0xc8000247. It actually says that it is Windows Update Standalone Installer that is giving me the error. I double-checked, and I am downloading the 32-bit Windows 7 version of CheckSUR, and that is the appropriate version for my system.

Work through the manual methods in the following article - but do NOT use methods 8 or 11 (yet! - without specific instruction)

Unable to install updates in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2

OK, so here's what I found. Method 2 did not work, as you know. Method 3 (SFC.exe) we have done before, and you said it was not helpful. I ran it again just to be safe. I did Method 4, no luck.

Method 5 was interesting. It said to go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\COMPONENTS, but I could not find that directory. I check in the other HKEY's, but COMPONENTS was nowhere to be found. I don't know if that is because the KB article is written before Windows 7 or what. So Method 5 did not happen.

Method 6, no change. Method 7 is apparently not relevant in Windows 7, as the excluded folders don't exist. Method 8 was skipped. Method 9 did not help.

Method 10 was another interesting discovery. I tried to manually start Windows Update, and it said that it could not start because the service was not started. I opened services, and the service IS started. I restarted it to be safe, but it did not help. I don't know if that info helps or not. Method 12 I have done a few times now, so I'm not sure it is really worth doing again at this point.

As you say - Interesting!
I can find no COMPONENTS subkey either - I suspect it may only exist (visibly) when errors are present. I'll do some research.
Method 7 - the folders most certainly do exist (try making Hidden files visible in Organize>Folder and Search Options)

Method 10 - did WU open at all? - was it just that it couldn't search for updates?

If the latter...


Open Windows Update
Click on Change Settings
Select 'Never Update...'
Click OK
exit Windows Update
Now open Windows update again
Click on Change Settings
Select 'Update automatically'
Click OK
exit Windows Update
Open Windows Update, and do a manual Check for Updates.