Suddenly I have an illegal copy of Windows 7

Reinstall Windows 7 from the recovery partition and update it this time.

No Windows 7 machine (None, Zero) that we have and we update loses it genuine license.

Run the MGA diagnostics tool as admin and post the output - or have a read through yourself, it should describe what's changed.
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012

Did you try System Restore to restore your PC back to the state before the issue ?


Windows 7 System Restore:

Restart Windows and just before the Windows logo appears  keep tapping F8 till you reach the boot menu. If you missed, restart it again. Select Repair Your Computer and Enter.  select "en" for English and then in next menu select Admin and type Admin Password, then go to System Recovery Options, then select System Restore.

To LVL98:  I am glad to know that none of your Windows 7 PC's have this issue.  But something somewhere at sometime made my OS illegal.  Are you saying it could be a virus?

It could be a virus and that could have come from not updating because many of the updates were security updates.

Also fair to say it is not a Windows 7 issue.

To MASQ:  The attached file contains the information you requested.  It has some "mismatched" and "tampered" file entries.  Are they the source of my issue, and if so, I suppose I will have to do a restore, right?

You should restore from the recovery partition to correct this

To LVL98:

I stated above that I did (and still do) have automatic updates turned on.  So it would seem that there was no patch for this issue.

depends what they are -
This is how to attach the file
http://support.experts-exchange.com/customer/portal/articles/755943

I misinterpreted your statement about updates (sorry about that). But I still think you should consider restoring from recovery. Dell machines should not lose their licencing like that.

Here is the output.
MGADT.txt

Looks like your drivers for Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST)  - your SATA drivers -  have been updated and Windows thinks you've got new unlicensed hardware.  Otherwise your validation checks out as perfectly OK.

This is a direct link to the older Windows 7 drivers from Intel (Version: 11.7.0.1013 ):
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/downloads/eula/22194/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-?httpDown=https%3A%2F%2Fdownloadmirror.intel.com%2F22194%2Fa08%2Fiata_cd.exe

But depending which XPS you have it's probably better to go to the specific Dell support page for your machine and install theirs.
Look for the most recent on the Dell site for Win 7.

Any clue as to how my SATA drivers got updated.  And should I be concerned about the tampered and mismatched file entries?

Pretty sure this isn't anything malicious as the drivers flagged are all consistently part of the RST install, it's tricky knowing when this happened too as Windows Validation doesn't happen every time you reboot an OEM system; if fact most often unless there's a major breach of validation protocols a change like this won't get flagged for many weeks when Windows next "phones home" to confirm it's still legitimate.

Intel's RST drivers are known culprits for causing good OEM systems to appear bad but I think Microsoft may also have a part to play in the story when they push security fixes which use generic RST drivers when OEM drivers are meant to be in place.

before you do anything, could you provide information as to how the illegal version of windows 7 manifests itself, i.e. you get a prompt in a browser while visiting sites on the net, or do you have a display in the bottom right indicating your version of windows is not legal or something to that effect?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/15087/windows-genuine
often windows updates were pushing an update that verifies authenticity of the OS installed version.

I suspect from the comment that it is potentially a Phishing, fake web site asking you to call an 888- number to resolve your issue.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2008385/windows-7-displays-windows-is-not-genuine-with-an-error-code-of-0x8007

@arnold - this is WAT error# 0x8004FE21 it's very different from the phishing scam, see the output from the MGA Diagnostics posted above.

@keyboard53 - here's another user with an XPS8100 like yours with the same issue :)
https://windowssecrets.com/forums/showthread.php/182731-Fix-or-replace-seven-year-old-Win7-desktop

see if the following link leads to validating your OS.
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012

calling dell, was a BIOS update performed shortly before this issue arose?
http://pilot.search.dell.com/XPS%208100
check your BIOS version against the one on this page....

I restored the system to before I updated System Mechanic on 9/19/2017.  This did NOT get rid of the pop-up message.  This restoration, for some reason, also broke Google Chrome.  I had a difficult time getting that reinstalled because the installation program kept telling me Google Chrome was still running even after I had uninstalled it.  After several hard restarts, I was finally able to get Chrome installed and running again.

I reran the diagnostic tool after the restoration.  Attached is its output.

To my knowledge, there have been NO BIOS updates on this machine.  

Could this issue be caused by a Microsoft patch?  I'm asking because this was a "remedy" I encountered while search the Internet  before contacting Expert Exchange.  It recommended uninstalling this patch.  Unfortunately I do not remember which one.
MGADT2.txt

There are no Windows 7 updates that cause this particular error, so there must be some other error with the operating system.

To LVL 98:

You seem to have more confidence in Microsoft than I do.  How can you be so sure that Microsoft Is not involved somehow?

Just curious, particularly when I've had to back out Microsoft patches in the past on desktops and servers.

Because I have a Windows 7 machine right here that I ensure is fully up to date and it has never lost its activation. We have many client Windows 7 machines that are also reasonably up to date and they have never lost activation.

Also I / we have not had to back out Windows 7 workstation patches.  A couple of server patches in 5 years (say).

Procmon, process explorer, https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/
To identify the process that triggers the popip.
Could you capture the image, alt+prnt scrn

To LVL 98:

I am glad to know that your experience with Microsoft desktop operating system patches has been somewhat easier than mine.

Not all versions of user desktop software is compatible with all Microsoft patches, hence the need to back out some of those patches.

To Arnold:

I have executed ProcMon but it generated a lot of entries.  

Is there something specific I can look for in its output?

John is the person's name, lvl <> is merely the current level based points got many valuable comments to other askers.

The point John outlines is not a subjective opinion.
An impact of an update would be uniform through out the echo system of Windows 7 installed base. XPS has a large base as well.

