“Genuine microsoft windows” farce

June 28th, 2006 Microsoft has responded to user concerns about phone home feature in Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program. However rumours are now circulating about an even more ominous intrusion into their privacy.

July 28th, 2005 Microsoft's effort to refuse access to updated versions of Windows Operating System has been foiled by hackers within 24 hours. Microsoft demanded that those who wanted Windows updates, other than security updates, will have to download an Active X program that sniffed their operating system to see if their OS copy had been pirated.

July 27th, 2005 Microsoft Corp. has started a new program aimed at severely limiting the ways people using pirated copies of its Windows operating system can get software updates.

July 27th, 2006 Andy Patrizio learned the hard way that Windows Genuine Advantage can be a disadvantage in disguise and all without any fault of his own. Such cases apparently flies in the face of Microsoft assertion that only a handful of genuine false positives have been identified.

July 13th, 2006 Previously I described how to remove the Windows Genuine Advantage Notification Tool. It is a simple tool to get rid of the home calling of Windows Genuine Advantage notification tool.

August 9th, 2006 Windows Genuine Advantage (how to remove WGA) has been alleged as Spyware, creates innumerable problems for genuine users and yet it is very simple to fool with 15 minutes or less of effort. Ed Bott spent about 15 minutes to find a web page containing five volume license keys that had reportedly been posted on September 9 2004.

April 24th, 2007 Following three simple steps now you can get rid of the pesky and sometimes buggy Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) notifications: 1. Reboot Windows in safe mode (hold the f8 key while booting and you will get the option to boot in safe mode) and then: 2.

June 26th, 2006 Windows Genuine Advantage includes two main tools - Windows Genuine Advantage Validation and Windows Genuine Advantage Notification. The WGA Validation tool checks that an instance of Windows XP is properly licensed, and is required for some Windows updates.

July 18th, 2006 Another lawsuit has been filed, in U.S. District Court in Seattle, against Microsoft over Windows Genuine Advantage, alleging that the anti-piracy tool is spyware.

July 18th, 2006 As you know two class action lawsuits have been filed in US against Microsoft which alleges Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage Tool is a spyware. Is WGA really a spyware? Let's take a look from different angles.

July 21st, 2006 The Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) has come under intense scrutiny, mainly because of questionable actions like home-calling and mis-identification of software pirates. Microsoft wants to stop rumors stating that the WGA falsely identifies legitimate users as pirates.

July 18th, 2006 Microsoft Corp. filed 26 lawsuits that allege computer dealers sold illegal Microsoft software.

June 30th, 2006 A computer user, Los Angeles resident Brian Johnson, is suing Microsoft Corp. over the company's Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy tool, alleging that it violates laws against spyware.

July 31st, 2006 This version removes cleanly both WGA Notification 'Pilot' version and 'Final' version, it should theoretically not be needed anymore to directly unload the WGA notification in live from memory and to risk a blue screen (BSOD). In short this is a version which can be used easily by everyone.

December 18th, 2007 GrooveMonitor is a service utility that tracks groove behavour and creates reports for error reporting to MS (what else does it report?). It loads on startup.