Windows 7: Booting Problem related to Windows not genuine error

Hello, I searched around but was unable to find a solution for my problem. I'll start from the beginning on how this all happened.

I have a dual boot system with XP/7. I resized the partitions using Gparted and after that I got an error where 7 would not load (0xC0000225). I managed to fix this by using my Windows 7 disk to recover the boot loader. However that brings me to my current issue. I can boot to Windows 7, but after I log on it says "preparing your desktop", and after waiting longer than usual it brings me to a blue screen that says "Windows 7; Build 7600; This copy of Windows is not genuine" in the lower left corner. It does nothing from this point, it just hangs on this screen without loading the start bar or anything. I can still access the task manager if I Ctrl,alt,del but cannot solve this genuine error. Back when I was a tech and dealt with XP errors of this nature, it would bring up an option to used a limited mode and from there you could activate it, but I'm getting nothing. Anybody have any suggestions here?



-Mike

Hi.

Boot to safe mode. Open an elevated command prompt and run this:

slmgr /silc

Boot to Windows normally and then reactivate the machine normally.

If that doesn't help, do this from safe mode if you need (or normal):

slmgr /upk

then reactivate the machine normally.

So safe mode took forever to get to as well. I was only able to get command prompt to load (even after selected elevated) was to ctrl,alt,del and run new task "cmd.exe". When I type the commands I get....

"Windows Script Host; Can't find script engine "VBScript" for script "E:\Windows\system32\slmgr.vbs".


One thing I'm confused about is the fact it's saying windows is the E: drive. When it was last working it referred to itself as the F drive. I'm not sure if the drive letters is what is causing the error for the commands (or loading issues entirerly. Is there a command for cmd.exe to have it look for the script engine on the F drive where it should be?

If when you enter slmgr command and an error returns that ’slmgr’ is not a recognized internal or external command, the cause is due to \Windows\System32 directory is not inside your environment’s path. Simply type the full path of (assuming C: is Windows Vista volume) C:\Windows\System32\slmgr, or change directory to \Windows\System32 before issuing the slmgr command.

Same for Windows 7. Don't know if this helps.

I have the same problem with an old copy of Vista. Apparently Vista and Seven do not like to have their partitions resized and moved. They will boot but the desktop will be broken. I do believe that the problem is that they no longer see their own partition as the boot partition, the drive letter is no longer what it was and the OS now can't find the files needed for proper startup.

It might be possible to do a repair install or an upgrade install from the broken desktop, or do a repair install or upgrade install from the booted DVD. I haven't tried this in my case since I've decided to just abandon my old install of Vista and exclusively use my new install of Windows 7.

I've been having this same problem, and no solutions I've found seem to work.

My laptop came installed with windows vista home. I shrunk the C: drive and created a new partition (S: ) for windows 7. I used PCmover to move all my files, programs and settings to 7. Everything was fine until i decided to start uninstalling programs I now use on Windows 7(S: ) off of Vista (C: ). I did this and freed up about 80 Gb of space, which I expanded using gparted into the S: partition.

I tried to start 7, and there was a start-up error. So, I booted from the 7 DVD, selected startup repair, and now I have two boot options: Microsoft Windows Vista, and Windows 7 Professional (recovered).

Windows 7 takes forever to load, and when it does it is the infamous useless blue desktop: "Windows 7, Build 7600, This Copy of Windows is not genuine"

When booting 7 in any mode, what was S drive is now D drive, and if I go for C:\Windows\System32\slmgr or D:\Windows\System32\slmgr, I get an error about the path not existing, although I can browse and click on the file and nothing happens!

When attempting the solution found HERE I get a similar "path does not exist" error, even though again I can browse and navigate to the exact file I need.

I know this was long: I just want to be specific.

Could it be that Windows is locking me out because it doesn't recognize validation information? This is a 100% legal copy of Windows 7. Any help anyone??

