Another problem with activating Windows 7 - and this one IS genuine

[arjay2691]

Brand-new, first time visitor here. I just took a look at a similar recent thread, but the poster said his (or her) copy of Windows 7 was 'from a friend.' My problem: my geek son (who built my original computer and lives more than 200 miles away) recently did an overhaul on my computer, which was then running Windows XP) to clean it out, upgrade some things, yadda yadda. Once back home, the problems began...my son realized that because he'd installed a new motherboard, XP wasn't recognizing it (I'm probably using the wrong words to describe this - plus this is now a 1.5 month old problem and my brain is broken). His suggestion was that we upgrade to Windows 7. I bought a copy at the local WalMart, took the computer back to him and he installed.

It seemed to run ok when he started it up. But not once I got back home...I've entered the product key, but the system simiply will not recognize it as genuine. I get constant messages that the product is not genuine and askes me to activate. (Which I've done to no avail). When I go to sites, it may load the original site, but anything I try to visit from there....I get "security certificate is not valid" message and have to click on "go anyway (not recommended". I've been to the MS Help pages and nearly committed hari kari in frustration. It was an hours long bout of Catch 22, sending me back to the same places, asking for the same information and never letting me make any progress at all.

Back in the beginning, before we upgraded, I tried the help phone number. I got an automated program; it gave me a 25 digit number to enter. I did so. It wasn't 'recognized' (or whatever, it didn't like it) and said I'd be connected to a live person. I held. I was disconnected. I gave up.

Further complicating things, I live rural and am on a landline, so I can't be on the phone and doing anything on the computer. And I can't get a dependable signal on my cel while sitting inside at the desk, so I haven't used that route.

Does anyone have any ideas to help me out of this quagmire???? Thank you!

 

[zigzag3143]

Brand-new, first time visitor here. I just took a look at a similar recent thread, but the poster said his (or her) copy of Windows 7 was 'from a friend.' My problem: my geek son (who built my original computer and lives more than 200 miles away) recently did an overhaul on my computer, which was then running Windows XP) to clean it out, upgrade some things, yadda yadda. Once back home, the problems began...my son realized that because he'd installed a new motherboard, XP wasn't recognizing it (I'm probably using the wrong words to describe this - plus this is now a 1.5 month old problem and my brain is broken). His suggestion was that we upgrade to Windows 7. I bought a copy at the local WalMart, took the computer back to him and he installed.

It seemed to run ok when he started it up. But not once I got back home...I've entered the product key, but the system simiply will not recognize it as genuine. I get constant messages that the product is not genuine and askes me to activate. (Which I've done to no avail). When I go to sites, it may load the original site, but anything I try to visit from there....I get "security certificate is not valid" message and have to click on "go anyway (not recommended". I've been to the MS Help pages and nearly committed hari kari in frustration. It was an hours long bout of Catch 22, sending me back to the same places, asking for the same information and never letting me make any progress at all.

Back in the beginning, before we upgraded, I tried the help phone number. I got an automated program; it gave me a 25 digit number to enter. I did so. It wasn't 'recognized' (or whatever, it didn't like it) and said I'd be connected to a live person. I held. I was disconnected. I gave up.

Further complicating things, I live rural and am on a landline, so I can't be on the phone and doing anything on the computer. And I can't get a dependable signal on my cel while sitting inside at the desk, so I haven't used that route.

Does anyone have any ideas to help me out of this quagmire???? Thank you!

Ok is the version OEM, or retail? is it 32bit or 64? are all the components win 7 compatible?


Ken J

 

[Orbital Shark]

Hi arjay, welcome to the forums

You might want to take a look at the following tutorials

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3408-activate-windows-7-online.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18715-activate-windows-7-phone.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18630-product-key-number-change.html

Hope 1 of them may be able to help you


OS

 

[arjay2691]

Ken J - Don't know what OEM means. I bought it retail at WalMart. 32 bit. My son said the copy of MS Word that he has on my machine is not legit...he thought perhaps I should disable it to see if it would help the problem. I've needed it, so have put off doing so. Could that really be the problem - and not the motherboard?

OS: Thank you for the tutorial info. I'll def folo up.

Thanks to both of you for the interest/advice!

 

[arjay2691]

oops...meant uninstall, not disable.

 

[zigzag3143]

Ken J - Don't know what OEM means. I bought it retail at WalMart. 32 bit. My son said the copy of MS Word that he has on my machine is not legit...he thought perhaps I should disable it to see if it would help the problem. I've needed it, so have put off doing so. Could that really be the problem - and not the motherboard?

OS: Thank you for the tutorial info. I'll def folo up.

Thanks to both of you for the interest/advice!

OEM=Original Equipment Mfr, probably not if from walmart. Yes a non genuine Office can give problems activating.


Ken J

 

[Barman58]

Answer to your non genuine office issue ....

OpenOffice.org - The Free and Open Productivity Suite

 

[Kari]

I think it is important that you understand the difference between security certificates and Windows activation.

A security certificate is something a website can have. For instance when I'm using my internet banking, the bank's website checks that the security is OK before letting me to log in. Most common situation where you get the mentioned "Security certificate is not valid" is when your computer's date and / or time is wrong. For instance, if your computer's time is even a few minutes in the past, you might get a message "Security certificate is not yet valid".

Lot of sites using security certificates use Java to check the validity of the certificate. Please check that your computer's date and time are correct and that you are using the latest version of Java, and install it if needed: Verify Java Version

So, this certificate problem must have nothing to do with your activation problems. It's always up to you to decide if you choose to enter a site even if you get warned about an expired or otherwise not valid certificate. If you know the site, and you are sure it's OK to use it, you can always click "Go anyway". But please remember, getting these warnings continuosly tells something is not correct.

OK, then the activation. You said you need Word, which ATM is not kosher? Uninstall it, and download OpenOffice, as Nigel told here above, or LibreOffice . Both are free to install and use, and can handle Microsoft Office documents without a problem.

Try then the phone activation method as told in Brink's easy-to-understand tutorial, Orbital Shark gave you the link in his post above (Second link in post #3 this thread).

Kari