RSSMicrosoft Expands WGA Piracy Checks
By Ed Oswald | Published April 25, 2006, 11:29 AM
Microsoft said Monday it was expanding a pilot of the Windows Genuine Advantage program that would notify users of counterfeit versions of the operating system. The company will still continue to delivery high priority software updates to these users regardless of their WGA status.
Piracy remains a growing problem in the software industry, with as much as 35 percent of all software pirated, according to the Business Software Alliance. Research firm IDC has said that if the piracy rate dropped to 25 percent, as many as 2.4 million new jobs and $400 billion in economic growth would be created worldwide.
While most users wouldn't notice any charge as a result of WGA's expansion, those running non-genuine copies of Windows would receive notifications directly on the desktop.
The notifications pilot was initially launched in Norway and Sweden in November, and expanded to five more countries in February. Starting Monday, the pilot will additionally cover the United States, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.
"Customers tell us they want to know whether they are running a genuine copy of Windows, and the WGA notifications feature is a simple and effective way to help them," Microsoft's Genuine Software Initiative director Cori Hartje said in the announcement.
Additionally, Microsoft will bring its certification program to the Office productivity suite, launching Office Genuine Advantage in seven languages including Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Greek, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Russian and Spanish.
"It is our goal to have a very healthy software selling ecosystem where resellers and system builders have a level playing field without the threat of competitors selling counterfeit products to our mutual customers," says Hartje.
I MISS THE PROGRAMME "system herstel" . I NEED TO DOWNLOAD IT FROM A DVD WITH XP HOME ON IT.
DEAR SIR /MADAM,
WHEN I BOUGHT MY COMPUTER XP HOME WAS ALREADY INSTALLED BY THE SHOP. WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO RECEIVE FREE OF CHARGE FROM MICROSOFT A DVD WITH THE XP HOME OM IT.MY ADRESS IS A.V.DUINKERKENLAAN 17; 9405AP;ASSEN; THE NRTHERLANDS.I WOULD APPRECIATED IT VERY MUCH IF YOU COULD HELP ME. WITH KIND REGARDS I REMAIN JAN HAAN
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|i agree with the no updates andd stuff for pirates, but it might be a good idea to allow security updates for free, so the pirated boxes dont turn into spam/ddos botsnet clients. cause i would gladly go through more agravation for this wga system if i get less spam...
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|join us on the light side...
OSX
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|...
"It is only a problem to those who do not own Windows (or Office) legally.
If you own it legally there is no problem."
...
Not so !
The PC Rat's copy of XP passed WGA in the past.
Last week he tried to do a manual update, was subjected
to WGA again, and ~didn't~ pass.
Now your fav rodent can only use the Automatic Update
...despite owning a legit copy of Win XP he paid for at
Staples in cash !
...
The Computer Rodent
...
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|I'm sure all the pirates with legit VLK keys are quaking in their boots. These things only annoy honest customers, the pirates don't have to be nagged or jump through hoops with their copies.
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|And how exactly does this annoy honest customers? I have installed it as part of an update and have barely noticed anything.
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|Barely times hundreds of millions = massive annoyance for the world.
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|It's amazing how angry people get when they can no longer use their pirated software. This forum is evidence of that I think.
Honestly, I don't even see problems with my brother's "special" copy of windows. It says it's genuine anyway. Yeah, get over it people.
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|Heh...and this one doesn't even stop them from using it. It just doesn't let them install certain things. (IE7, DX9.0c...etc)
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|I second both of yous!
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|It's a pain in the a$$ now and with it moving to Office, too, it's only going to get worse. Then again, attaching this inconvenience to Office, along with the great new learning curve required by the new version, might push a few people to try an alternative or two (calling all flamers!!!).
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|Since when is WGA a PITA to anyone using a legit version of windows? I swear, even over dial-up it takes under 1 minute. And it's a one-time thing.
Give it a rest.
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|It's not a one time thing. In the past year it's required multiple activex installs on WU, as well as some Microsoft programs now scan for it. That adds up.
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|I don't know what Update site you're going too, but it sure isn't Microsoft's. It ONLY checks ONE time and it is a program installed on your machine, not an activeX control.
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|The WGA was a PITA for me when it messed up, I could not get security updates, and the microsoft helpdesk could not get updates to work. I ended up figuring it out on my own, but holding up security updates because the WGA was failing (not declaring the installation illegitimate, just failing) is ridiculous. When did my command console to the collected knowledge of the universe turn into a license monitor and tax collection terminal?
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|Keywords:
It.
Messed.
Up.
Sorry, you were expecting perfection? From Microsoft?
