Message on Laptop Display - "Windows Not Genuine"

Will a big lawsuit come up now between Windoze and MallWart?

I've had some issues with Windows up dates. Most likely got corrupted in transfer over the internet. Should be able to re-enter the key which is usually on a label stuck on the case some where. May have to start it in safe mode to get the screen for the key to come up. In safe mode you can also hit repair. Most the newer computers have a partition with all the software that was originally down loaded. Information it's looking for should be in it.

I had this problem with a copy of win7, went back to vendor and got a cd with the fix on it...seems like this is a common problem...Unfortunately the fix had a conflict with my antivirus program....this slowed the computer way down, so I had to eliminate antivirus programs...went back and forth with this for a couple of years, finally just bought another computer which I use primarily, and the old one for some stuff occasionally, mostly offline...

That's exactly what you'd expect Microsoft would want you to do..!

Ubuntu. Just do it.

I had the similar problem wight after a Windows update. Toshiba. I don't think I got a black screen, but definately got a notification and "30 days" to fix it.

At that point, I did a system restore to an earlier point and the problem went away. I then applied updates piece meal and again, all was OK.

It happened again, but this time I didn't panic. It resolved on the next boot.

I think part of the problem, is that wireless takes so long to connect on boot, Windows can't re-update the validation. My theory, anyway.

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Ububtu has troubles on Toshibas with KB backlights. Because of an HD crash, I'm currently running UBUNTU Live CD, Not too bad, but just as unstable as Windows. I loose the trackpad once in a while (fixable). System freezes once in a while (NO fix). Lots of CD accesses, system freezes (no fix). Had a few equlivelent of "blue screens". Wireless is very finicy.

UBUNTU is new to me, but Solaris, PDP-11 Unix is not and neither is Cyqwin.

If you are having those kinds of problems with Linux on this machine, then you may have some other hardware troubles. Take a look at the logs in /var/messages and see what is going on before the live CD freezes. The ONLY time I have had a freezeup with Linux was a hardware issue. I was fooled once by a very large file transfer/background operation but those can be seen by running "top" at a terminal. Hit Alt-F1 to get another login prompt and run top from there. You can also do a clean shutdown or sudo and kill other processes or unload drivers to figure out what is hanging you up.

All *nix-es are alike in the same way all BASICs are alike. You should be right at home if you know the others and will have a short learning curve.

I had the same issue a while back and the issue was directly tied to Windows Internet Explorer 8 imbedded anti-piracy features.

I unloaded IE 8 and the problem went away until my wife upgraded to IE 8 again.

To solve the issue permanently I booted in safe mode, checked for compatibility issues, and had to purchase 3 updated software programs including a CD copy of windows 7 that all had the license file on the disc.

The "big box" marts use single copy license with multiple seats and Microsoft sees all software that does not have the license key onboard as pirated copies.

@DEEFBURGER

Thanks. Alt-F1 won't bring up anything even when the system is goos. Nothing in var/messages now. Can I move the directory /var/messages to Flash? When it does it's CD thing, I can't bring up the terminal. Problems are very rare. 1-2x per week. Flash has been the only thing extra typically installed. I have been getting errors with Flash where it cannot stream content. It does give an error number, like 10xx. Flash won't be developed for Linux anymore. Only bug fixes.

I had something like this happen to me years ago. It started with a 30 day clock and finally when the deadline hit, my computer went into a frozen mode.

I was told that Microsoft doesn't do this anymore, especially for Windows 7. So my next thought is that you may have some kind of virus on your system. Just a thought, but you may want to check it. It doesn't make sense that your system was fine until just recently (you've had it for over 3 1/2 years). If Microsoft was going to shut you down, they would've done it years ago.