programming and human factors
by Jeff Atwood
Microsoft has finally activated the most aggressive part of their Windows Genuine Advantage program -- active notifications.
After downloading the latest Windows updates, if your Windows cd-key doesn't validate against Microsoft's online database of cd-keys, you may be greeted with this unpleasant five-second mandatory delay dialog at the login page:
On top of that, you get a repeating balloon notification that nags you periodically while you use the operating system:
The warnings also get more dire as time progresses:
This copy of Windows is not genuine and you have not resolved the issue. This computer is no longer eligible to receive select security upgrades from Microsoft. To protect your computer, you must click Get Genuine now.
The language here is a little misleading. Microsoft is socially obligated to provide critical security updates to pirated machines. Otherwise those vulnerable machines will eventually be compromised and potentially used in denial of service attacks and other nefarious schemes. Microsoft does provide so-called "critical" updates to all Windows machines, regardless of whether or not they're genuine.
This is all courtesy of the mandatory "Windows Genuine Advantage Notification" service that is being delivered now through Windows Update. This isn't just a service you can disable, or a process you can kill in task manager, either. You'll have to install some kind of questionable third-party hack to get around it.
I suppose it's only malware if you're a pirate. What's a poor, beleaguered user to do? Microsoft offers five options:
Notice the word "Purchase" appears in three of those five options. There's almost no way to finagle a free cd-key out of this.
I found a Microsoft presentation on Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) which goes into a lot more detail. It also provides this graph of WGA validation failure rates across the United States:
All I can say is, get used to increased forms of online discrimination between genuine and pirated versions of software. Windows Vista will have an even more advanced form of WGA; pirated versions of Vista, for example, will not be able to enable the fancy Aero "glass" interface.
Microsoft is certainly entitled to protect their IP by annoying pirates into buying cd keys. But I wonder if they're veering too far into the enforcement side of the optimal piracy rate.
After 3 years, my laptop is now getting this message 'I may be a victim of software counterfitting. How do I fix this?
pmh on October 23, 2006 4:23 AMThis is ridiculous, like many people here i have a legitimate copy of windows XP but now i get that stupid bubble thing and to top it all like someone else here, i can't access the internet properly, no email or ibanking or anything that involves cookies and personal information such as ebay, coincidence? i don't think so... thanks a frigging lot Microsoft.
Donna on October 27, 2006 5:07 AMThis is extremely interesting to read, my I ask of a favor and send me a copy with opened links to my web page- kenjho2000@yahoo.com. I have a lot of interesting tales and statements to agree with.
Thanks,
K.J.
I have three computers with one copy of XP
when confronted on all machines we turned back the restore point than disabled updates
there is a other work arounds
1. use system restore and take it back a day.
2. download the removal tool
3. find a machine on the side of the road
copy the sticker
download jellybean and replace you key
4. pay microsoft ;)
5. run system file check (it will require the cd)
6. goto safemode and delete explorer
7. download vista beta and do upgrade
8. sp2 removal tool reinstall
9. install aston shell
10. change system ini from explorer to progman
MyEppliance
Joseph Lieb on November 6, 2006 2:20 AMCould downloaded Microsoft Key Generators be generating valid keys that people have already purchased in the past? If this happens and the generated key is being utilized over and over again, cause the the person who originally purchased the OS version to become invalid HUMMMM??? I have heard of people running across their own purchased product keys on some of the share sites like Lime#@ire, Bear $#ar3, ect... I personally have installed my legitimate version of XP pro several times on various machines "and their all my machines" I activated every time by calling Microsoft and making sure my PC does not have a internet connection and stating that I am a overclocker and wiped out my drive...They ask me if its the only PC that current version is installed on and yes
I lie and say yes....It so far has worked every time with no problem they never give me a hard time.
