Windows Activation Issue After Repairing Master Boot Record

[Ghail]

I recently realized my MBR, Master Boot Record, was on the wrong drive, secondary, when trying to install a new HDD as a secondary. I followed instructions to set the primary holding the OS as the active drive and then repair. Several hours later WAT flagged my system as a new computer and blocked my key because it was an OEM even though this is the exact same system it was installed on before and the changes were not in any violation to OEM licensing.

I contacted Genuine Advantage and eventually tech support going through about 9 people and two supervisors as well as the vendor of my OEM which referred me back to Microsoft. Microsoft kept referring me to the vendor but it turns out the vendor had zero control or systems in place to do anything related to this or my key and it was entirely on Microsoft's end. Both supervisors, one for each department, confirmed my WAT was below the threshold and I had, indeed, been blocked only hours after the change which was a 1 hardware change just as claimed for my MBR to primary OS repair and believed my story. Unfortunately, every single one of them kept saying there is nothing they can do since the key is blocked.

My problem is that I do not want to buy a new key and would like to continue using my OEM key or have a replacement because Microsoft violated licensing agreement by blocking my key which was entirely, and verified repeatedly by their own supervisors, completely within OEM license agreement and thus should not have been blocked. This, in short, really is no more different then a reinstallation in the end and what they are doing is, frankly, illegal as it is FULLY within licensing agreement on the exact same hardware. They also confirmed that the key had only ever been used once and that only one hardware change had occurred, drive related as indicated, between installation period and block period of key.

Are there any suggestions on what channels to contact to get this resolved or what I can do? As far as I am concerned even if it is an OEM key if they can not unblock it they need to provide another key, OEM or not, since it was illegally blocked due to an issue on their end that is in violation of licensing.

 

[NoelDP]

Please follow this tutorial and post an MGADiag report - then we can see what the problem is.

http://www.sevenforums.com/windows-updates-activation/234159-windows-genuine-activation-issue-posting-instructions.html

Ignore errors produced when clicking on the Copy button - they simply mean that the tool could not create the backup files for some reason. The data is still copied to the clipboard for pasting to your response.

Please also state the Version and Edition of Windows quoted on your COA sticker (if you have one) on the case of your machine (or inside the battery compartment), but do NOT quote the Key on the sticker!
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/howtotell/Hardware.aspx#PCPurchase

 

[Ghail]

There is no COA sticker for this one. It was acquired through a student software deal with my college. I am running Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1.

Diagnostic Report (1.9.0027.0):
-----------------------------------------
Windows Validation Data-->

Validation Code: 50
Cached Online Validation Code: 0xc004c4a2
Windows Product Key: *****-*****-CJY3P-QBYX6-6FGT4
Windows Product Key Hash: RC6Lp0RBSjox2c92GEQso0OcUY0=
Windows Product ID: 00426-OEM-9403023-08929
Windows Product ID Type: 8
Windows License Type: COA SLP
Windows OS version: 6.1.7601.2.00010100.1.0.001
ID: {49A69EC4-526F-4E7B-8203-BC54D699F984}(1)
Is Admin: Yes
TestCab: 0x0
LegitcheckControl ActiveX: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
Product Name: Windows 7 Ultimate
Architecture: 0x00000009
Build lab: 7601.win7sp1_gdr.150316-1654
TTS Error: 
Validation Diagnostic: 
Resolution Status: N/A

Vista WgaER Data-->
ThreatID(s): N/A, hr = 0x80070002
Version: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

Windows XP Notifications Data-->
Cached Result: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
File Exists: No
Version: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
WgaTray.exe Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
WgaLogon.dll Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

OGA Notifications Data-->
Cached Result: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
Version: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
OGAExec.exe Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
OGAAddin.dll Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

OGA Data-->
Office Status: 109 N/A
OGA Version: N/A, 0x80070002
Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
Office Diagnostics: 025D1FF3-364-80041010_025D1FF3-229-80041010_025D1FF3-230-1_025D1FF3-517-80040154_025D1FF3-237-80040154_025D1FF3-238-2_025D1FF3-244-80070002_025D1FF3-258-3

Browser Data-->
Proxy settings: N/A
User Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Win32)
Default Browser: C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
Download signed ActiveX controls: Prompt
Download unsigned ActiveX controls: Disabled
Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins: Allowed
Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe: Disabled
Allow scripting of Internet Explorer Webbrowser control: Disabled
Active scripting: Allowed
Script ActiveX controls marked as safe for scripting: Allowed

