[Magic Fingers]

“He’s called both HP and Microsoft and each company blames the other.”

My daughter’s Gateway has started displaying the same message, which makes me think it’s not the manufacturer’s fault (unless HP and Gateway made the same mistake). So far everything still works so she’s just been ignoring it.

[smoothsailing]

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Installing-and-reinstalling-Windows-7

[Psycho_Bunny]

If they didn’t ship the disks with the computer, there’s almost always a recovery partition.

Otherwise, HP should be able to send the disks for 20 bucks, or so.

[molson209]

program called Autoruns , Winlogin tab remove check from box in Wga.exe I think

or here http://www.aspfree.com/c/a/Windows-Security/Solving-Windows-Genuine-Advantage-Problems/

[BuckeyeTexan]

Had something similar on a friend’s system. We called Microsoft support. They asked for the laptop’s serial number and the Windows license number. Then they issued us a new Windows license number. We did that and had no more trouble.

[Carriage Hill]

Back-up everything, immediately. Seriously, just in case it suddenly takes a dump. There’s a place in the Start/Control Panel to validate Windows; maybe you want to try that? Does he have the “Product key” on the User’s Manual, which came from HP? If not, then you don’t want to do it. I don’t know why they wouldn’t ship the WIN-7 DVD with it. Weird.

[Carriage Hill]

“trojan” Oh, just saw that.

Does he run Norton SW or Norton 360 or McAfee? MalwareBytes? AVG? Did any of them work? I’m not familiar with BitDefender; does that remove virii/trojans/keyloggers?

Just asking what you’ve tried/not tried.

[RightOnline]

PC manufacturers haven’t shipped OS disks for years, folks. The OS resides on a separate disk partition. All systems now have recovery routines to reinstall the OS.

However, that’s not the answer here. As others pointed out, call MS and DEMAND they activate your software. Trust me.

[darkwing104]

Had a similar problem with a gateway. It's usually caused by bulk installation performed at the factory. Computer should have a genuine sticker on it. First try to use that number at the "Control Panel \System and Security \System" screen. Look for the "Change Product Key" link and enter the Product Key from the Label. If that doesn't work you need to reinstall it.

If you need to reinstall the OS with that number and let it register on-line and it should be good to do

If the computer has a system recovery program it will make the CDs to reinstall the OS and needed drivers.

[donhunt]

HP puts a sticker on the case of the PC that has the key for your copy of Win7.
Go to Control Panel/System and enter the key and it should be legit.

[stylin19a]

http://www.sizzledcore.com/2009/10/26/how-to-change-windows-7-product-key/

[smoothsailing]

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

This is a known issue with vista and 7 with some of the updates . right click on my computer . go to properties . there you will see near the bottom of the page activate windows . that’s all you need to do
Source(s):
MCP, A+, Dell Certified Tech

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100310154446AA1BHfo

[Corwin of Amber]

Please, please, please...just buy a Mac. It’ll hurt your wallet, but your heart and mind will shower you with gratitude.

Proud owner of one of the first 10,000 Apple IIgs’s to roll off the line...and it STILL WORKS!

[smokingfrog]

The last time I bought an HP computer, you had to burn your own recovery CD’s. You could also order them from HP for an extra $50 or so. You could probably still do that.

[353FMG]

“Most of the time, his phone calls go to India....”

.
Are you being racist?

Phone calls regarding technical questions in the US are mostly passed on to consultants located in an Asian subcontinent.

There, I corrected you.

[rawhide]

Go to HP and place an order for the recovery disks. I did this last year and it cost me $20 and I received them in a couple of days.
Go here: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=us&docname=bph07143
At this link, go to the section ‘Ordering recovery discs from HP in the United States and Canada’.
That is all you need to do. Very easy.

[Oberon]

Linux is your friend. I’d switch to Ubuntu and never look back... but that’s just me.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

My e machine has been doing that since 2010 e machine and best buy both agree its each others fault and there’s no disc to fix the situation from either so i just use it with the little prompted at the bottom .... but a few months ago it started throwing up big prompts telling me i may be a victim of software privacy and sends me to the microsoft website which is a joke they want to sell me a number for 125 bucks .... and im not the only one that has had this problem they just go on and on !

[Brilliant]

“his phone calls go to India and he has a hard time understanding the tech. support person on the other line.”

The tech support person was probably actually in Los Angeles. I’ve noticed that it’s getting easier to understand the phone support in India, and harder to understand them in LA.

[Excellence]

My Win7 Toshiba came with a “God Mode” folder. I can do anything from there, including make a recovery disc. That's the first thing you want to do out of the box. Then use it to reformat the disk and remove all the store installed crap. You will have a clean machine.