So does this make me a criminal or just a lier? And why is Microsoft's OS's the most expensive out of all OS's "that I've seen anyway" is it because it's the most widely used by far...They Know
people will purchase it in some case's must, so they can charge whatever they want..Is it possible or for better words could this be viewed as taking
advantage of the consumer/situation??? I'm sure it's not to Old Billy Boy who is obviously one hell of a buisness man..Who Knows?????
plz avoid counterfeiting
Criss, yes that breaks the license which clearly states it can only be installed on a single machine at any time.
HITLER!!!!1!!!11
There. I have now rendered this discussion closed.
The 2-Belo on November 18, 2006 9:57 AMThis thread started in May. I just got my blue star ("You're a counterfeiting SOB...") today. What took them so long to catch up with me?
Oy, what a nuisance.
Well, I got good at WinXP. Now it's time for me to get good at Linux. I've been on the anti-Gatesware bandwagon a long time; now it's time for me to put my keyboard where my mouth is.
Jeff wrote:
However, I think it's little disingenuous the way Microsoft is changing the validation methods for Windows XP so radically, nearly FIVE (!) years after its release.
I assumed it was more a case of incompetance rather than disingenuousnessity. (You know what i mean...) MS-Gears grind slowly, but it was sure to happen one day.
-Neil-
PS: Thanks for the info about critical security updates continuing to come in.
Neil on December 15, 2006 10:18 AMOk.... here's how you get rid of the annoying windows blue star.
Go here, read the directions. It'll take you about 2 minutes. It's a slightly different method and will work if others don't.
http://www.rfuz.com/windows/tips-and...ification.html
If you're getting blocked from downloading updates because of the Windows Genuine Validation thingy, then go here to learn how to bypass.
http://www.rfuz.com/windows/tips-and...ion-check.html
Goodluck and happy new year everyone!
Rado on December 30, 2006 12:23 PM
There is a CUTE (funny) website that was
built by a Linux person, to parody the
'Genuine Advantage' fiasco. It called
'Linus Genuine Advantage'. Check it out at:
http://www.linuxgenuineadvantage.org/
Enjoy...
[Linux-guy]
You can remove the little annoyance from Microsoft easily enough, but it's got to be really annoying for people that wouldn't be able to figure this out on their own. I've worked on QUITE a few laptops where they legitimatelly owned windows because it came preinstalled on their system, but I had to use a different key because I wasn't able to recover theirs and the sticker on the bottom of the laptop was unreadable. So, they own Windows legally, but get the popup saying they don't, as well as the fact that they can't get updates now. It's easy enough to remove with hijackthis though.
http://www.tweaksforgeeks.com/windows-xp/2006/05/this-copy-of-windows-is-not-genuine-how-to-fix
Kevin on April 28, 2007 11:58 AMwhy do I have such a sensitive computer?
I always get messages of horror or error on my screen. I am sick of it.
Please help !
MARIA FENNER on June 1, 2007 2:04 AMI've found the solution to this. Read below
b
Disable WGA Notifications
1. Log on to the computer by using an account that has administrative permissions.
2. Make sure that the WGA Notifications version that exists on the computer is a pilot version. The version format for the pilot version is 1.5.0532.x. In this case, you can uninstall versions 527-532 only. For example, you can uninstall versions that range from 1.5.0527.0 to 1.5.0532.2. To find the WGA Notifications version, follow these steps.a. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
b. Double-click Add or Remove Programs, click Windows XP - Software, click Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, and then click Click here for support information.
c. In the Support Info dialog box, verify the version number, and then click Close.
3. Rename the following files by changing the extension to .old:• Rename %Windir%\system32\WgaLogon.dll to %Windir%\system32\WgaLogon.old
• Rename %Windir%\system32\WgaTray.exe to %Windir%\system32\WgaTray.old
4. Restart the computer.
Back to the top
Manually uninstall WGA Notifications
1. Log on to the computer by using an account that has administrative permissions.
2. Make sure that the WGA Notifications version that exists on the computer is a pilot version. The version format for the pilot version is 1.5.0532.x. In this case, you can uninstall versions 527-532 only. For example, you can uninstall versions that range from 1.5.0527.0 to 1.5.0532.2. To find the WGA Notifications version, follow these steps: a. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
b. Double-click Add or Remove Programs, click Windows XP - Software, click Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, and then click Click here for support information.
