When I turned my PC on this morning I got a series of error messages, then the screen went black and a message in the bottom right hand corner of the screen said something to the effect that 'this copy of windows is not genuine, build number 7600'? The machine was frozen, I forced a restart and after logging in, a series of boxes opened telling that my copy of Windows is not genuine. Did I want to do something about now, or later? I clicked later.
It seems to be running ok now. What should I do now?
TIA
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where did you get the PC?
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Everything is kosher.
The PC is a Novatech, bought brand new about two years ago.
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Have you installed anything lately?
Try going back to a previous restore point.
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>>
>> Try going back to a previous restore point.
>>
How do I do that?
Is it worth restarting and if it asks, allowing the validation process to run?
I think something similar happened several months ago and I allowed it to check that the copy was genuine.
I have the certificate of authenticity stuck on top of the PC.
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Letting it run should be the way to go. Even if you revert to a Restore Point, it'll simply repeat itself later when the update is applied or whatever caused this to start.
So pretty much let it run if it wants to - assuming its genuine. And it sounds like it is, but perhaps scanning the machine for malware first might be smart.
Also, I wonder why it is doing this.
Nothing recently installed? No changes to the default language pack? No configuration changes?
Last edited by: No FM2R on Tue 29 Oct 13 at 09:40
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>>How do I do that?
Google 'How to System Restore'. Seems to resolve most of my problems.
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>> >>How do I do that?
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>> Google 'How to System Restore'. Seems to resolve most of my problems.
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even quicker (probably..) go to Start menu > Help and Support and type 'system restore' in the Help search box.
Yeah System Restore has saved my ass a few times :-)
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Update.
I am typing this on my laptop.
Recently Yahoo Mail gave itself a new image. I found that I could not get it to autosuggest email addresses. After lots of Googling I managed to solve that problem. Part of the solution was to empty cache, clear browsing data, delete passwords, remove cookies etc. When the drop down box opened I checked all the boxes.
When I restarted the machine I had no passwords saved, but the autosuggest feature worked in Yahoo mail. So a result there. This all happened over the last weekend and Monday morning.
I am now running a full scan on the PC, I don't remember ever doing this before. There is a message on the screen. "Preliminary scan results show that malicious or potentially unwanted software might exist on your system. You can review detected items when the scan has completed."
So, wait and see what the scan produces I suppose.
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Has the computer even been reinstalled? Some dodgier places are known to use a dodgy CD to reinstall because they cannot be bothered or don't have the resources to do it properly.
What security software are you using?
Also have you checked the date? A failed CMOS battery can cause lots of strange problems.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Tue 29 Oct 13 at 12:18
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Has it been reinstalled? No.
MSE. Full scan running now.
Date? Yep, that's correct.
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Further update.
Just completed a full scan - crikey! That takes some time.
MSE found two problems:-
Trojan Dropper Win32 Rotbrow A
Trojan Dropper win32 Rotbrow D
Both items removed. Touch wood, it seems to be ok.
Thanks for all the advice.
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Errrrr
Whilst its good you found and got rid of them,
Neither of those Trojans contain a payload that manifests with the "Your copy of Windows is unlicensed" symptom.
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>> Errrrr
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>> Whilst its good you found and got rid of them,
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>> Neither of those Trojans contain a payload that manifests with the "Your copy of Windows
>> is unlicensed" symptom.
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If the "Your copy of Windows is not genuine" thing comes up again, I think I will follow the validation procedure.
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I used to get this with an old PC because, er, it wasn't a genuine copy of windows..........
Got the pop up message every time I switched on but the computer worked fine, just wouldn't do any updates etc. There was one program that it wouldn't allow to work, probably Windows media player...
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MSE doesn't work on none genuine copies either, which sort of makes me think Windows validation has already passed. I know I have seen this exact issue before but I cannot remember how I cured it.
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>> I used to get this with an old PC because, er, it wasn't a genuine
>> copy of windows..........
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>> Got the pop up message every time I switched on but the computer worked fine,
>> just wouldn't do any updates etc. There was one program that it wouldn't allow to
>> work, probably Windows media player...
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That's strange, this PC refuses to run .wmv files, it just freezes.
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>> That's strange, this PC refuses to run .wmv files, it just freezes.>>
I use the Windows Essentials Codec Pack:
www.mediacodec.org/
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Had this many years ago with an XP machine. An MS update installed something called Windows Genuine Advantage, which nagged.
I found several sites with instructions for removal, but my links now don't work.
Don't know if its a similar issue, but Googling "wga removal tool" brings up a lot of sites.
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>> >> That's strange, this PC refuses to run .wmv files, it just freezes.>>
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>> I use the Windows Essentials Codec Pack:
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>> www.mediacodec.org/
I use VLC. Plays anything.
www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 30 Oct 13 at 14:45
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My dad's laptop (bought direct from Dell) does this. Started immediately after installing Adobe Elements. Neither Dell nor Microsoft want to know. A clean reinstall won't activate. I believe the next step is to sue Dell's UK arm in the SCC.
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Not a Genuine Copy of Windows? - Zero
