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You may be the victim of software counterfeiting.


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#1
Missemily

Missemily

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Hi,

I've had an eventful week or so here at Geeks. My computer had a virus and one of your members, Maliprog, worked with me to get it cleaned out and running smoothly again. The problem is toward the end of our clean up - the computer automatically downloaded an update requiring a restart of the system and I now have a black screen with a popup telling me that I may be a victim of software pirating.

I'm at a loss at the moment. I tried using microsoft's validation site and various other pages that microsoft directed me to with no success.

This computer was given to us several months ago by a friend as my original computer unexpectedly had a total breakdown and I couldn't afford at the time to get another. I think the hard drive was replaced before it came to us- but I'm not sure.

I'm hoping someone here can help me determine what may have happened and help me find the product key on the system so I can try to match it up with what's on the tower sticker before I try to navigate the microsoft customer service system and get this latest problem corrected.

Edit: Add link to malware thread - Z Malware thread here
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#2
Ztruker

Ztruker

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Can you take a picture of the black screen with a digital camera and upload it here so we can see it?

My first reaction is you still have or have new malware. Need to see the screen to know for sure.

Edit: After doing some searching, it looks like this is real. You definitely need to contact Microsoft. The link Mailprog gave you is what you need but if the Activate Windows isn't there, open a Command Prompt and enter (cut and paste is easier):

c:\windows\system32\oobe/msoobe /a
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#3
Missemily

Missemily

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Hi Ztruker,

I just tried your command prompt and the windows activation window did come up and told me that my software is already activated.

If I understood your post correctly - you think this is a legitimate message I am getting from microsoft. Which BTW confuses me because I've been using this computer for almost 6 months with no problems until I got that dang virus. If that is the case, I need to get legit, so...

Here's another question:

I still have my old computer which had windows vista on it until the video went kaput. Is is possible, legally, to download vista onto this computer and use the key from my old computer to activate it?
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#4
Ztruker

Ztruker

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No, that is not legal. OEM versions of Windows are tied to the hardware.

Can you post a picture of the message?
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