Please help reinstalled win7 and 30 days later says copy of windows is not genuine

[jbonekilla]

Hi im kind of a newbie here. I was having lots of issues with windows so found link on pcworld how to reinstall win without the disc (seeing as how asus gave me no disc or anything) here http://www.pcworld.com/article/248995/how_to_install_windows_7_without_the_disc.html. i used keyfinder to retrieve key donloaded and installed entered key and 30 days later pops up saying windows install not genuine. When i go to start, computer, system properties and try to enter key again it says... the software licensing service reported that the computer BIOS is missing a required license... what to do now? any help would be much appreciated. my pc is asus. Thank You!

[HiVizMan]

Could you list the product that bought please. I would strongly advise taking your system to the retailer that you bought it from.

[fneske]

Edit: This advice has been deprecated. It most likely won't work for UEFI/BIOS license problems. See below.

Have you seen the first google response from seaching "Activate Windows 7", http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activate-windows#1TC=windows-7 This tells you how to activate once you have the product key, although I vaguely remember being able to reactivate Windows (XP) on the same computer even without a key.

Your product key *should be* on a sticker on your computer since you reinstalled without a disk. It will have a Windows logo on it. The one I have has real tiny printing and noisy background. I need a magnifying glass and bright light to read the code. If you can't find the key, HiVizMan's advice applies.

I am kind of befuddled about the "BIOS missing a required license" message. From my (limited) experience, there isn't such a thing as a BIOS license and even if there was, it would be up to a motherboard manufacturer to enforce it, not Microsoft.

[Praz]

fneske wrote:

Your product key *should be* on a sticker on your compute

there isn't such a thing as a BIOS license

This is incorrect. There is no license key sticker on the laptop. The Windows key is embedded in the laptop's UEFI (BIOS).

[fneske]

Praz, I checked out what you said on google. You are correct about Windows embedding the key in the firmware. Apparently, from reading the associated posts, removing or changing it in the firmware is not easy, either.

Now you've got me wondering whether this embedded key is even the same one that's on a sticker somewhere on the computer. Apparently the solution I gave above is a few years out of date. However, the Windows OEM license for the computer I built two weeks ago *required* me to put the license on the case.

Edit: I don't know enough about UEFI to say anything meaningful that would help jbonekilla. The more I look at it the weirder it gets. I don't know whether the Microsoft key has anything to do with the UEFI key, for example. Thank you, Praz, for pointing out my ignorance.

[billyray520]

Without knowing what the OP is working with (computer wise) how can anything be said with certainty? Does he have a brand new Asus mobo or an older notebook?

I know that both my G73jh and G73SW both came with a license key on the bottom of the notebook.

I also know that I put in a new SSD on the SW and installed a downloaded copy of Windows Home (originally on that notebook) and used the key on the bottom of the notebook. I was required to call Microsoft to verify though.

Both of these notebooks have MBR ssd's, not UEFI. Just sayin' 🙂

[copasetic]

Code: 0xC004F063
Description: The Software Licensing Services reported that the computer BIOS is missing a required license.
Win7 Ultimate 32bit to 64bit upgrade with 32bit OS verified since last year. No hardware upgrades or mods, no flashing.
I used Token to save the key and have the sticker as well. MS techs went into my system remotely, gathered information including download history then made changes and reboted. It didn't change a thing and I've had no follow up.
Dell Optiplex 7010 with i5-347@3.20

I have an Asus with similar problems due to not registering it in time (never turn Win on and leave for 3 months...). Not much help yet, but at least we know it's not unique to our systems. What they put in the BIOS and where is something I'd like to know, as well as if there's any suggested way to back their official copies up.

fneske wrote:
Edit: This advice has been deprecated. It most likely won't work for UEFI/BIOS license problems. See below.

Have you seen the first google response from seaching "Activate Windows 7", http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activate-windows#1TC=windows-7 This tells you how to activate once you have the product key, although I vaguely remember being able to reactivate Windows (XP) on the same computer even without a key.

Your product key *should be* on a sticker on your computer since you reinstalled without a disk. It will have a Windows logo on it. The one I have has real tiny printing and noisy background. I need a magnifying glass and bright light to read the code. If you can't find the key, HiVizMan's advice applies.

I am kind of befuddled about the "BIOS missing a required license" message. From my (limited) experience, there isn't such a thing as a BIOS license and even if there was, it would be up to a motherboard manufacturer to enforce it, not Microsoft.

Praz wrote:
This is incorrect. There is no license key sticker on the laptop. The Windows key is embedded in the laptop's UEFI (BIOS).

fneske wrote:
Praz, I checked out what you said on google. You are correct about Windows embedding the key in the firmware. Apparently, from reading the associated posts, removing or changing it in the firmware is not easy, either.

Now you've got me wondering whether this embedded key is even the same one that's on a sticker somewhere on the computer. Apparently the solution I gave above is a few years out of date. However, the Windows OEM license for the computer I built two weeks ago *required* me to put the license on the case.

Edit: I don't know enough about UEFI to say anything meaningful that would help jbonekilla. The more I look at it the weirder it gets. I don't know whether the Microsoft key has anything to do with the UEFI key, for example. Thank you, Praz, for pointing out my ignorance.