non-genuine copy - help!

Hello all

I have had Win 7 64-bit on my laptop about a year now, it's the Ultimate version since I need encryption.

Then recently my copy has become 'non-genuine' and it says I need to activate it. I originally bought the licence/key from a seller on eBay.

I've tried re-entering my product key on-line but it says "the product key you typed has been blocked from use by Microsoft". I've also clicked 'buy a new product key on-line' on the same window and it just takes me to a Windows 10 link with no clear ways to buy.

So my question is: 1) how do I get my Windows 7 activated again without a fresh install, or upgraded to Win 10 WITHOUT a fresh install, and 2) I still need bitlocker encryption also so how do I ensure this?

Thanks!

You can use media creation tool to upgrade to 10 with no data loss then buy a genuine key from ms

- Before you do anything, BACKUP your data on an external disk without encryption.
- You have to un encrypt your laptop drive before you do a downgrade to Win 10 pro.
Had seen may people loosing all data because they have not done it right.

And you need to buy a license key for Win 10 Pro for activation.
BitLocker (Windows 10) | Microsoft Docs

If your laptop came with Win 7 PRO, you don't need to by a license, you can install win 10 pro and use the key from the COA stiker.

I use Truecrypt myself only because it has been audited. I followed that audit closely as I have used Truecrypt for years. Other than a few flaws and some sloppy code, TC is fine to use. The flaws were about Evil maid where a hacker can boot a USB stick with Evil maid, infect the boot loader or something and the next time you boot your computer and enter the password it's recorded. Then the hacker returns to your computer and reads the password that was stored on the drive.

To help mitigate this, if you use a laptop you can set a password for the hard drive. You simply can't read nor write to the HDD without the HD password, and in my Dell, if a manufacturer password is supplied the HDD self-erases. So I'll know I'm compromised. With a desktop you can set an Admin password and prevent the booting of USB devices. This isn't perfect, but it's better than nothing. If the password is erased or changed, you'll know you're compromised. In which case don't enter your TC password.

Since Bitlocker is closed source you don't know if there's a back door or not. Where's TrueCrypt or Veracrypt are open source so the code can be examined.

As to Windows not being genuine, read this: This copy of windows is not genuine fix: 3 working methods - Dr.Geeky

But your key was bought on eBay so it's SOL. You need to buy the key from M$.

samuria said:

You can use media creation tool to upgrade to 10 with no data loss then buy a genuine key from ms

This worked seamlessly, even with bitlocker. The whole process to Windows 10 worked flawlessly, and after buying a new windows 10 key I now have a fully activated Windows 10 system, without having to re-install or do anything crazy. The upgrade worked a treat, first time

My guess would be that the key someone sold you was then sold to someone else, maybe more than one other person. When Microsoft detected that the same key was used by multiple computers, they invalidated that key.

kdoggy said:

I originally bought the licence/key from a seller on eBay.

That was your first mistake.