As this blog no doubt reflects, practically all of my computing is done on Linux boxes. Any Windows 'assistance' that may be called for is usually more than catered for via VirtualBox - a VB-Windows XP in my case.
I do have a Windows 7 installation on one PC that I boot into occasionally, when circumstances demand, and yesterday, one such occasion cropped up. I had left my Android tablet on-charge for a day or so and voltage spikes from an intermittent charger lead had hopelessly corrupted the OS, with the result that it would no longer boot properly - just like my Mint 17.3 woes in fact! Anyway, I elected to reinstall Android 'Lollipop' from scratch, and for that, Windows and a USB cable was a prerequisite.
Once this had been achieved, I needed to 'root' the device in order to make it usable. Like the first time round, I went the 'Kingo' route (sic), downloading the software straight from their site. Avira, the (free) Win7 anti-virus software immediately flagged the download as containing Malware and quarantined it. Since I had used it previously with no ill-effects, I disabled Avira and tried again. When I ran the Kingo software, I had second thoughts about continuing when it started downloading stuff in the background. When it then produced a EULA box, I thought, fuck it, I don't remember any of this the first time round, so hit 'Decline' to end the installation. But it continued nonetheless! Next, what I assumed was the usual Windows warning of an 'unknown' driver being installed came up, to which I selected 'Cancel' - but that had no effect either! It just sat there until, running out of patience, I hit 'Install' , whereupon installation immediately recommenced . Upon completion, I got the usual Windows prompt that the computer needed to be restarted.
On rebooting, I was presented with the infamous black desktop with its, "This copy of Windows is not genuine" message. I had seen this a couple of times in the past, and it was always after doing a Windows update. But removing the dreaded 'KB971033' update had always 'fixed' it, and from past experience, I normally have updates disabled anyway. After Kingo had successfully rooted the tablet, I set about correcting the '...not genuine' situation. I was surprised to find that there was no KB971033 file installed, and even more surprised to discover that the 'Daz' Bootloader installation no longer had any effect! Given that this invariably 'reset' things in the past, I'm now inclined to think that M$ is somehow in cahoots with Kingo, out to disable as many Win7 boxes as possible, and by any means necessary. Right now, my Win7 installation is back on a 30-day Trial, with none of the usual 'fixes' having any effect whatsoever. Is M$ really this desperate, particularly with an OS that is practically End-Of-Line?!?!? Maybe, as I read not long ago that the uptake for their shitty Win10 offering was still only round 25%, with more than 50% of Windows users having chosen to stay with Windows 7.
I'm debating whether or not to reinstall a fresh copy, and Updates be damned! While I'd be more than happy to replace it with a copy of Win-XP, my new & improved 7260-AC wireless cards are not compatible with it. That, and the fact that it is also unable to access my external USB 3TB (GPT) hard-drive.
So, just a heads-up for anyone thinking of installing Kingo rooting software on their M$ boxes - you might get more than you bargained for!
Edit:
Although I swore to myself I'd never have anything to do with Kingo again, circumstances dictated otherwise. My car failed to start one morning and needing the check its computers fault-codes, I needed a rooted tablet.
Long story short, one week after installing Kingo on Win7 in order to root the tablet, the dreaded black wallpaper returned, along with the "Windows not genuine error".
Turned out to be the least of my problems as well. While setting about reinstalling Win7 from a backup on an unattached SSD, I presume I accidentally shorted something on the motherboard with a dangling USB cable, because after a restart, it failed to power up again. All I can say for certain is that the SSD I was attaching is dead. The motherboard probably is as well, but I won't know for certain till I can check the CPU. As penance for my stupidity, I've ordered from Amazon what is probably the last & cheapest AMD AM1 motherboard being sold, to do just that. Time will tell...
Fuck Windows, but more so, that Kingo garbage. This has proven to be one expensive lesson.