Note If Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications does not appear, the release version is installed. You cannot uninstall the release version of WGA Notifications.
c. In the Support Info dialog box, verify the version number, and then click Close.
3. Rename the following files by changing the extension to .old:• Rename %Windir%\system32\WgaLogon.dll to %Windir%\system32\WgaLogon.old
• Rename %Windir%\system32\WgaTray.exe to %Windir%\system32\WgaTray.old
4. Restart the computer.
5. Unregister LegitCheckControl.dll by using Regsvr32. To do this, follow these steps:a. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
b. At the command prompt, type the following, and then press ENTER:
Regsvr32 %Windir%\system32\LegitCheckControl.dll /u
6. Restart the computer.
7. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
8. At the command prompt, delete the following files by typing the Del command. Press ENTER after you type each command.• Del %Windir%\system32\wgalogon.old
• Del %Windir%\system32\WgaTray.old
• Del %Windir%\system32\LegitCheckControl.dll
9. At the command prompt, type regedit.
10. Locate and then right-click the following registry subkeys. Click Delete after you locate each subkey.• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\ CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Notify\WgaLogon
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows \CurrentVersion\Uninstall\WgaNotify
/b
It is awful to see how much pirated software is sold. I checked all my PCs last night and they were all genuine windows. I then moved on to see the differences between pirated COA keys on the microsoft homepage and to be fair i could not tell the difference between the OEM pirate and genuine, must have been awful for the suckers who buy those products.
Windows has consitantly hecked me off with the activation process. With my dell laptop i chose to do a reformat as the whole machine was beginning to die. After installation and all that jazz, i went to activate the product - consistantly over 4 days it came up with a 'cannot connect to the internet blah blah blahh' and I began to get worried about this. If microsoft are so serious about their products they need to pull there socks up about all the errors found within their systems. I suppose this is why macs are beginning to take over the market.
If persistant logs and errors become large I will also be moving to Linux and using openoffice as my office suit
That "Windows Express" idea makes a lot of sense - too much sense to be buried in a comment. Might we see a full post discussing that model?
I think the Windows market share would have to fall significantly for that model to make financial sense, since I'd bet OEM installations account for a large percentage of Windows licenses. I half-jokingly proposed a "free + pay for services" model for Office; that sort of thing might make sense here too. Why not make a base Windows free, but push services like OneCare? Could it work, or would the OEM's work out a sweeter deal to push Symantec slopware?
Jon Galloway on February 6, 2010 9:46 PMthe problems not so much the activation system, which does indeed suck, so much as the attitude of microsoft when trying to sort this mess out. specifically they will only asnwer the phone during office hours..
great if you actually work, and the problem is on your home machine.
oh goodie....
i can see a small claims court claim over this, i've got the origional disc the actual paperwork somewhere. as i see it they get only a few chances to sort this mess out.
Dale Albiston on February 6, 2010 9:46 PMYou say 'just not install that update', well good luck, i dare say to get any other critical patch will require this one. they may not require it to validate, but i dare say they will require it to be present.
ho hum.
well looks like yet another reinstall. this time will all my files hosted under samba on a seperate box so when ms decide i'm no longer allowed to access stuff, cus i dare to have the wrong system time i can just use something else.
Dale Albiston on February 6, 2010 9:46 PMFor more solution, you can check out this procedure on how to remove the WGA. http://guideandtips.blogspot.com/2008/05/you-may-be-victim-of-software.html
Ales Porton on February 23, 2010 10:56 PMhmm ..i can somehow get the idea of this software counterfeiting ..but what is the reaL purpose of this ? is this harmful or what ?it is trying to disturb me everytime i open my Laptop ..
Allen072415 on May 12, 2011 1:48 AMThe comments to this entry are closed.
Subscribe in a reader
Subscribe via email
|
|
Traffic Stats |
