What is Windows Genuine Advantage?
Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is an automated validation process integrated on later Microsoft operating system products. Windows Genuine Advantage was developed by Microsoft Corporation in order to bolster its anti-piracy campaign. This automated validation process makes it a requirement for Microsoft Windows OS users to go through a series of validation systems before being granted by the Microsoft website to download and subsequently install updates and various version releases of software programs. Feature: The WGA validation process validates the present installation of Windows and its license key, against the hardware involved. It is accessible by either a stand-alone program, or (within Internet Explorer), an ActiveX control. If an instance of Windows doesn’t seem to have a valid license, WGA display a specific notice to the user and prevent any updates being downloaded from Microsoft except security upgrades that are rated “Critical.” There are two separate parts of Windows G
Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is an automated validation process integrated on later Microsoft operating system products. Windows Genuine Advantage was developed by Microsoft Corporation in order to bolster its anti-piracy campaign. This automated validation process makes it a requirement for Microsoft Windows OS users to go through a series of validation systems before being granted by the Microsoft website to download and subsequently install updates and various version releases of software programs.
New technology makes piracy harder and helps protect customers from the risks of counterfeit software while protecting Windows Vista from tampering, counterfeiting, and other abuses. It changes how Windows Vista validates as genuine, activates, and behaves when tampered with or hacked. Activation is a process by which Microsoft determines whether or not a product key is being properly used based upon the software license associated with it. Users are required to complete activation within the first 30 days of using Windows Vista. Completing the activation process allows a user continued access to regular Windows Vista functionality while ensuring that their product key is not being misused. You can read all about Windows Genuine Advantage here.
From the second half of 2005, visitors to the Download Center and Windows Update will be “required to participate” in Windows Genuine Advantage to download content and software updates. However to help customers who “may require more time to move to genuine Windows software”, Microsoft said that it will offer security updates through the Automatic Updates feature in Windows, with or without Windows Genuine Advantage validation. In essence, it is mandatory to have a valid licensed and registered copy of Windows XP Professional, not a pirated version loaded on your system, in order to receive all updates and patches from the Windows Update website.
Windows Genuine Advantage is Microsoft’s not so subtle crackdown on illegal piracy of Windows XP and Microsoft Office products. Microsoft started with an ActiveX component to force owners of Windows XP to validate their version before downloading security updates. Unfortunately this particular scheme was rather easily foiled by groups on the net and workarounds appeared almost instantly including cracked files and javascript fixes. Now Microsoft is becoming more advanced in their attack on pirated versions of Windows XP or Microsoft Office. They are including a Windows Genuine Advantage security patch in the updates of Windows XP. The newest patch, released the first week of June 2006, actually produces popups on the login screen and on the desktop explaining that this version of Windows XP is not genuine and the owner may be the victim of software counterfeiting. If your version of Windows XP is not genuine and does not pass the validation schemes, you will not be able to download sec