One-off errrors or inconsistancies aside, it's a damn good way to do what they are trying to do. It causes little fuss, requires very little involvement, and does what it is supposed to do.
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|Considering I have *yet* to visit Windows Update since installing SP2, I call BS.
IE7 installed flawlessly for me without givin me so much as a peep.
If your PC is configured properly (Automatic updtaes instead of WU), it's totally painless.
...no matter how you add it up.
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|I have a computer shop. I don't sell illegal copies of Windows or Office, and I can understand why MS would want to have this to protect thier software.
BUT I reinstall windows XP all the time, and it gives you 30 days to activate it. which is fine, except I have to activate it to do windows updates. This would be fine too, except 75% of the time, I have to call India to activate it. Even THAT wouldn't be bad, except that the process never works and I ALWAYS have to tell the idiots all the numbers and all the other info like how many computers its installed on, where I bought the computer, why I'm doing it. JUST to do updates for my customers. God forbid if I left it for them to do. They couldn't get through it. By the time its done I wanta kill the guy that invented the WGA.
It truly needs to be reworked. It's not time or cost effective for computer shops, and there is no ways its worth all the money MS puts into the process the way it is now. There is no reason for the auto activate option to not work unless the install code has a serious flag on it. Not that the computer has been installed 3 times in its whole life.
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|%systemroot%\downloaded program files "Windows genuine advantage"
it's in there.
It's been updated twice since I've been admining windows boxes.
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|I fail to see your problem. Windows updates itself all the time. Why should WGA be any different?
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|I think you are confusing WPA and WGA. Big difference there.
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|Both have an effect on reinstalls to XP, which is what I was talking about. You can't do most of the updates until you do the WGA, and you can't do the WGA without first doing the WPA. But yeah, I was kinda mostly talking about the WPA. It's the one that pi$$es me off. My ponit was they shouldn't require the WGA to do updates to XP. It seems redundant to me.
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|It is only a problem to those who do not own Windows (or Office) legally. If you own it legally there is no problem. If you are using a pirated copy then of course it will cause problems for you, thats what its meant to do! Microsoft are making no money from people using it illegally so let them go to OpenOffice or whatever they please.
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|There was nothing stopping you from downloading the updates you need manually from Microsoft Download (they do not require WGA when I just tried).
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|Its because he has to spend 30 minutes to find a hack for WGA in order to do updates again!
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|Not true! All my copies are legal. The problem has nothing to do with getting the updates, it has to do with wasting my time getting my copy of Tablet PC OS validated for the twentieth time, even though it came with the machine.
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|Not true! It's NOT a one time thing. I run Tablet PC OS (which only comes with the machine) and it has been validated at least twenty times.
Now, take a rest.
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|Better watch those auto updates. That little goodie they sent out last week messed up my machine and a lot of others. Just because you dodged it that time doesn't mean you will the next.
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|WRONG! Some items go through WGA; when you try to install them!
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|I'm a legit windows admin. All boxes are OEM or volume license. Still, I like to visit WU occasionally for updates. It's a hassle. I already paid for the software. Why am I being hassled for this again and again?
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|"Customers tell us they want to know whether they are running a genuine copy of Windows"
Yeah, sure they do. It must be great to be able to lie with a straight face like these guys do.
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|Considering they're talking about the folks being ripped off, I think they're pretty much spot-on.
WGA isn't about going after the warez-crowd. It's aimed directly in the face of the shops and dealers who distribute, unbeknownst to their buyers, illegitimate versions of software.
If I bought a system with a non-legit XP on it (having been told it was), I would want MS to let me know as well. So I could report the bas****s and at the very least get my money back.
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|i heard somewhere that if the illegal distributer is caught ms gives you your money back and a reward.... then again i dont know if that is true..
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|Depends on the situation. AFAIK, they don't go after Joe Schmoe down the street. Just businesses, mainly... So if you got your copy from Joe Schmoe, you're likely out of luck, whereas, if you got it with a PC from some Mwave wanna-be, you'll probably get a free legit copy of the OS....well, free to you, anyway. ;)
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|Actually you would be surprised how many people are shocked to find out they are using an illegal copy. Most people take for granted they have Windows on their PC. They just assume it was paid for, some people I have helped have been rather upset they have been breaking the law without knowing about it for such a long time.
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|It depends but yes you are correct for most situations. If you bought your computer from a shop (even a one man shop who doesn't have a "shop" just an advert in the paper) and you report them and they ARE installing Windows illegally then Microsoft would most likely give you a free copy of XP. However if a neighbour gave you a copy or similar there isn't much you can do.
WGA is more to catch people who profit from pirating not casual copiers (WPA is designed to make things harder for the casual copiers).
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