Hi everybody today I am going to talk about what to do if you receive the Windows Is Not Genuine alert on your machine. First of all, this message can originate in different ways. Here a few of the scenarios that can cause this annoying alert.
One of the ways that you can receive this message is if the Genuine Advantage windows update scans your computer and finds that you do not have a valid license code on your computer. If you know that the software is genuine then you should be able to get your Windows copy going again with a call to Microsoft. If you have a custom built machine that you purchased from a friend or even a computer shop, there is a good chance you have an illegal copy of Windows installed on your machine. In the latter case, you will have no choice but to purchase a valid Windows key for your system.
Many times when we make big changes to our system including adding hardware or maybe installing a new hard drive, the changes sensed by the system are enough to generate this notice. Other times, you might get it after doing a virus removal. What happens is that the virus makes enough changes to your Windows files to make your operating think that it is installed on a different computer and thus, you get the illegal Windows error. In all cases, Windows System Restore will not correct the problem. What usually does work is a repair install of the Windows operating system. To do this, you will need the original disk that came with your machine. If you do not have one, you might be able to obtain one from the computer manufacturer.
In every case, if you have a good image backup that we have discussed in past columns, you can easily recover from this type of problem simply by restoring your system from the backup you created. This is much easier then a repair install and also you are less likely to loose all your data.
Please note that not all Malware infections will cause this to happen in fact in most cases this will never happen for the life of your machine. There are only certain severe Trojans that will get you into this much trouble. This is just another example of what can happen if you do not clean your system promptly after getting an infection. If you get infected, get professional help right away and avoid the inconvenience of not being able to use your machine.
Author: Joe Zelenak, Staff Writer
I haven’t had to reinstall an operating systems in many many years. I almost had my first the other day. Getting the silly not a genuine …. Turns out it was the chipset driver and didn’t like the upgraded hard drive. Windows timed out the registration after x days (about 90).