Nearly 1 year ago I was having issues with my laptop so I tried to do a complete system restore, which did not work. I went to the Spybot forums and received great help removing the malware that had infected my system. I'm now having issues being able to update Windows 7. Every time my laptop installs the update my browser stops working. I keep receiving a popup from Windows Activation Technologies telling me "This computer is not running genuine Windows". When I follow the link it wants me to purchase Windows. I can't see spending $150 on another Home Edition of Windows when I have a key on the sticker right on the bottom of my laptop. Can someone please help me?
For that message that you see from MS it is telling you your Windows has not been Activated of course, so you will need to activate it with the MS key code, this code can be on a DVD but on yours you might want to pull the battery out and look in the empty space, this is where some company's put it at, remember though that that key is only good for that paticular Windows version that was pre-installed on your notebook, so if your notebook came with Windows 7 Home it will only activate with that version of Windows on it and so on, if you have an origional Windows 7 disk say like 7 Pro and have the key you can use that and update from 7 Home with no problem but the key for the paticular version of Windows is needed in either case, some times even doing the web activation can throw a snag in there like that but you can always call the free MS phone activation number and go that route which is simple, at least for me it has been, I think also that the virus you had before may have infected your Sam files or something and that is why you are getting that error message as well, so find your Activation key and try again.
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If this computer was bought pre-installed with Windows 7 then there is a good chance you may have a Hidden Factory Recovery Partition on it or they also may have a tool to make yourself a set of Recovery Disk, different manufatcures have different ways to get to it, perhaps you can tell us the brand name and model number of your notebook as they also have different ways on boot to get to the Factory Default setting which will guide you on the way you want to Restore it if need, but I do suggest that you save all your important pictures, documents, files…etc to a thumb drive or a DVD or some sort of media before you do that, this is only a last resort if it comes to that.
Keep us updated as to what you find out, and you may want to go to the malware topic here and make a post for malware removal.
I have a Dell Inspiron N7110. This came pre-installed with Windows 7 Home Premium Edition. There is a sticker right on the bottom with the product key. There shouldn't be any malware as I had assistance getting it removed. I don't have any CD's or boot disks.
It seems like this "Windows Activation Technologies" alert is telling me my version of Windows looks counterfeit for some reason, like my product key is not active or something. Is there any way to activate, or validate, my current product key so I can update Windows properly?
I have had that happen to and had to do the free phone call to activate, the process goes like this, they ask for each set of your Activation Windows key you have and then you will get a response to key type their code into each box, if the code you give them is right, , it will give you a ding sound and a chance to repeat if you didnt hear it the first time, if you did hear it then you will put that code they gave you into the Activation box, this go's on till you reach you last key code and if everything matches Windows will then be activated and you will be able to update after that, if this is a legit computer pre-installed you should have no problems, but as of now they are very busy with Windows 10 and glitches can and will happen, I dont know where you are located but there should be a number to Activate by phone in the Activation help when you can't activate online.
Lets go from there, is there a phone number they give you if you cannot activate on line.
I only asked to get to the malware forum just encase you may have picked up something along the way since then, just wanted to be sure is all and thanx for the update
Ok let's go at this a different way, have you done any hardware updates…ram, hard drive, motherboard ? Windows doesn't like it when you change your hardware and you could get that message, but I have not seen that since XP days, on one of my computers I am running Windows 7 SP1 and have changed ram my hard drive (many hard drives) and even my CPU and never recieved that after activation and had no problems downloading MS patches even after a new install, I guess I have been luckybut that is where the Authenication part will drive you nuts and your Windows 7 is legit, so then you would have to talk with them by phone, a real person and not a recording, do not let them charge you because you do get a couple of freebies the first few times, this is their product and when you get a glitch like your having this is on their side and no fault of yours.
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What are you trying to download from MS ? If it is Win 7 SP1 you can download it manually from below and burn the ISO to a DVD then go that way to install it if you don't have SP1 already. I will wait till I hear back from you and then we can move on from there.
7 SP1 Manual Download
You know this already but why pay for a Windows 7 key when you can upgrade to Windows 10 for free, but lets get you going first with 7.
I went to the link posted above and ran the fix. First problem found was "Service registration is missing or corrupt" and second was "Problems installing recent updates". It said both issues were fixed. I also ran the command prompt and it said "Windows 7 Home Premium Edition. This machine is permanently activated".
I installed all of the Windows updates and rebooted. Again, I'm having the same issues. Adobe tried to update and couldn't because IE can't go online. I know the laptop has Internet access because my weather app still works and I can get online with my game. This is extremely frustrating! I'm an avid Diablo III gamer and I can't download the new patch due to this issue.
Have you tried any other browsers, like Fire Fox and look in IE from the Tools up in the Menu bar and select Internet Options then select the Connections tab and then Lan Settings…if Automaticaly detect settings is not check marked, check mark it then select OK uinless you are going through a Proxy, also in the Internet Options select the Security tab mine is set to Internet yours might be different, check the Trusted sites then select the Sites box and add the Adobe url to it and if your game is on Steam add that site as well.
Right now I am on Win XP so some of the above may be different than what I said but should be close to it, I will be on Win 7 in a bit and check my IE settings there and if they are different I will edit the above.
Even after the updates I still receive the pop up from Windows Activation Technologies. I have to restore to the point before I installed all of the updates just so I can go online. Without having the current updates for Windows I can't update Adobe and can't update Diablo III to the new patch. Do I just need to call Microsoft support and if so, what is the number? I've never had to do anything like this before.
