Windows 7 hanging AND getting Not a genuine version if networked

[UThorn]

I started hitting this problem last week. My PC just freezes. Can't do anything. I have to do a hard reset with the power button to reboot. Once I've rebooted and logged in I have a few minutes at best before things will freeze up again. This is consistent. It is not always consistent that I can power up. Sometimes I also get the "Not a genuine version of Windows" message in the lower right corner. Getting this message also started last week with the freezing. I suspect some corruption has occurred. This IS a legitimate version of Windows. A friend who worked for Microsoft bought it for me from the company store. I tried running in Safe Mode with Networking but it also freezes. If I run in Safe Mode without networking then I can run just fine. Any help is much appreciated. If I can provide any debug data to help I'll be glad to but I need to know what to run and how to capture it. Luckily I have a 2nd PC in my study also running Windows 7 but the wife wants it back. Thanks!

 

[bigmck]

Try doing a http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/700-system-restore.html to a date before you had the problem. If this does not solve your problem, let us know.

 

[UThorn]

I've started a System Restore but I'm worried my PC has frozen again in the middle of it. Should I be concerned?

 

[bigmck]

I've started a System Restore but I'm worried my PC has frozen again in the middle of it. Should I be concerned?

It shouldn't take more that five minutes if that long. It is best not to Power Down during a System Restore, but if it freezes, just Power Down and give the System Restore another try.

 

[UThorn]

I've started a System Restore but I'm worried my PC has frozen again in the middle of it. Should I be concerned?

It shouldn't take more that five minutes if that long. It is best not to Power Down during a System Restore, but if it freezes, just Power Down and give the System Restore another try.

First attempt wasn't successful. Trying again with a different restore point but that one has been running at least 10 minutes already and still going. I literally have maybe 2 minutes normally before it freezes. And that is at best.

 

[UThorn]

Three system restores later and it's still freezing. Any help is much appreciated!

 

[bigmck]

It might be a heat problem. Download this program and monitor the temperatures. It is a free program.
https://www.piriform.com/speccy/download

 

[UThorn]

My PC freezing does not occur when networking is disabled in Safe Mode. If I run Safe Mode with Networking it freezes. I recall seeing somewhere (might have been on Microsoft's website) comments about the "Not a genuine version" in the lower right hand corner being related some register keys and somehow network related. Is any of this familar to anyone?

What exactly do you mean by "monitor the temperatures"? I assume you're expecting a heat spike around the time my PC starts to freeze up. Yes, no, maybe? I have to admit I don't understand how this might be a heat issue but I'll download the app and see what that shows.

 

[bigmck]

What exactly do you mean by "monitor the temperatures"? I assume you're expecting a heat spike around the time my PC starts to freeze up. Yes, no, maybe? I have to admit I don't understand how this might be a heat issue but I'll download the app and see what that shows.

Speccy shows several temperatures. Turn on your PC and just watch the temps until it freezes. If any of them are high, then this might well be the problem. == Are you getting a popup message about the "Not Genuine"? What exactly happens.

 

[UThorn]

I am not getting a popup message. Occasionally, rather than actually booting up into Windows I will get a black screen with the "Build 6701 Not a genuine version" message in the lower right hand corner. When this happens I hard reset and it will usually boot up into Windows but the freeze after appx 2 minutes is consistent.

 

[bigmck]

Have you put the Windows Product Key in and activated the copy of Windows? If not that is a source of your problem. You might also run the Windows Genuine Diagnostic Tool and post the results here. You can get it at this link http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012

 

[UThorn]

I've been running this PC for almost 6 years. Yes I put the product key in when I originally upgraded it to Windows 7. I'll run the Diag Tool and post results.

 

[UThorn]

Bigmck,
I'm not sure what qualifies as "high" on the temps. I barely had time to even get the speccy sw installed before my PC froze. Hard booted again, kicked speccy off and now the system isn't freezing. I see the highest temps on the CPU (probably as expected). They "idle" with me doing nothing at around 53-55 C. I've seen it jump to 66-68 C when I was allowing virus software to update. Motherboard sitting at 40 C and HDD at 33 C.

