Windows 7 all of a sudden not genuine

Self | May 5, 2012

[library user]

Yes, I'm logged in. Tanned, rested, ready, cheese, moose, sister....

I'm trying to help a senior citizen on a fixed income, in my neighborhood, with a computer issue.

He bought an HP desktop back when Win 7 first was issued (I think Nov. 2009) and all was well until about a month ago.

Now, whenever he boots up the PC, a message pops up saying his copy of Win7 isn't genuine.

He's called both HP and Microsoft and each company blames the other.

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

I've heard of a file at Softpedia called RemoveWGA.exe which I've used on XP but never on Win7. Is it safe to use RemoveWGA.exe on Win7?

BitDefender flags the file as a trojan, but I'm pretty sure that conclusion is a false positive.

I see from googling this problem, that many users have a similar problem (Windows all of a sudden saying their software isn't genuine), but I haven't found a cost efficient solution.

This gentleman already paid for Win7 once, when he first purchased the computer, so I would think he wouldn't have to pay for it a second time.

Unfortunately, when he made the purchase, HP did not include a Win7 disc with his shipment (otherwise we could do a re-install).

I know there should be an option to re-active Windows by right-clicking COMPUTER and going to Properties, but he doesn't have this option.

Any tips, suggestions (even "Buy an iPad, you fool!") appreciated and welcome.

Thanks so much.

[Figment]

I’ve never paid for a windows OS disc and was never refused one. I wouldn’t buy a computer without one. If you’re buying from a retailer it is a different matter, you probably won’t get one at Best Buy or Wally World. When buying direct all you do is tell them no disc no sale. There is also no charge as MS requires an OS disc as part of licensing

[RightOnline]

"There is also no charge as MS requires an OS disc as part of licensing."

No, that's fine, and I'm a "must have an OS disk" kind of guy, myself. Your last sentence, though, highlighted above, is not accurate. There is no requirement to provide a disk with every system. There hasn't been such a requirement for a long time now. Still, to your larger point, if you're ordering direct from a Dell or Asus or HP, if you say "OS disk included or no sale", of course they will throw it in (just know that normally there is a price associated with that since the OS is preloaded onto a disk partition by everyone now).

[Paradox]

I still have an Apple II+ somehwere, I had modded it. I was always something of a hacker (original meaning of the word). For that reason, I am all up in PC’s these days.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks library user.

[BuckeyeTexan]

No, I don’t have a clue what number we used. I know that I was trying to update Internet Explorer for her when we got the error messages and phone number.

[buck61]

Then they issued us a new Windows license number. We did that and had no more trouble.

Same happened here. Took over an hour for MS to find the registration. They first denied issuance of the registration from the serial # on my lap top. I would have to say it’s more of a MS problem???

[BuckeyeTexan]

Agreed. If the computer has a legitimate sticker with the Windows license number on it, then MS should resolve it. They tried to charge me (my friend actually) $100 for the new license number, but I raised hell with them about it. I told them we had the physical laptop in our possession with a legitimate license number that entitled us to run a valid copy of their operating system on it. They moaned and groaned about it, but finally gave us a new license number after we provided enough information for them to confirm that we had the laptop in our possession. (MFG serial number and some other things they had us look up.)

[buck61]

They moaned and groaned about it,

I experienced the sane tech night-mare with MS as you describe in your re.

While on tech. issues. I had Direct TV for three years and their service kept getting more expensive each mo. I ask one of the tech’s at Direct why Direct gave so many incentives to new customers and so little to present customers. No definitive answer so I switched to Dish, and surprisingly after a year with Dish I am very satisfied with their service and price. When the tech came to switch from Direct to Dish, he informed me that Dish would do the same at the end of my contract.He said, you have to play their game, and to switch back to Direct at the end of my contract. Don’t understand why in years past, keeping the same customers was the way to maintain good business. The times are a changing.