Microsoft Steps Up Piracy Check
Starting Tuesday, the Microsoft will push out a test tool that checks
whether the copy of Windows a PC is using is properly licensed. It
will be sent to millions of people in the United States, United
Kingdom, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. It will extend its
'Windows Genuine Advantage' program to send alerts directly to users
of pirated software, the company said yesterday.
Starting April 26, 2006, however, Windows XP users in the
United States who have set up automatic security updates will receive
the anti-piracy tool. After installation and reboot, they may find
their computers popping up an alert that reads: 'This copy of Windows
is not genuine; you may be a victim of software counterfeiting.' These popup notices will occur as they logon and while they are working with their computers. The popups will continue to occur until such time as the computer owner installs a valid license code, which may require a phone call to Microsoft support.
You can obtain a legal, licensable copy of Windows XP from Tiger Direct, at a much lower price than Microsoft charges for just a license. View all versions of Windows Operating Systems available from TigerDirect
At this time the new validation system is optional - you may choose to opt-out, but only if you have set Automatic Updates to notify only, not install without review, or if they perform manual Windows Updates, where there is a checkbox that can be unchecked to remove that item from the download items. It is expected that this will change to be non-optional after the pilot program has been tested for a short time.
From Microsoft:
"As part of the pilot program, some customers in the U.S. U.K., Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand will be invited to receive WGA Notifications through Automatic Updates (AU) to learn whether or not they are running genuine Windows. Customers who opt in to the pilot and learn they are using non-genuine versions of Windows will receive a message during logon that their copy of Windows appears to be non-genuine and will be directed to the WGA Web site to learn more. If they choose not to obtain a copy of genuine Windows at that time, the customer will receive reminders until they are running genuine Windows. While the pilot is presently opt-in, as it expands later in the year, AU and WU customers may be required to participate. Users who have not validated their machines as genuine through WGA will not be able to download IE 7 and Windows Defender among other downloads and updates. However, they will not be denied critical security updates."
"The pilot is opt-in, so all participants are given a choice about whether or not they wish to participate. The opt-in is via a License Terms dialog, and users can chose to accept or decline. Only users who accept will receive the software. Once installed, participants will have the option to suppress notifications for some length of time. Users will not have the option of uninstalling WGA Notifications. Customers [already] running genuine Windows Advantage will be unaffected by WGA notifications. Users running non-genuine Windows will see the notifications at boot time, login time, and periodically to via a system tray bubble notification. Messages are displayed until the system is running genuine Windows. Users can choose to suppress the notifier. The notifier will remind such users that they are not running genuine Windows and direct them to the WGA failure page, where they can learn more about the benefits of genuine software and take advantage of the Microsoft genuine Windows offers designed to help victims of counterfeit software. All users are able to receive High Priority Security & reliability updates regardless of their validation status. Users will not have the option of uninstalling WGA Notifications"
Microsoft also said it is planning to expand the anti-piracy pilot to Microsoft Office products.
Microsoft also released today an update to fix a Windows security patch (MS06-015) it issued a week ago that caused problems for some users of Hewlett-Packard hardware and software, as well as some Windows users who have certain Nvidia graphics cards installed.
Temporary Workaround to disable the popup notifications from WGA:
Run task manager and kill WgaTray.exe. Then, go to System32 folder and find WgaTray.exe and wgalogon.dll. Rename both files to something like WgaTray1.exe and wgalogon1.dll and do a restart. No more annoying messages from Microsoft If your XP isn't registered. This workaround is not expected to remain viable for too long. Microsoft will still find a way to install the legimacy tool and you will either have to deal with the notices that you are using pirated software, or register with a legally obtained license (see below).
Alternate and better solution:
Purchase a licensed copy of Windows XP matching the (unlicensed) version you already have installed, and either boot from the CD and reinstall Windows on top of itself, using the "R" repair option, or change the license code to the legitimate code, using the Windows Activation utility. Tiger Direct sells legal, never before licensed copies of most versions of Windows at a considerable discount, and very cheap shipping charges. View all versions of Windows Operating Systems available from TigerDirect
If you do purchase a legal copy try running the Windows Activation Wizard (Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools) with the phone option, then click on "Change Product Code", input your legal codes and submit it for approval. If you have trouble changing the registration codes using the Activation Wizard, you can try phoning Microsoft Activation Support using the numbers supplied for your country on the Activation Wizard. You must have the current registration codes displaed on the Wizard to get a new set of numbers, along with the product ID on the new XP sticker that you got with the CD.
Alternately, if there are no registration numbers displayed on the Activation Wizard screen, put the new XP CD in the CD tray and reboot. Be sure you have set your BIOS to boot from a bootable CD first. To enter your BIOS try pressing Delete, or F1, or F2 while the computer starts to reboot, right at the first boot screen, where the Bios information is displayed. There will be a tab for Boot Options. Make sure the first boot device is set to your primary CD drive.
If the BIOS has been set to boot from a CD first you will see a text message on-screen telling you to press any key if you want to boot from the CD. You only get a few seconds to decide, so watch for this message and press any key that you want. Windows Setup will begin. