After Restoring Win 7 From Win 10 - Copy of Windows not genuine

Chris Nicola · 21 Sep 2016

I am trying to repair a Lenovo G585 Laptop for a friend. It was previously working fine running Win 7 64 bit. After upgrading to Win 10 it was restored back to Win 7. Now on start up it gives the error message, Windows 7*, Build 7601, This copy of Windows not genuine. It will not activate with the original product key and am prompted to buy a new product key.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Kind regards
Chris

* Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit

torchwood · 21 Sep 2016

Hi Chris,
from this link copy/paste the results of this tool
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=52012

from your specs you should have either a Retail or system builder key.

Roy

Layback Bear · 21 Sep 2016

From post #1

I am trying to repair a Lenovo G585 Laptop for a friend.

Ranger4 · 21 Sep 2016

It's probable that when the laptop was upgraded to Windows 10, the original activation key was utilised in the upgrade.

Now that Win 10 has been removed & you have reinstalled Win 7, the activation key is triggering "non genuine". You could have avoided that if you had rolled back from 10 to 7, but it's to late now for that & often the roll backs did not work very well.

I would suggest phoning Microsoft & explain the situation. I also assume you are using the original activation key that is on the laptop.

Chris Nicola · 22 Sep 2016

Thank you all for your suggestions. I have attached the Microsoft product key diagnostic log.

The options I can see are not the same as for a retail version of Windows.
There is no telephone option. Here is what I can see.

The Windows 7 product key you typed is invalid for activation.

*Buy a new product key online
*Type a different product key
*Contact Lenovo to solve this problem

When I click contact Lenovo I am taken to general Windows help window which points to this website which shows various options that are not available to me.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/950929

I also tried the phone number on this site:
SOLVED: How to CALL Microsoft on the PHONE to Activate your Windows or Office Product - Up & Running Technologies Calgary
This was not helpful as it involves automated activation by telephone which at the end will show that the product key is not accepted.

I contacted Microsoft via a chat session.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...rceorigin=esmc#

The Microsoft support agent checked the product key and informed me that activation has been blocked because it has exceeded the permitted 4 activations. He said there is no way to unblock it and I will need to purchase a new product key. That seems strange indeed. I know this is an oem key and not a retail key. To have a disabled computer after restoring from Windows 10 to 7 does not seem right.

Any suggestions will be appreciated

Kind regards
Chris

torchwood · 22 Sep 2016

Hi Chris,
Thats not surpising as the install is counterfiet
He is using an HP key on it, not Lenovo.
There are also indications that an activation exploit is being used.
I believe this laptop was purchased with W8, as no SLIC table is present
and from what i can find Ultimate was not sold with that comp.
On a further note i also suspect the Office install to be conterfiet as well.

Roy

See that MS forum came to the same conclusion.
However as far as i know there is only 1 piece of software that can retrieve the W8 key.
Showkey Plus.

Chris Nicola · 22 Sep 2016

Thanks for the information Roy. I will check with the owner for additional information. I note there is no windows product key sticker underneath. I found a Windows and Office product key by running the Lasersoft utility CD on the laptop. I will check out the Lenovo factory reset options. Otherwise if that fails he will need to purchase a new key. This is an older laptop so I doubt it came with Win 8 but maybe? I will report back how things turn out. Thanks again.

Kind regards
Chris.

Update:
I tried to do a factory reset and then discovered that the factory recovery partition has been deleted. My only option now is to get hold of a recovery CD from Lenovo.

Chris Nicola · 03 Oct 2016

Here is the latest update. I contacted Lenovo and they informed me that no recovery disks are available for this laptop because this edition/serial number was sold without an OS on it to allow the user to choose an OS. I also contacted Microsoft support and was informed that it is no longer possible to purchase a Win 7 product key from Microsoft. I am not aware of any local retail outlets that still sell windows 7. I am suspicious of ordering Win 7 over the internet as it might not be genuine. Windows 10 will probably have driver issues with this old model. In any case the owner rolled back from the Win 10 trial to Windows 7 before the activation problems appeared. It appears that my options are now rather limited.

Kind regards
Chris

torchwood · 03 Oct 2016

Hi Chris,
You are correct to be wary of purchasing via the net.
W7 keys are hard to come by nowadays.

Not sure what its like where you are, in regard to Custom builder outlets, they MAY have either
System Builder
Retail
Keys for sale, BUT they wont be cheap (100+Euros)

Roy

Eric3742 · 03 Oct 2016

Chris Nicola said:

Here is the latest update. I contacted Lenovo and they informed me that no recovery disks are available for this laptop because this edition/serial number was sold without an OS on it to allow the user to choose an OS. I also contacted Microsoft support and was informed that it is no longer possible to purchase a Win 7 product key from Microsoft. I am not aware of any local retail outlets that still sell windows 7. I am suspicious of ordering Win 7 over the internet as it might not be genuine. Windows 10 will probably have driver issues with this old model. In any case the owner rolled back from the Win 10 trial to Windows 7 before the activation problems appeared. It appears that my options are now rather limited.

Kind regards
Chris

I think this Lenovo laptop is using Corporate version for Windows OS, as up to the buyer to select.

As my repairman told me that he is using this version to install, limit is unknown.
The 2 Laptops Windows OS is not the same as on the laptop stickers.