Going back trying to capture the first occurances of this prompt, then looking at installed updates, apps right before that event.
The other possibility might be the corruption of items.  What happens when you attempt to revalidate the OS?

Process explorer is a taskmgr like, it includes a target like tool, that San be used by clicking on the window of the popup, it will highlite the process responsible for it.

The error masq pointed out 0x8004FE21 trying based on your attached file to figure out the cause,

Check eventlog, system, do you have disk events?
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/windows-activation-error-0x8004fe21/b6df51f2-23e1-451c-874c-3ef65532f077?auth=1

Potentially dying drive, the media returning unstable data, out of abundance of caution, make sure you have a good backup just in case.

Get the HD vendor diagnostic tools, checking smart status in addition to the suggested chkdsk, and sfc in the NS answers link.
7 years is possibly about 2 years if not 4 beyond the HD lifespan.

Sorry about the name error for John.  I will not make that mistake again.  

I'm just saying that I've had issues in the past with Microsoft patches not being compatible with all user desktop software. As I've said, I've had automatic updates turned on since I've had this machine and just wanted to offer the possibility one of Microsoft's updates could have caused the issue.  

Let's bury the hatchet shall we regarding our differences of opinion regarding the quality and compatibility of Microsoft patches and move on.

By the way, the hard drive is less than 6 months old.

Also, how would I go about validating the OS?

Attached is a document that may shed more light on my situation and thanks to everyone thus far for their help.
Pop_Up_Message.docx

Did you reinstall or clued, transferred OS from one drive to the other?
Prior drive was failing..
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/revalidating-windows-7-after-hardware-change/70211bbb-229e-427d-8f99-2c11367260b7

Saw, but do not recall the correct command to run that will revalidate the OS.

I may have missed this.  Did you reinstall the RST drivers?

I did a Carbonite mirror image transfer from the dedicated mirror-image drive to the new drive once the old drive failed.  It should be noted that I had help from Expert Exchange to accomplish this.  I will also say my PC has been running fine for months without any validation messages.

When I tried to validate my OS license over the phone, I was told that the numbers that were displayed on the screen were not for a valid product.  

No I have not reinstalled the RST drivers.  I did access Dell's website, but it was not obvious to me if the drivers were available and if they were, which ones to install.  I will have to call Dell.

Please let us know after you contact Dell.

Check the COA sticker the OS. Contacting Dell might be your next step as John pointed out. While it is long out of warranty, the OS they provide with the product key has to be legit. I think they have to support.

It might be that DELL AND ms REACHED AN AGREEMENT, AND ERRONEOUSLy retired certain OEM keys/etc.

Dell at this stage the only one who can resolve the issue, i.e. issuing you a new COA/Install media, product key.
Or an installed OEM key that is shared by you, was used to upgrade to a windows 10 system, and that caused these issues.....

not  sure why MS told you it was an invalid key versus telling you that it is a DELL OEM key and you should reach out to Dell to address/resolve your issue.

if you have any recently image Backup of your PC  you can use it now to fix this.

Thanks very much to everyone for their assistance.  I have several options to try and I will let you know regarding my progress.

Stay tuned....

Thanks to MASQ for providing me with the link for the proper drivers for my machine.  I was able to download and install them plus restart the machine without incident.  Unfortunately, this did not get rid of the pop-up message.

However, I may have eliminated the pop-up message, but I really do not like the solution.  Within Bing I found several YouTube videos recommending ways to get rid of this annoying message. The first one recommended that Windows update KB971033 be uninstalled, the "slmgr -rearm" command be executed as an an administrator, and (this is the part I do not like) turning off automatic Windows updates.  I suppose this last step is to keep KB971033 from being reinstalled.

I say "may have eliminated the pop-up message" because it hasn't appeared since I took the above steps at midnight last night.  But just because I haven't seen it in a while,  does not mean it can't reappear after some time has passed.  It really is random in terms of when shows up.

Based on his experience, I know that John is adamant about this not being a Windows-update related issue.  I respect that, but I can only relate that the message has not appeared for sometime.  I'm also painfully aware that turning automatic Windows updates off is not a good idea.

I will keep you informed as to what I find out from Dell (I still plan to call them) and if/when the pop-up message returns.  

There just has to be a better solution than one that includes stopping all Windows updates from being installed.

Any thoughts?

With the RST installer you will need to reboot at least a couple of times.  See if a restart helps.

I have turned automatic Windows updates back on primarily to keep current per John's suggestion, but also to see if KB971033 is reinstalled and to see if the pop-up message comes back.  Yes, I'm sure there is software that is not up to the latest and greatest version, Quicken being one of them.  However, at some point I must decide how much longer I should  nurse this machine and just buy another.  I believe what's stopping me from taking that route is having to get used to the new user interface in Windows 10.

I have restarted this box several times, but will do so again if/when KB971033 is reinstalled.  That way all updates are present and well as the new drivers.

I will keep you posted....

I contacted Dell who wanted $130.00 to remote in and fix the issue.  This "fix" could have involved a re-installation of Windows.  I was not willing to take that route.  Therefore, I asked the Dell Tech to provide me with a quote for a new machine.  

With my current machine, there is always some issue, i.e. a crashed hard drive, slow response times, and now this latest mystery of
why I have an illegitimate copy of Windows 7.  (Although the pesky message has not reappeared as of this writing.)  I got this machine just prior to going back to college and wanted something dependable.  It more that filled the bill but is now rapidly becoming more trouble than its worth.

So I'm going to close this question and distribute the points evenly between John and Masq.

Thanks to everyone for their support.

You are very welcome