Windows 7 ultimate genuine

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true_blue

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Jul 12, 2012
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10,510
Hi.. You're probably all gunna jump to conclusions and say contact whoever but I was hoping some of you may have had this problem before. I really do not want to pay to call ms just to work around their stupid software flaws so I would really appreciate any tips here.

My Windows 7 Ultimate key IS genuine, it came with the PC and has been fine with windows update since 2010 but yesterday I cloned my hard drive over to a new SSD I just bought, and booted up with the SSD, then I changed the drive letter of my old C drive so I could reboot and change my new drive to C. But upon reboot, I logged in and it said "preparing desktop" for a good 2 minutes. Then loaded a 800x600 pale blue windows classic desktop with NO explorer loaded, and a "This windows is not genuine blah" message in the bottom right. So I opened the task manager and started explorer manually, but I couldn't do anything else, like open any program. I noticed that under Users in task manager I was logged in to a console session.

So I thought I would go back to my old drive and do some research, and I can't remember exactly what I did after that but today I booted up and the original installation is also flagged as not genuine now. All because I cloned my drive???

I have read articles about this problem and apparently it is because I changed the drive letters or something but my problem is I can't get back onto the NEW SSD's OS to change the drive letters back.

So I don't know what to do and now I am panicking because both boots are saying it isn't genuine, but it damn well is genuine. I have had windows update on automatic for over 2 years and it has only done this the last couple of days.

Gah.. what a head ache.

Any help other than "call ms" would be great.

Cheers
 
T

true_blue

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Jul 12, 2012
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10,510
Hi, thanks for the reply.

But won't the fresh install just have the same problem?

I was thinking, maybe the license is now moved over to that SSD and knocked the old install off but because I changed the drive letter it is saying its not genuine but for a completely different reason?

So if I fix the drive letter back or do a fresh format it should be ok right?

 
T

true_blue

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Jul 12, 2012
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I didn't think a change of hard drive would be classed as a significant enough hardware change for windows to think its on a different system. It never used to be like that. But I have read others who have had the same problem. If cloning is a bad idea then whats the point in backing up your OS or system restore for that matter?
 
carowden

carowden

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Jul 11, 2012
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generally youre supposed to do a fresh install on the SSD and itll work. i just did this last week and it worked fine. also make sure you only have the ssd plugged in when you do the install then you can plug in the hdd and erase the old copy of windows, if you havent already formatted it
 
ahnilated

ahnilated

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Nov 9, 2006
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All you have to do is enter in the key to the system and you will be fine. When you have a drive change or something that triggers it to cause you to re-register that is all you have to do. Just enter in the activation code and get on with your life.
 
R

rooket

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Feb 3, 2009
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Unlike with XP, if you clone Windows Vista and Windows 7 drives, the key will still be in there afaik but it will be invalid and you have to register it again online (or by phone) with microsoft.

I cloned a drive recently to an SSD and I had to authenticate the key online again. It worked fine.

Remember that retail versions of Windows products can be activated a maximum of 10 times and OEM are suppose to only be activated 1 time (or was it 3? I have had some that activate more than once). But if you have problems usually you can explain to the tech on the phone what you did and they'll help you fix it and you'll be set to go. Sometimes they won't help and will want to charge you for a new key though. I'm not sure if their policy changed or if it just depends on who you get on the phone.
 
M

mesab66

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Aug 5, 2009
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As the others have said --> fresh install - definitely, then, try on-line activation 1st, if that fails you will definitely activate via the automated phone method.
Guaranteed....for any genuine copy.
Remember to optimise windows on the SSD install later.
 
Supermuncher85

Supermuncher85

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Aug 18, 2010
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I've done clones multiple times, but I've never had to change the drive letter so I'm not really sure what you did. Usually when I clone, I replace the cloned drive with the new one and have never ever had a problem with microsoft licenses or had to change drive letters.

edit: so my point, once you cloned, remove the old drive and BOOT from the cloned new drive. Only after it has booted would I attach the old drive to format it.
 
ahnilated

ahnilated

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Nov 9, 2006
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+1 that is exactly what I have done and I have never had to relicense unless you change the drive letter.
 
T

true_blue

Honorable
Jul 12, 2012
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10,510
hey sorry for the delay in replying..

I am not sure what happened exactly, I changed the drive letter of my original OS partition while booted into the new OS partition and then after a windows update restart, the trouble hit. Not sure why changing a drive letter of another bootable partition could cause the problem but as soon as I used Paragon to change the letters back around it worked again.

Maybe some part of windows was still looking for files on the original partition and then when I changed the letter around it couldn't find them.

And no sticker, Brett FYI. I have a home premium to ultimate upgrade disc.

Anyway its sorted now.. thanks for your advice everyone!! :)

Cheers!
 
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boseram9

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Mar 22, 2013
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