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Changed motherboard on gateway computer get message windows 7 not genuine?
Hi .
I am very frustrated , my computer's motherboard had to be replaced because the housing that holds the processor's heat sink broke , I bought a new custom mobo and installed , only to be told that now my computer is not genuine , windows is offering me a new license for 150 dollars or so , but I payed for the license when I bought the computer ? I can't find a phone number to call gateway or even microsoft to explain .
It is very annoying as it is constantly telling me this message and it kicks me out of movies and full screen video games every 30 minutes or so , it has also erased my desktop screen .
Please help .
2 Answers
- braydenLv 79 years agoFavorite Answer
It is because the activation process of Windows is tied directly to the MOBO's (motherboard) mac address. When you activate Windows, it grabs the mac address, and registers it with Microsoft's server. So the Windows 7 + mac address of PC = activation for your computer. This is how Microsoft tracks the Windows to insure it is not being used multiple times without multiple licenses.
So all you have to do now is just contact Microsoft and explain that you bought a new MOBO, give them the new mac address, and they will update their database.
here is the contact info. It may seem like a frustrating process, but really it's not. I've had to do it several times for MOBO replacements at work, and I've never had a problem with microsoft.
http://support.microsoft.com/contactus#tab0
I use the call option vs email because it's faster.