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25 April 2019  Ashley S. Miller  Specialist of Customer Service Dept.
 

Summary
Many users have encountered the error “This copy of Windows is not genuine” displayed in Windows 7. How did this happen? Read this article and you will get the reasons and solutions of “This copy of Windows is not genuine” error.



Reasons of “Windows 7 Is Not Genuine” Issue

Windows 7 background suddenly changes to the black screen and there are watermarks like “Windows 7 Build 7601/7600” and “This copy of Windows is not genuine” in the bottom-right of the black screen. How does this happen? This error occurs when you are running the Windows 7 that’s not genuine or your license got expired. Besides, this error occurs due to Windows update KB971033. If you are running a genuine Windows 7 but “This copy of Windows is not genuine” issue occurs, you could refer to the following solutions to fix that.

this copy of Windows is not genuine
Please note that the following methods are provided for the users who use original Windows but still encounter “This copy of Windows is not genuine” issue. We hereby call on everyone to support genuine Windows!

How to Fix “This copy of Windows is not genuine” issue in Windows 7

Solution 1: Perform the “SLMGR –REARM” Command

Generally, users could use all Windows functions and will not get the error message like“This copy of Windows is not genuine” in the trial period. Performing the “SLMGR –REARM” command, you could extend the trial period to continue to use all Windows functions.

SLMGR, a management tool licensed by Windows, is mainly used for managing system activation, keys and license. When SLMGR works with the REARM command, Windows will get licensed again.

Please note that Office probably will not work properly if you perform that command and you may be prompted to restart Windows because Software Protection Service has been reset. In this case, the issue will not be fixed until Office is reinstalled.

Step 1: Click start menu and type in “cmd” in the “search program and files” box. Right-click the cmd.exe and select “Run as administrator”.

Tips: If you don’t have administrative privileges, it’s suggested to create an administrator account at first.

run command prompt as an administrator in Windows 7
Step 2: In the Command Prompt, type in: SLMGR –REARM. Press Enter.
extend Windows trial period
Step 3: Once the above command is performed successfully, you will be prompted to restart the PC. Just quit the command prompt and restart the PC.

After the PC restarts, you will see that “This copy of Windows is not genuine” error has gone.

If the 0xC004D307 error occurs after PC restarts, please go on to the following steps.

Tips: The 0xC004D307 error means that the maximum allowed number of re-arms has been exceeded.

Step 1: Press “Win” + “R” key to open Run box. Then type in: regedit.exe. Press Enter.
run regedit exe and open registry editor
Step 2: Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform.
Step 3: Double click “SoftwareProtectionPlatform”. Then double click the “SkipRearm”in the right pane. Change the value to 1 and click “OK”. Finally, restart the PC.
change value in skiprearm

Solution 2: Uninstall Windows Update KB971033

The following method can fix “This copy of Windows is not genuine” error on volume-licensed Windows 7 clients that had KB971033 installed. But please note that Removing installed Windows update can cause data loss. So it’s suggested to back up your PC before Windows update is uninstalled.

Want to get a more reliable way to back up Windows 7? It’s recommended to use Renee Becca. This tool not only can back up personal files from the PC but also back up the operating system including system files, users profile, applications, system settings, etc. The latest version of Renee Becca supports Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP. For more details of how to use Renee Becca, please refer to the guide for Windows 7 backup and recovery.

open Renee Becca in PC
After your PC is backed up successfully, you could start to uninstall the Windows update KB971033 following the steps as below.
Step 1: Click start menu and click “Control Panel”.
open control panel in Windows 7
Step 2: Click “System and Security”. Then click the “View installed updates” option under “Windows Update”.
view installed updates in Windows 7
Step 3: Double click the Windows update KB971033. When a window pops up, click “Yes”. Then restart the PC.
Uninstall Windows Update KB971033
Step 4: Run the following commands in a Command Prompt as administrator.

Tips: In the first “cscript” command, replace the “KMS client key” with the actual key. Want to get more information? Please refer to the details of KMS activation and GVLK key.

net stop sppuinotify
sc config sppuinotify start=disabled
net stop sppsvc
del ％windir％\system32\7B296FB0-376B-497e-B012-9C450E1B7327-5P-0.C7483456-A289-439d-8115-601632D005A0 /ah
del ％windir％\system32\7B296FB0-376B-497e-B012-9C450E1B7327-5P-1.C7483456-A289-439d-8115-601632D005A0 /ah
del ％windir％\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SoftwareProtectionPlatform\tokens.dat
del ％windir％\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SoftwareProtectionPlatform\cache\cache.dat
net start sppsvc
cscript c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs /ipk KMS client key
cscript c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs /ato
sc config sppuinotify start=demand

Here are KMS client keys:

Operating System

KMS KMS Client Keys

Windows 7 Professional

FJ82H-XT6CR-J8D7P-XQJJ2-GPDD4
Windows 7 Professional N

MRPKT-YTG23-K7D7T-X2JMM-QY7MG

Windows 7 Professional E

W82YF-2Q76Y-63HXB-FGJG9-GF7QX

Windows 7 Enterprise

33PXH-7Y6KF-2VJC9-XBBR8-HVTHH
Windows 7 Enterprise N

YDRBP-3D83W-TY26F-D46B2-XCKRJ

Windows 7 Enterprise E

C29WB-22CC8-VJ326-GHFJW-H9DH4

Disclaimer and Reminder of Risks

On a global scale, millions of people are using pirated Windows, especially those that are living in developing countries with relatively low economic levels. Using unofficial cracking way to activate Windows is a violation of intellectual property rights in any countries and regions.

In Japan, the laws of intellectual property rights have been established well and punishment is harsh. The individual, who uses pirated software, violates the rules and even made a more severe crime such as theft, will face up to 10 years in jail and will be fined up to ten million yen.

In United State, intellectual property is valued mostly. According to the Title 17 of United State Code concerning intellectual property rights, those who copy system and software without authorization may bear civil and criminal liabilities. Civil lawsuits can cost thousands of dollars in damages, while serious criminal charges can result in a felony record with up to five years in jail and a fine of up to 250,000 dollars.

China, as a member of developing country, also severely deals with the conduct of making pirated software via intellectual property laws.

According to the past cases exposed by Microsoft’s legal department, Microsoft usually doesn’t take legal action against individual software pirate. But Microsoft will take legal action against large organizations and enterprises that widely use pirated software.

In conclusion, those using pirated Windows system definitely violate Microsoft’s intellectual property and trademark. The individual or organizations that use pirated software probably will not lead to a lawsuit from Microsoft. But Microsoft retains rights to take legal actions against the software pirates. We hereby recommend you to support genuine Windows.