File Scan Data-->

Other data-->
Office Details: <GenuineResults><MachineData><UGUID>{49A69EC4-526F-4E7B-8203-BC54D699F984}</UGUID><Version>1.9.0027.0</Version><OS>6.1.7601.2.00010100.1.0.001</OS><Architecture>x64</Architecture><PKey>*****-*****-*****-*****-6FGT4</PKey><PID>00426-OEM-9403023-08929</PID><PIDType>8</PIDType><SID>S-1-5-21-2875437750-1203500438-1272944990</SID><SYSTEM><Manufacturer>ASUS</Manufacturer><Model>All Series</Model></SYSTEM><BIOS><Manufacturer>American Megatrends Inc.</Manufacturer><Version>1603</Version><SMBIOSVersion major="2" minor="7"/><Date>20140815000000.000000+000</Date></BIOS><HWID>F02A3407018400F4</HWID><UserLCID>0409</UserLCID><SystemLCID>0409</SystemLCID><TimeZone>Central Standard Time(GMT-06:00)</TimeZone><iJoin>0</iJoin><SBID><stat>3</stat><msppid></msppid><name></name><model></model></SBID><OEM/><GANotification/></MachineData><Software><Office><Result>109</Result><Products/><Applications/></Office></Software></GenuineResults>  

Spsys.log Content: 0x80070002

Licensing Data-->
Software licensing service version: 6.1.7601.17514

Name: Windows(R) 7, Ultimate edition
Description: Windows Operating System - Windows(R) 7, OEM_COA_SLP channel
Activation ID: 022a1afb-b893-4190-92c3-8f69a49839fb
Application ID: 55c92734-d682-4d71-983e-d6ec3f16059f
Extended PID: 00426-00188-030-208929-02-1033-7601.0000-1352015
Installation ID: 004325921343641461478593911020820166324752201970089592
Processor Certificate URL: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88338
Machine Certificate URL: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88339
Use License URL: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88341
Product Key Certificate URL: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88340
Partial Product Key: 6FGT4
License Status: Notification
Notification Reason: 0xC004F200 (non-genuine).
Remaining Windows rearm count: 4
Trusted time: 5/17/2015 6:43:47 PM

Windows Activation Technologies-->
HrOffline: 0x00000000
HrOnline: 0xC004C4A2
HealthStatus: 0x0000000000000000
Event Time Stamp: 5:12:2015 20:06
ActiveX: Registered, Version: 7.1.7600.16395
Admin Service: Registered, Version: 7.1.7600.16395
HealthStatus Bitmask Output:


HWID Data-->
HWID Hash Current: NgAAAAIAAQABAAEAAgACAAAAAwABAAEAHKKUXGD8WXraso4U7jTLdNwYfNAK5bI8coq+Qcj2

OEM Activation 1.0 Data-->
N/A

OEM Activation 2.0 Data-->
BIOS valid for OA 2.0: yes, but no SLIC table
Windows marker version: N/A
OEMID and OEMTableID Consistent: N/A
BIOS Information: 
  ACPI Table Name	OEMID Value	OEMTableID Value
  APIC			ALASKA		A M I
  FACP			ALASKA		A M I
  HPET			ALASKA		A M I
  MCFG			ALASKA		A M I
  FPDT			ALASKA		A M I
  LPIT			ALASKA		A M I
  SSDT			PmRef		Cpu0Ist
  SSDT			PmRef		Cpu0Ist
  SSDT			PmRef		Cpu0Ist
  SSDT			PmRef		Cpu0Ist
  BGRT			ALASKA		A M I

Any help you can provide is appreciated.

 

[NoelDP]

All Student deals I know of use Retail (MSDNAA), MAK or KMS Keys - yours isa COA_SLP Key only valid on machines pre-installed with Win7 by the manufacturer.
Does the installed Key match the one you were given? If so, then it's counterfeit.

The installed key has been blocked by Microsoft from Activation and validation.

 

[Ghail]

Feel free to check: https://devry.onthehub.com/WebStore/ProductsByMajorVersionList.aspx

It is through MSDNAA and Dreamspark we get our software. This is the key I got there so, whatever deal, they have going is legit. Even software such as Visual Studio 2008, 2010, etc. can be acquired so I'm not sure why the key would not be counterfeit. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with the specifics such as COA_SLP but as shown it is quite legit. To further enhance on my point both supervisors and another tech all from Microsoft verified that it had only ever been used once, this machine, where this key would have to have been used on an OEM system if it was counterfeit. Beyond this I don't know why it is setup like this. Considering they verified multiple times it had only been installed on one machine with no hardware changes that violate the licence and it was vendored, pretty much directly from Microsoft as proven, they very much appear to be breaking the law by blocking my key which places them in direct violation of their own license agreement. So far I have shown tons of proof to multiple parties involved with Microsoft but I may have little choice then to get in contact with their legal department, which is almost not worth it but this is ridiculous.