Any thoughts on what speccy does that might cause my system NOT to freeze? Fyi, I'm looking at the "Windows 7 Build 7602 This copy of Windows is not genuine" in the lower right hand corner of my screen. But at least the system is still running after like 15 minutes.

What next?

Really appreciate the help!

 

[gregrocker]

Work through these Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7 starting with the hardware tests.

If it can't be made stable enough but passes the hardware tests then disinfect and test System files from boot disks from Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start to see if it will start or you can get into Safe Mode.

 

[bigmck]

Bigmck,
I'm not sure what qualifies as "high" on the temps. I barely had time to even get the speccy sw installed before my PC froze. Hard booted again, kicked speccy off and now the system isn't freezing. I see the highest temps on the CPU (probably as expected). They "idle" with me doing nothing at around 53-55 C. I've seen it jump to 66-68 C when I was allowing virus software to update. Motherboard sitting at 40 C and HDD at 33 C.

Any thoughts on what speccy does that might cause my system NOT to freeze? Fyi, I'm looking at the "Windows 7 Build 7602 This copy of Windows is not genuine" in the lower right hand corner of my screen. But at least the system is still running after like 15 minutes.

What next?

Really appreciate the help!

I don't believe you said if it was a laptop or desktop. Laptops run a bit hotter that desktops. If yours is a Desktop and the CPU temp is constantly in the 50 C area, that is borderline high. When you get in the 60 C it is getting in the hot area and 70 C is the danger point of harming your CPU. Specy doesn't do anything to cool the PC. That must be a coincidence. I am thinking that the "Not Genuine" is causing a problem. Since you got your copy from a Microsoft employee, it is probably a MSDN copy. I don't know exactly how you can be affected with that copy, but someone else will come along and comment. I am about out of ideas.

 

[UThorn]

Let's see. After simply running speccy my PC stopped freezing. I was able to allow Windows to complete almost 50 updates. I also got prompted to enter my product code for Windows which I did. The "not an official version of windows" at the bottom right of my screen went away. I ran all day yesterday with not problems. Today, they started again. The freezing, the "not an official version of windows", the freezing. My copy of Windows is legitimate. My friend worked as a development manager for MS. I received the retail version directly from their employee store so it isn't bogus. But I'm lost. I guess I'll just reformat my hdd or buy a new one and reinstall. Sadly, I've got a 500GB HDD that is almost full and I can't even backup my pics and music which is really all I care about on it. :-( I appreciate the help. If anyone has another ideas I'm listening.

PS...Thought I did mention it but if not this is a desktop.

 

[gregrocker]

Did you want to work with us or give up before you even try the steps I gave you? I gave you a series of steps to complete that uncover most problems which you've not responded to. There are other things to try before doing a Clean Reinstall Windows 7 following the steps in the blue link so that you know it was done correctly.

Your files should always be backed up as the hard drive could fail at any time. You get 20gb free space in the Cloud for each Windows Live ID at Microsoft OneDrive. Sync, Backup and Store your Files to the Cloud with OneDrive

Did you try reactivating by inserting the key at Computer>Properties?

Run a full scan with Malwarebytes and SUPERAntiSpyware
after declining trial version during install.

Then run SFC /SCANNOW Command .

Test the hardware and complete the other steps I gave you earlier.

Report back results.

 

[cold iron]

Is the fan on your Video card running?

 

[UThorn]

Sorry Guys, been focused on holiday stuff. I'm willing to try whatever you think I need to do. Here's what's happened since my last post. This PC has run non-stop since my last post but with speccy running. Last week I rebooted and didn't get speccy started immediately and within a few minutes my PC froze as it always does. If I start speccy then the PC won't freeze. I understand this app isn't doing anything but something is happening.

@gregrocker: I can't run anything if I don't have speccy running so hopefully I can run the scans with it running. I'll look at doing the other steps. Looking at tests you wanted me to run I did run full HW Diags just before I posted this original post but it found nothing wrong. I'll run again though per your post.

@coldiron: Not sure. I do often hear a fan start running and then stop. My wife complains about the noise. Maybe I've just gotten used to it. How can I tell for sure?

 

[bigmck]

If you can hear noise loud enough that she is complaining about it, something is wrong. Open up the box and try to identify where the noise is coming from and let us know.