Not Genuine Validation Message

All replies

• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  Hello Conners1509,
  
    Your Vista is showing as Genuine.  The problem is with your copy of Office
  
  the Microsoft Enterprise 2007 is Non-Genuine.  It was installed using a Blocked Volume Licensce Key (VLK). VLK software is not sold to consumers (and do not come pre-installed on computers from Dell or any other Manufacturer), but are designed for large organizations that need 10s 100s or 1000s of Office installs.  In this case the VLK is Blocked from use at the request of the organization that owned the key. They informed Microsoft that the key had either been stolen, lost or leaked to the internet. The origanization received a new key and this one was Blocked for Use. 
  
    The reason you hadn't see the Non-Genuine message sooner is that Office doesn't have any anti-piracy systems other then Activation and this pirated Product Key is a Volume License Key that doesn't require Activation.  The only way for you to have found out that the Office was Non-Genuine would have been if you had gone to http://Microsoft.com/genuine and click the 'Validate Office", gone to the Office Download site and attempted to download any validation protected content or by installing the Office Notifier. It turns out that Microsoft recently released the Office Notifier thru Windows Update and it is what is notifying you that the Office is Non-Genuine

    Now, I am Not accusing you of piracy. There are a number of reason why your Office would be using a Pirated key. The three most common are:

  1) You may have bought the software from a unscrupulous seller who sold you pirated software.
   
   In which case I recommend, if possible, contacting that seller and demand the Genuine Microsoft software, that you paid for or at least a refund. I also recommend submitting a Piracy Report at http://microsoft.com/piracy

  or

  2) You had your computer worked on (by a repair person, a friend or that smart kid down the street) and in the course of fixing the PC, they had to reinstall Office.  Instead of contacting you to get the proper Product Key, (maybe due to not knowing it was wrong or due to laziness) they downloaded it from the internet.
   
   In this case, you probably have a Genuine copy (and Product Key) of Office, you just need to uninstall the Non-genuine one and reinstall the software using the proper (Genuine) Product Key

  or

  3) A repair person, a friend or that smart kid down the street may have thought they were doing you a Favor by installing a copy of Office on your computer, "for Free".  But in fact he/she installed a Pirated Copy.  It's all togeather possible they didn't know they were doing anything wrong and thought they were just being nice.
   
   In this case, the best way to resolve the issue would be to uninstall the software and if you still want to use Office, buy it from a trusted retailer or online store.

  
  Thank you,
  Darin MS

  • Proposed as answer by Darin Smith MS Thursday, February 25, 2010 8:28 PM

  Thursday, February 25, 2010 8:28 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  Hi Darin,
  
  Thanks for your response. In reply to your message, I purchased the computer direct from Dell with Vista and Office pre installed on the machine, so unless Dell are a unscrupulous seller that rules out option 1.
  
  I have not had anyone working on my pc to repair it or needed anyone to install office on the pc as it was pre installed so that rules out options 2 and 3 you suggested.
  
  Any other ideas??
  
  Regards,
  
  Craig.

  Friday, February 26, 2010 3:33 AM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  Hi Craig,
  
    No, but Dell did not include a Volume License Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 in a computer they sell because Enterprise versions are not sold to the general public and Volume License Keys are only supplied (by Microsoft) to the buyer of a Volume License Agreement.  Since this Volume License key never belonged to Dell, they would have to have downloaded the leaked key from the internet. This is extreemely unlikely for a multi-billion dollar company to do.
  
    However, If Dell did sell you this PC with this Pirated version of Office, then they would, at that point, be considered a unscrupulous seller. If Dell had charged you extra for that pirted copy of Office, I recommend contacting them, provide them a copy of the invoice, a copy of the dell documentation that this pirated office's Product Key came on and a copy of the above Diagnostic Report and demand a full refund. In addition, if Dell directly sold you this pirated copy of Office in a PC they built, I would further recommend submitting a Piracy Report at http://microsoft.com/piracy.
  
    Before you do this, I highly recommend that you first try uninstalling the Pirated Software and then reinstalling the Office making sure to use the software and key that Dell provided. Once done, go to http://microsoft.com/genuine and click the Validate Office button. 
  
  a) If the result show a Non-Genuine Blocked VLK version of Office, then you can be sure that Dell was the one that provided the bad software. 
  
  b) If you receive a result of Genuine, you know that the Blocked VLK copy of Office (that is currently installed on your computer) is not the Office that Dell provided.
  
  Thank you,
  Darin MS
  
  

  • Marked as answer by Darin Smith MS Friday, February 26, 2010 9:06 PM

  Friday, February 26, 2010 8:58 PM