So… all I did was to install a SSD, and MS messages are now insisting that I’m somehow “not running genuine Windows” even though NOTHING else has changed. It’s the SAME copy of Windows 7 that came with the computer… right clicking Computer, then choosing Properties, then going to Windows Activation SHOWS that it’s activated… this is SO annoying. (The IMHO part is coming up, I guess…) All of MS’s messages imply that I’m an evil pirate who stole Windows 7, when this exact same thing MUST have happened to a lot of other people too (going by all the online complaints, anyway.) :mad:
Anyway, back to the strict facts-- what am I supposed to do now?? I have the activation key, but it already SAYS that Windows has been activated!!! All advice appreciated.
No… I haven’t seen any phone numbers. The main thing that doesn’t make sense to me is that my computer SAYS that Windows is activated!! (Okay, that’s not the only thing that doesn’t make any sense, but it’s up there…
There’s also the new 4K sector issue. New hard drives (SSD or traditional) come formatted with 4K sectors because it’s more efficient for storing large files (and on average all files in general have gotten larger). When you clone a non-4K drive onto a 4K one weird things can happen
I looked at all the links-- I really, actually did! Some of them made me afraid. :eek:
I tried the one that involved the command line (#3, I think,) but it didn’t accomplish anything. The same message is still coming up. I’ll try to conquer some of my fear of the others…
I suppose anything is possible, but I haven’t seen this. I’ve installed one SSD on my own laptop and a different one on a friend’s. Both SSDs had the Advanced Format 4K sector alignment and the initial partition restore was misaligned and fixed later. I was running a retail version of Win 7 Pro and the other person an OEM version of Win 7 Home Premium. Neither one had a problem. While misaligned there were no Windows complaints and everything ran normally. That’s just my anecdotal experience, not saying it can’t happen.
A friend was having some serious Windows 7 issues a while ago and we did a repair install and ended up getting a similar message. I believe the online activation actually failed but as it was some time ago and I was helping them over the phone I’m no longer sure of the exact sequence of events. I know for sure that the “Windows not genuine” message was popping up. In their case for whatever reason there was a Microsoft 800 number to call for phone activation, and it resolved the problem for us. Perhaps you can get to it via the “resolve online now” link. You may need to deactivate (or there may be an “activate with different product key” option which I remember seeing somewhere) to go through the phone activation process.
Googling the error code 0x8004fe21 throws up many in the same boat.
Microsoft has every right to key code their systems, but it seems to allow false negatives easily.
Good luck.
After three and a half years, people are still reading this thread. To leave spam, anyway.
(The issues never did get fixed, btw, and after investing literally dozens of hours at the least, I gave up and got another computer.)
The number of times I turned it back off and on approached the limit of infinity. After spending many, many, many dozens of hours on the problem, including at least five separate phone calls to MS support, which lasted about eight hours in total (no, I’m not kidding, not if you include all of the time), and which ended in my offering to just drive the computer up to their call center in Bellingham WA, because it’s about two hours from my house, it all finally ended. I was considering building a time machine to return to the point where the entire thing last worked, but that didn’t work out too well for Homer Simpson, so I decided against it. I heard rumors that a giant centipede that was around during the Silurian era could have helped me with the Google Ultron thing, but at some point, you do just have to move on.
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