"Your version of Windows 7 is not genuine" notice

[Kruse]

I've got a computer that isn't used to much anymore except for when we have to use the scanner/printer on it or when my son plays some games on it. It's a home built system that I put together 4-5 years ago and has been a reliable system, except for a bad stick of memory when I initially assembled it. The Windows 7 OS that I used is a genuine copy.
Anyway, a couple of days ago it had a really slow start and gave me a notice on the screen that said "Your version of Windows 7 is not genuine", although maybe it wasn't worded exactly like that. The notice went away soon after that and I guess I haven't used it enough after that to notice if it has any additional problems or not. I get all of the Microsoft recommended upgrades.
So would this be a virus, spyware or just a Microsoft hiccup?

 

[dparm]

Sounds like a hiccup. It probably re-activated itself online that same day.

From an elevated command prompt, you can run "slmgr -ato" (no quotes) to verify activation.

 

[94astro]

I have had that happen before, just a glitch, be sure your Windows is updated & yes run a scan, can't hurt

 

[ClutchDisc]

Had that happen on a vista computer before, right before the OS crashed and was never the same again. (had to reload the OS every time you went on the computer) I ended up wiping the computer and installing Linux. Anyway hopefully it's just a glitch for you and nothing more.

 

[Wolf359]

I think you can just go to My Computer or wherever there's a help menu and in there is a Is This Copy of Windows Legal? menu item and see what it comes back with. If it's just a one time glitch you should be ok. If it says otherwise....

 

[DBMaster]

Uninstall Windows Update KB971033 and hide from future update choices. Been there and done that.

 

[rjundi]

I called Microsoft and somehow they remotely activitated it after I issued a local command.