Windows not genuine message plus Error message 0x8000247

There's absolutely nothing there that does anything more than say what we already know -

Code:

CatalogDB: 09:29:12 31/12/2012: catdbcli.cpp at line #610 encountered JET error -583
CatalogDB: 09:29:12 31/12/2012: catadnew.cpp at line #1915 encountered JET error -583
CatalogDB: 09:29:12 31/12/2012: catadnew.cpp at line #818 encountered JET error -583

etc.... etc....

Conventional wisdom is that these are cured by......... updating the IRST drivers

I'll have to hunt around...

Noel, I'm not sure if I'm reading the situation correctly, but it seems that the solution to this problem is far from near - if even attainable?
Also I am more than very aware of all the time you have devoted to get to this point?
Despite - or because of - the activation problem, the computer is so slow on every command that watching paint dry could become appealing, and obviously it won't update, seems pretty well exhausted and generally not useful.

Is it therefore more feasible to go radical and do whatever, to get a machine which will function again - reformat, whatever? I have the data backed up pretty much, so that's no problem. The only question is, can Windows be re-istalled etc., and then show as 'genuine' and function correctly?

I would appreciate your thoughts.

Probably the quickest solution (if it works OK) would be a repair install.
As always there are risks it could go pear-shaped, so back up your data to external storage first!

See the instructions here... https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

Unfortunately, from the feedback I get from other posters, your experience is not unusual, and the general recommendation from Microsoft at that point is to do a clean install.

You're welcome!
Glad you're back up and running - don't forget to update and protect your system.

Good luck.