[SOLVED] Checking Genuine

How to know that my copy of windows 7 is genuine or not? Please help. Many thanks

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...-is-validation

The truth is, it can show valid for a while and then in 3 or 4 months Microsoft flags it as invalid; often because bogus sellers can sell the same key many times or they use technet keys which can't legally be sold or even used for anything but testing.

So if you want to be sure it's safe then you buy from a reputable seller and you keep the receipt. And if you still show valid after 4 months of regular updates then you're likely legitimate.

Possession of the original installation disk is a good clue. And/or, so is the official sticker on the case if factory installed.

And even then, after the initial 90 days from first registration, the Windows Activation Technologies scheduler (KB971033) may throw up its arms and call you, a character of fine upstanding, a thieving toe-rag of a pirate. Even possibly after the next 90 days, and again, and again.

Thus sending you into a tumult of emotions, searching for how you can assure Windows (and yourself) that the genuine Windows product they (or one of their fine agents) sold you is, in fact, genuine.

I'm guessing the bit about every 90 days ad infinitum, as, after it copped me out, and searching for help on the web, where a more amateurish (must be, didn't know what to do) type of forum may shout "Pirate! Burn (ban) him!" (and they did) I found true help.

The more enlightened forums knew how to ask questions before "jumping" to conclusions. This is one of them. Windows 7 Forums another, Microsoft Answers yet another. seven forums (spit!) wasn't.

So the good news at least is that if you get "stung" by this sudden accusation of piracy, and you are innocent, at least you have come to the right place. You'll be aided in the cleansing of your fine character. And most likely be told to disable the W.A.T. scheduled tasks.

Peace and Harmony be with you.

(And if you are a pirate, may you burn in hell!! )

This is very rare, especially with Windows 7. And typically only happened if you made several hardware changes.

And while I can imagine it would be frustrating (it has never happened to me and I make changes all the time! ) those it does happen to are most often in the wrong - either intentionally or through negligence - and surprisingly, are the ones who yell the loudest, thus making it appear to be a bigger problem than it really is.

I agree 100%. Not just because it is stealing, but because these people often fail to keep their systems updated for fear of being caught. And so their machines are primary target for badguys looking for new machines to infect, compromise and take over and then turn into spamming or malware distributions machines to use against the rest of us! Not cool!

I don't think it takes several hardware changes. I've had to re-activate after switching hard drives. Once was while I connected a hard drive to make a complete backup image of that drive.

If that was the boot drive then that would make sense as you then either had to reinstall Windows or you suddenly exposed the Windows on that drive to a whole bunch of different hardware.

But having to re-activate is a different warning than being told your copy of Windows is not genuine too. So there are several factors here. In any event, it still does not happen often. The vast majority of legitimate users will never see those type error/warning messages.

Does a Sata cable class as hardware? (A. Suppose it does, it ain't software!).

A cable is considered hardware but then it's not considered changing hardware. Changing a cable is actually replacing the same hardware not changing it. Purchasing a motherboard the same model as a replacement is not considered a hardware change.