Tag: WGA

...And so the epic struggle of Microsoft versus pirates continues. Last week Microsoft and Lenovo went tag-team on the first activation workaround, which utilized a leaked OEM product key. "Nice try, pirates!" said Microsoft. "Your key has been blacklisted and will never see again the light of day! Ha HA!" The also touted the fact that Windows 7 has improved methods of detection of hacks like ...

First you got your hands on a leaked copy of the Windows 7 RTM. Bad idea, says Microsoft. Then you tracked down 7loader, which took advantage of a leaked Lenovo product key. We know it's out there, came the nonchalant reply from Redmond. And now, thanks to a cooperative effort, the workaround has already been defeated. The official blog post touts improvements in Windows 7, which "already ...

Remember how I drew the similarity between Jack Napier dumping cash on the unsuspecting rubes of Gotham and Microsoft opening Technet to anyone who filled out a form? Well, the poisonous gas has been released. According to a lengthy phone call between blogger Kristan Kenney and a Technet support rep, you weren't supposed to have access to that offer. If you downloaded keys or software and ...

Microsoft is starting to roll out a new version of its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) software for Windows XP Pro, which the company describes as the "most pirated edition of Windows XP." WGA is the software Microsoft uses to detect versions of Windows using fake or stolen license keys. If you're running Windows XP Pro, you'll probably receive the new version through Windows Update soon. If you ...

Microsoft has a long history of including cumbersome anti-piracy measures in its software. So we were pretty happy to hear that the company is scaling back the Windows Genuine Advantage protection Windows Vista SP1. No longer will you find features like ReadyBoost of Aero disabled if you haven't activated Windows or if you fail a WGA test when trying to download Microsoft software. But that ...

Yesterday Windows Defender left beta-land and the final version is now available for download from Microsoft. Windows Defender is Microsoft's answer to malware, and the latest version has quite a few improvements over beta 2, including a new faster scanning engine, a streamlined UI, improved accessibility features, x64 support, and automated cleaning. Windows Defender is a free download but ...

Microsoft says it will be taking a much harsher stance on piracy with the release of Windows Vista. According to the AP, users running a pirated version of the new version of Windows will initially be locked out of some of Vista's most touted features including the eye-candy Aero interface. If they don't pay Microsoft's ransom buy a copy of Vista that Windows Genuine Advantage believes is legit ...

Venerable Windows expert Ed Bott has been carefully documenting his misadventures with Windows Genuine Advantage for a few months now. As evidence mounted that the WGA system was not as bulletproof as Microsoft would like to have us believe, Ed decided to get statistical on their ass, so to speak. After scouring Microsoft's own help forums looking for people reporting problems with WGA, Ed found ...

I was considering prefacing this post with 'recipe for disaster', but I didn't want the food and cooking news aggregators to pick it up by mistake. Microsoft Watch is reporting that the Redmond giant is planning to use their Automatic Updates service to push IE 7 out to Windows users sooner or later in Q4 once the product is ready to ship. Fortunately for the sysadmins in the crowd, Microsoft will ...

On Friday we reported on a lawsuit filed by a California man against Microsoft for the spyware-like behavior in its Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy tool. Lawsuits travel in packs, so it's no surprise that today brings a new one, this time filed against Microsoft on behalf of two Washington state businesses and three Seattle-area residents. Among other things, the suit questions the accuracy ...

ZDNet blogger Ed Bott, who reported last week that Microsoft might be planning to introduce a "kill switch" that would allow their Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy software to disable Windows if it thinks the OS is pirated, has posted an email from Microsoft's PR agency, which begins, "No, Microsoft anti-piracy technologies cannot and will not turn off your computer." The rest of the email is ...

We've spent quite a few keystrokes covering the development of Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage from fairly passive anti-piracy software to something a little more aggressive, and clearly we're not the only ones. This week Microsoft got hit with a lawsuit from LA resident Brian Johnson, who alleges that it violates anti-spyware laws by "phoning home" to Redmond without the user's knowledge or ...

Remember when Windows Genuine Advantage became nagware, notifying you over and over again when it thought your copy of Windows wasn't legitimate? And remember when it started "checking in" with Microsoft every day? All's fair in the name of anti-piracy, Microsoft seems to be saying, and the latest rumor is that this fall Microsoft will make WGA mandatory on all Windows PCs, and what's more, will ...

Here's a bit we missed when it went around on Wednesday: Remember Windows Genuine Advantage, the app from Microsoft that will helpfully notify you, over and over again, if it thinks your copy of Windows or Office is pirated? It turns out nagging isn't its only trick. Windows Genuine Advantage also quietly phones home to Microsoft's servers, "checking in" each and every day. Microsoft calls the ...

So let's just say, hypothetically, that your copy of Windows XP isn't "genuine." If you're tired of seeing the warning that alerts you to this fact, there's now a workaround to disable the WGA notifications. Does it work? Honestly I don't know, because every version of Windows I touch appears to be the real thing. And of course, I'm not here to advocate piracy. But the incessant ...