The Windows 7 Home Premium product key you typed is invalid for activ-

Philosophy6 · 24 Nov 2011

ation. I get these messages every 7 minutes or so along with another one less frequently (I forget what it says). And at the bottom of my desktop says ' Windows 7. Build 7601. This copy of Windows is not genuine.

When I got new parts for my pc (CPU, mobo, video card and power supply) my hard drive didn't recognize my upgraded computer, and the only option to solve this was system restore, but it said that a Windows CD was required for this, which didn't come with my computer that I got from HP 2 years ago. So my brother just used another CD he burned, and probably downloaded from the internet, to install Windows and use the CD key on my case.

Now that I've installed Windows 7 it's become very glitchy, with random BSODs and freezing and video card problems etc. Now, I have these windows that pop-up telling me to give Microsoft $150 in order to get rid of them. So, if I used a valid CD key from a downloaded version of Windows can it still be genuine? If not, I may buy a copy of Windows 7 just to pray it'll fix all the problems I'm having atm. Also, I created a cd install of my computer from before it was upgraded, but I lost it so if I found it then everything should be fine. Please help if you can, I'll answer any questions you may need.

Maguscreed · 24 Nov 2011

If you got a key without paying for it, it's fake, it's pretty much that simple, you may have been able to make your original key work by using the phone option to activate, but from the sound of it you've messed with things now using a key whose source I'm blurry on.

NoelDP · 24 Nov 2011

Philosophy6 said:

ation. I get these messages every 7 minutes or so along with another one less frequently (I forget what it says). And at the bottom of my desktop says ' Windows 7. Build 7601. This copy of Windows is not genuine.

To properly analyse and solve problems with Activation and Validation, we need to see a full copy of the report produced by the MGADiag tool (download and save to desktop - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012 )
Once saved, run the tool.
Click on the Continue button, which will produce the report.
To copy the report to your response, click on the Copy button in the tool (ignore any error messages at this point), and then paste (using either r-click/Paste, or Ctrl+V ) into your response.
- **in your own thread**, please
Please also state the Version and Edition of Windows quoted on your COA sticker (if you have one) on the case of your machine, but do NOT quote the Key on the sticker!
How to Tell - Home

NoelDP · 24 Nov 2011

Maguscreed said:

If you got a key without paying for it, it's fake, it's pretty much that simple, you may have been able to make your original key work by using the phone option to activate, but from the sound of it you've messed with things now using a key whose source I'm blurry on.

The OP stated that he used the COA Key on the case - which he had paid for, in his initial purchase.

The problem arises possibly because of the source of the disk - many torrents come with unwanted hangers-on, by way of trojans and suchlike.

There are legitimate downloads available, whic MS don't seem to mind people using, but possibly the best option is for Philosophy6 to purchase a set of Recovery disks from the manufacturer, and clean install using those.