 

[NoelDP]

Your install is Ultimate edition - as far as I know, this edition is not a DreamSpark option (I could be wrong!), and the site you pointed me to also doesn't appear to offer it.

ALL COA_SLP licenses MUST have a COA sticker (it's why they are called COA licenses after all!).

 

[Ghail]

Your install is Ultimate edition - as far as I know, this edition is not a DreamSpark option (I could be wrong!), and the site you pointed me to also doesn't appear to offer it.

ALL COA_SLP licenses MUST have a COA sticker (it's why they are called COA licenses after all!).

You might need to be logged in to see more options, the store is a bit different from when I attended and got it over 2 years ago (didn't use immediately just burned to ISO as back up 32/64 bit both). Back then they had pretty much every version of Windows out there, well beyond just Prof/Ult 7/8/XP/etc. Dreamspark didn't have Windows at all back then, haven't checked since. It did have software like Visual Studio and some others. From what I have read COA don't always have a sticker as some are unregistered/unused for a given purpose, but info is lacking overall here.

 

[NoelDP]

The only think I can suggest is that you call the Activation Center, and speak to the operator there, and ask why the Key has apparently been blocked
You will need to be able to quote your full Key, and also these error codes from MGADiag

Cached Online Validation Code: 0xc004c4a2
Notification Reason: 0xC004F200 (non-genuine)

You can call you local number from this list...
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/existing-customer/activation-centers.aspx

 

[Ghail]

The only think I can suggest is that you call the Activation Center, and speak to the operator there, and ask why the Key has apparently been blocked
You will need to be able to quote your full Key, and also these error codes from MGADiag

Cached Online Validation Code: 0xc004c4a2
Notification Reason: 0xC004F200 (non-genuine)

You can call you local number from this list...
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/existing-customer/activation-centers.aspx

Unfortunately, I already called them and the tech center. In both cases I eventually got to the supervisor after multiple calls/personnel and the supervisor for both activation center and tech support verified that my key was blocked because I moved the boot sector from the secondary drive to the primary which caused it to pop WAT and within hours of this change my key was automatically blocked. They both said that despite the fact that my key should not have been blocked they "supposedly" don't have the ability to unblock an OEM key which I know to be bull and thus why I came here before dealing with the legal department. They confirmed only one install, only one hardware change (the HDD), and that I was blocked only hours after the single minor hardware change and was within the threshold for hardware changes which is why it was odd they said.

 

[NoelDP]

MS have never, and will never unblock Keys.
What they can do is issue a new Key, given sufficient proof of ownership. Unfortunately, since you have no COA sticker, you have no effective proof of ownership

 

[Ghail]

MS have never, and will never unblock Keys.
What they can do is issue a new Key, given sufficient proof of ownership. Unfortunately, since you have no COA sticker, you have no effective proof of ownership

I don't need a COA sticker for proof of ownership, however. I can also verify proof via the key I provided them each time which they verified, the fact that it was installed only once ever which they verified, the events regarding the blocking of the key and hardware, the source of the key which is more than enough. A COA for a digitally distributed license is a no go nor is a COA mandatory as proof of ownership. You actually covered my issue regarding OEM and COA in this thread: http://www.sevenforums.com/windows-...-check-proof-ownership-w7-retail-license.html In the end this comes down to their violating the license which is illegal but actually getting the issue resolved with a giant like Microsoft is no easy matter. Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to bag on you. I have seen you try to help people in the past, a lot, when I was looking over information for the issue. I'm just not happy that Microsoft mishandled the situation so poorly and I'm eating it for them.

 

[NoelDP]

There are two types of license for the public - OEM and Retail.
For OEM Licenses, the COA sticker is regarded as the ONLY proof of ownership.
For retail license MS will take other things, such as the receipt from the store, together with other data.

OEM Key with no COA sticker = counterfeit.
The ONLY exceptions are Win 7Pro downgrades from Windows 8 Pro - and MS won't issue new Keys for those anyhow.