Windows 7 not genuine Error (Screen Turning Black)

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Windows 7 may sometimes been detected as illegal, not genuine,or Pirated despite the operating system has been genuinely bought from market. Then it shows a message immediately after log on, the following Windows Activation window will be displayed:

Windows is not genuine
Your computer might not be running a counterfeit copy of Windows.
0×80070005

not-genuine

Moreover, the computer desktop background is turned to black, after some time of logging in and the following error message is shown on the bottom right corner of the screen:

This copy of Windows is not genuine

activation message

When you try to view the system information in System Properties (Control Panel -> System and Security -> System), the following error message can be seen:

You must activate today. Activate Windows now

Using slmgr.vbs /dlv or slmgr.vbs /dli in an elevated command prompt with administrator privileges to view the licensing status will return the following message instead:

Error: 0×80070005 Access denied: the requested action requires elevated privileges

Normally, the suddenly or random deactivation of an activated Windows 7 on genuine platform can be resolved by simply restarting the computer, so thatWindows 7 can re-access the activation status to return the computer to activated status. However, in some cases, where modification has been done to HKU\S-1-5-20 registry key causing the Network Service account to lose and missing full control and read permissions over the registry key, the losing of activated status may happen on Windows 7 too.

Microsoft explains in KB2008385 that the possible cause for the Windows 7 turned pirated error is likely the result of applying a Plug and Play Group Policy object (GPO):

Computer Configuration -> Policies -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> System Services -> Plug and Play (Startup Mode: Automatic)

The Windows 7 Licensing service uses Plug and Play to obtain hardware ID information and binds the license to the computer, thus change to the setting can result in an activated system appearing to be out of tolerance. The default permissions of the Plug and Play policy do not grant the Licensing service, which runs under the Network Service account, the appropriate rights to access the Plug and Play service. To fix and resolve the Windows 7 activation lost issue, and make the Windows 7 activated and genuine again, just follow one of the two Methods stated Below:

Method I: Disable the Plug and Play Policy

1. Determine the source of the policy. To do this, follow these steps:
2. On the client computer experiencing the activation error, run the Resultant Set of Policy wizard by clicking Start -> Run (or press Win+R keys), and entering rsop.msc as the command.

run rsop service

3. Visit the following location:

Computer Configuration -> Policies -> Windows Settings ->Security Settings -> System Services

policy set

If the Plug and Play service is configured through a Group Policy setting, you see it here with settings other than Not Defined. Additionally, you can see which Group Policy is applying this setting.

4. Disable the Group Policy settings and force the Group Policy to be reapplied.

* Edit the Group Policy that is identified in Step 1 and change the setting to “Not Defined.” Or, follow the section below to add the required permissions for the Network Service account.
* Force the Group Policy setting to reapply: gpupdate /force (a restart of the client is sometimes required).

Method II: Edit the permissions of the Group Policy

1. Open the Group Policy that is identified in Method I, Step 1 above, and open the corresponding Group Policy setting.
2. Click the Edit Security button, and then click the Advanced button.
3. In the Advanced Security Settings for Plug and Play window click Addand then add the SERVICE account. Then, click OK.
4. Select the following permissions in the Allow section and then click OK:Query template
Query status
Enumerate dependents
Interrogate
User-defined control
Read permissions
5. Run gpupdate /force after applying the permissions to the Group Policy setting.
6. Verify that the appropriate permissions are applied with the following command:sc sdshow plugplay
The following are the rights applied to the Plug and Play service in SDDL:D:(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;SY)
(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)
(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;IU)
(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;SU)
S:(AU;FA;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;WD)Note: (A;;CC LC SW LO CR RC ;;;SU is an Access Control Entry (ACE) that allows the following rights to “SU” (SDDL_SERVICE – Service logon user):A: Access Allowed
CC: Create Child
LC: List Children
SW: Self Write
LO: List Object
CR: Control Access
RC: Read Control
SU: Service Logon User

If there are no GPO’s in place, then another activity may have changed the default registry permissions. To resolve this problem, perform the following steps:

1. Click Start Menu, Then Run, then enter REGEDIT
2. Right-click the registry key HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-20, and select Permissions… button.
3. If the NETWORK SERVICE is not present, click Add… button.
4. In Enter the object names to select type Network Service and then click Check Names and OK.
5. Select the NETWORK SERVICE and Grant Full Control and Read permissions.
6. Restart the computer.
7. After the restart, the system may require activation. Complete the activation.


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How to Remove Windows Genuine Notification

I recently again came up with the situation that Windows Genuine Notification popped up because Windows Update again installed it via Automatic Updates. It pops up while a user logs in to windows, displays a message near the system tray and keeps on reminding you in between work that the copy of windows is not genuine. It has been reported since its first release that even genuine users are getting this prompt, so Microsoft has them self release instructions for its removal. When I searched on Google about this issue, I landed up on pages which were providing many methods of its removal including those patching up existing files with their cracked versions which I would highly recommend avoiding them as they might contain malicious code and can be used to get you into more trouble.

I found out this method of removal of Windows Genuine Notification :

1. Launch Windows Task Manager.
2. End wgatray.exe process in Task Manager.
3. Restart Windows XP in Safe Mode.
4. Delete WgaTray.exe from C:\Windows\System32.
5. Delete WgaTray.exe from C:\Windows\System32\dllcache.
6. Launch RegEdit.
7. Browse to the following location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Notify
8. Delete the folder WgaLogon and all its contents
9. Reboot Windows XP.

But the latest version of the WGN tool is a little tricky to handle. It will pop up again as soon as you end it from the task manager and while it is running in the memory, you can’t delete it too.

Here is how I did it :

* Ignore Step #2 of ending wgatray.exe before restarting to Safe Mode as it serves no purpose.
* At Step #4, wait on the deletion confirmation dialog box and then open task manager to end wgatray.exe
* When you are again prompted for a confirmation for terminating the process, align that confirmation box over the delete confirmation box.
* Press Yes on the Task Manager prompt and then quickly press Yes on the deletion confirmation. (You need to repeat this if you miss it)
* If you did it quickly then you will be able to delete the file.
* Step #5 can be missed. I was able to do it without the Step #5.
* Complete Step 6 to 9 as instructed.

After you have followed all the above instructions, then

* Go to Control Panel > Security Center > Automatic Update Settings.
* Select the third option “Notify me but don’t automatically download or install them“.
* Click Ok.
* Now when Windows Updates icon will appear in the system tray (it will take some time), click on the icon and it will display a list of available updates.
* This time unselect the checkbox of Windows Genuine Advantage Notification Tool, and click on Download.
windows-genuine-notification
* Select “Don’t notify my about these updates again” so it will ignored every time updates are downloaded.
* From the next time, make sure to check the list of download so that you might not install any new version of this tool.