Solved Windows 7 bootup problem and “Windows 7 build 7601. This copy of Windows is not genuine” error in Dell Inspiron N4050 notebook (Rev: 1.1)

There are 3 partitions in the Dell Inspiron N4050 notebook [Intel Core i5-2430M (2.40 Ghz) CPU, 8 GB DDR3 1333 Mhz memory, etc]:

1. OEM Partition (Dell Utility FAT16 partition) (about 100 MB)
2. Dell Recovery Partition (about 15 GB containing the old Windows 7 Home Premium x64 OS)
3. Windows 7 Enterprise SP1 x64 Operating System (OS) Partition (about 385 GB)

After upgrading the default Windows 7 Home Premium x64 OS to Windows 7 Enterprise SP1 x64 OS in the Dell Inspiron N4050 notebook, I boot up from Acronis Disk Director 11 boot CDROM and deleted the Dell Recovery Partition to free up hardisk space. However, after reboot, the Dell Inspiron N4050 notebook can only boot up from the network. The Windows 7 Enterprise SP1 x64 OS failed to boot up because the Windows 7 partition was not set as boot (active) partition.
[JackNg: The Windows 7 x64 Recovery Console Startup Repair cannot automatically fix this problem because it will "hang" at the attempting to fix the problem stage. If we issued a "bootrec /rebuildbcd" command, an "Element not found" error appeared.]

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If you do not have the Acronis Disk Director 11 bootup CDROM, you can use the Windows 7 System Repair Disc (created from Windows 7 Control Panel -> Backup and Restore -> “Create a system repair disc”) and use the diskpart version 6.1.7600 command to set the Windows 7 partition as active:

Assume you have opened a Command Prompt in the Windows 7 x64 Recovery Console:

# diskpart

DISKPART > list disk

DISKPART > select disk 0
(Please ensure that you have select the correct disk number)

DISKPART > list partition

DISKPART > select partition 2
(Please ensure that you have select the correct partition number. The Windows 7 partition (about 385 GB) for mine is located at partition number 2)

DISKPART > active

DISKPART > exit

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After setting the Windows 7 partition as boot (active) partition using the Acronis Disk Director 11 bootup CDROM, Windows 7 still failed to boot up due to a missing c:\boot\BCD (Boot Configuration Data) file. I use the Windows 7 System Repair Disc to boot to Windows 7 x64 Recovery Console, open a Command Prompt and rebuild the c:\boot\BCD file using the bootrec.exe command:

# bootrec  /rebuildbcd

After rebooting the Dell Inspiron N4050 notebook from the Windows 7 x64 Recovery Console, it can boot into Windows 7 but it shown a clean (no icons or start bar) blue background with “Windows 7 build 7601. This copy of Windows is not genuine” wordings at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. If we open a Command Prompt, it will show that Windows 7 is actually running from E drive, eg: e:\Windows\System32\.

We need to edit the registry to change the Windows 7 partition drive letter from E drive to C drive in order to fix the “Windows 7 build 7601. This copy of Windows is not genuine” problem:

1. Kindly boot Windows 7 to Safe Mode by pressing F8 (to get the boot up menu) before Windows 7 booting logo stage appears.
   
   
2. After booting into Safe Mode (a blank screen with no Desktop icons), kindly press CTRL+ALT+DEL.
   
   
3. Kindly click “Start Task Manager”.
   
   
4. Kindly click File -> Run and type regedt32.
   
   
5. In the registry, kindly navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices


6. The previous Windows 7 working drive letter was E drive. We need to change it to C drive by swapping the E and C paths in the registry so that Windows 7 can access the correct drive to boot up. Kindly right-click on the key "\DosDevices\E:" and rename it to a drive letter that is not in use. For example, I renamed "\DosDevices\E:" to "\DosDevices\Z:" This will free up the letter E that we need to swap later.
   
   
7. Kindly right-click on the "\DosDevices\C:" and rename it to "\DosDevices\E:".
   
   
8. Finally, rename "\DosDevices\Z:" (which was previously "\DosDevices\E:") to "\DosDevices\C:"

The drive letters are now successfully swapped in the registry. Kindly exit from the registry editor and run the command “shutdown –r –t 1” to reboot. Windows 7 will run normally and the “Windows 7 build 7601. This copy of Windows is not genuine” wordings disappeared.

References

[1] Recovering the Windows Bootloader from the DVD

[2] Windows 7 - Booting Problem related to Windows not genuine error