Piracy is a big issue in the software industry. The people who suffer are the legal users and the manufacturers. Bonafide clients of Windows may get error messages while receiving updates or when connecting to Microsoft's website. A person may be a genuine customer with a software license and unique key, but some unauthenticated person may also be using the same key. If this is the case, there is no short route to tackle the problem. So the genuine customer using a licensed Windows software should take preventive measures to avoid such a situation. One needs to go to the Validation page and complete the validation requirements.

Common Issues

If you get this type of message when connecting to Microsoft's Website or making updates for Windows :"you may be a victim of software counterfeiting ". Though you have legally bought a license for Windows, it may be due to the fact that someone else is using the same key (acquired it through some illegal method). Note that it would be a very time consuming process to handle this type of problem.

How to Verify That Your Windows Is Genuine

Upon getting a new PC with Windows validate your license key to limit the risk of getting this type of message.

Right click on Computer and select properties

Click on the link below the small certificate "Ask for Genuine Microsoft Software]

This will open the Validation page

In the Validate Now section, select the Validate Windows option.

On the next page select the Validate option: this will download the legitcheck.hta utility. Simply run it to start the Validation process. If the first option doesn't work, then use the second one : Microsoft Genuine Advantage Diagnostics.

The validation tool works only with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Netscape browsers.

From there follow the instructions to complete the validation.

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