Hey guys,

New to this forum, only joined to tell you guys a possible solution. I've been trying to tackle this problem for about 2 hours and I was very happy when i successfully changed drive letters to fix the "not genuine" problem. Follow these steps:

1. Boot windows in safe mode
2. After loading, there should be a blank screen with no desktop, press ctrl+alt+del
3. Click Start Task Manager
4. Click File then Run
5. type regedit.exe then press enter
6. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
7. Try to remember your old working drive letter, mine was drive D, and windows changed its drive letter to C. So i swapped the D and C paths in the registry; now windows knows to access the correct drive to boot.
8. To swap drives, find the drive letter you want changed, it should look something like "\DosDevices\C:" where "C" is the drive letter you need swapped.
9. Right click on the key and rename it to a drive letter that is not in use, for example, I renamed mine to "\DosDevices\Z:" This will free up the letter that you need swapped.
10. Right click on the other key and rename it to the first key's letter, for example, if i wanted the D drive swapped with C, I would now rename "\DosDevices\D:" to "\DosDevices\C:".
11. Now rename "\DosDevices\Z:" (Which was previously "\DosDevices\C:") to "\DosDevices\D:"
12. The drive letters are now successfully swapped, close regedit and reboot, tell me if it worked!!

Hopefully my directions are clear enough for you guys, I understand the frustration!

YES!!! THAT DID IT!! TOTALLY SOLVED MY PROBLEM!!!

With one minor exception: Because the file system was so screwed up, I had to edit the registry for the Windows 7 Drive from my running instance of vista. Nothing I tried to do on 7 worked AT ALL. Here's how:

1. Run regedit.exe from Start -> Run
2. Select HKEY_USERS by single-clicking on it
3. Go to File -> Load Hive
4. Navigate to the registry file folder on your other drive. This is found in DRIVELETTER:/Windows/System32/Config
5. Select the file labeled SYSTEM. Make sure not to select the text file
6. Type whatever name you like in the Key Name field, Hit Enter.
7. Now navigate to MountedDevices under HKEY_USERS
8. Make the changes outlined by prodigy8901
9. Select the folder the hive was mounted in by right-clicking it once
10. Go to File -> Unload Hive
11. Restart the computer and load your newly working OS!

Once I loaded Windows 7, the screen was black and says "This copy of Windows is not genuine" in the bottom right hand corner. Give it a minute or two, as a box will pop up that asks if you want to activate windows. I said "yes", and KABOOM!! My desktop was there in all it's glory!

Man I can't thank you enough for your help with this. You are literally an answer to my prayers. About another week of fumbling around with this and I was going to have to do a fresh install and copy stuff manually.

I just hope I'm not the last person who has a great day because of this thread

You're the man!!

-Kel

it means a lot that you replied to my post, i was hoping it helped someone! Glad i could help, and good job finding the rest of the solution. have fun with windows 7!

Glad you got it sorted out.

There is an easier way.

Use the Boot corrector on the free Paragon Rescue Kit Expres to correct drive letters in the system registry.

http://www.paragon-software.com/home.../features.html

Keljackson or Prodigy -

I have the same problem with my Windows 7. I was reallocating a partition and when I restarted, I got a blue background with the writing in the bottom corner that says "This copy of windows is not genuine."

I have a dual boot with win xp, and I can see that all my files are still in my Windows 7 drive. Much like Keljackson, I cannot make changes by using regedit from within Windows 7, rather, I need to use my XP boot. I followed keljackson and prodigy's instructions and switched around drive letters, but unfortunately, I couldn't remember the drive label for the Windows 7 partition. I thought it was "E:" but right before the last good restart, I had changed it to "M:"... When in Win XP, the Windows 7 drive is labeled "G:" I followed all the instructions above, first swapping "G:" for "E:" and when that didn't work, I then tried swapping it for "M:" Neither swap worked, and I'm even more confused now for a couple of reasons: 1) When I log into my xp boot, the drive letter in my computer has not changed from G: to either "E:" or "M:", even after multiple reboots. Shouldn't that have happened? 2) I now don't know which drive is which because I've made so many assignment changes. My XP boot is still working fine. Is there any way to tell from XP mode which drive letter was my original Windows 7 boot so that I can effectively swap around the letters?

I'm so frustrated by this. Also, one more thing for Keljackson. Regarding direction #9 above, you are referring to the folder that was created and named in rule #6, correct? I wasn't sure if I was supposed to use that or the hkey_users folder to unload the hive.

Any help you can give me would be much appreciated.