"I'm using a loader and yesterday I installed Windows Updates and now my computers telling me my copy of Windows is counterfeit, Why???" I see messages like this in the forum frequently and for the life of me I can't understand them. On the one hand you have users who are clever enough to bypass their Windows activation using a loader, yet they are not clever enough to protect themselves from downloading updates that will destroy their loader installations. Users who use a loader should have automatic updates disabled as a rule of thumb. Secondly, these users should be aware of countermeasures taken by Microsoft to thwart their loaders as well. As we speak and most are aware of as it has been talked about in practically every forum related to Windows 7 on the WWW, Microsoft has released an update, KB971033. This updates purpose is to detect your loader and present you with annoying messages stating that you are running a counterfeit product. With that being said I see users out there stating they knew about the update, yet install it on their machines. Even funnier, these users don't know how to remove it hence they are forced to rebuild their PC's in anger, not coming to the understanding that the work they created for themselves is their fault. Just to add, not many out there seem to have a known good backup image of their PC, furthur compounding the situation as they have nothing to restore if trouble strikes. Simply put, users who choose to delve into using loaders or any type of activation hacks need to be aware of countermeasures taken by the companies who create the software. If your not willing to put in a little time to be aware of some of these simple cracks in the road that are inevitable, you should be instead buying a license rather than wasting your time endlessly rebuilding your PC again and again. Remember, money comes and goes but you only get one life, don't waste it building your computer over and over again.
As i have suggested somewhere else on this forum, somebody knowledgeable about loaders and activation and deactivation, please please make a sticky on how to deal with this non-genuine problem for those using loaders, post-WAT. Its amazing the no. of people who are expending their energy to answer the same question over and over again.
Simple................... All it takes is two(2) things to accomplish this simple goal Disable Windows Automatic Updates When applying updates, be aware of what updates affect activation. If one of those updates appear as a needed update for your computer, simply uncheck the update since you would not like to install it, then right-click on the update and select "Hide this update". As an extra precaution, take disk images regularly. Worst case, you can restore yourself back to a working known-good state.
what's the best way to do a disk image? can I store it on a second hard drive and restore from there? should I just disable system restore and use disk images instead?
Use any partition manager/backup software such as Acronis, Paragon, Norton etc etc. A second disk is a good idea - backups and restores run faster. I use as my primary data also so re-install of OS is a no-brainer. Acronis is my choice - you can create a hidden backup partition and access acronis at startup - faster than a CD boot - and it has a "Try and Decide" mode where you can see if something works without harming your system - it creates a temporary virtual system and discards changes if you decide to. Even Windows backup can save a complete system image. System Restore only works if Windows works - an image can save a totally corrupted system from - say - malware attack etc - so disable system restore. There are other alternatives as well
Windows Activation I have an old DELL laptop with 640 RAM which is running Windows 7 Ultimate and I have had it set since September without any problems my friend says since it is a pen 4 it isn't easy for Microsoft to check it's status?
should I do the disk image with the loader installed or before the loader is installed? also, I know sometimes there will be a separate partition for booting, on my current install there is no separate partition for booting. what is the difference between having the separate partition and not, and how does that affect doing the disk image? so i'm confused there too obviously.
i know a lot of people are learning but what gets me are the ones who have tried every method under the sun i.e. loader, remove wat etc and after trying say 3 or 4 things then come for a bios mod and then proceed to insist it doesnt work right. well its not with all that stuff already on there. also the ones who used pre activated versions and swear up and down they never installed a loader. how do you think that version was pre activated lol...i dont mean this in any way to offend anyone i just find it funny and sometimes people here will get upset due to they are trying to help but dont know whats really going on inside your system's windows
They also think that the "non-genuine" status will magically clear itself They didn't gather that something active (validation) happened to turn it non-genuine, so you're going to have to revalidate after you fix what ailes you. I believe one of the "this is a pirated copy" dialogs even have a "fix" button that will revalidate. And the other option is to rearm. But a lot of people seem to think the machine is permanently hosed if it was found non-genuine.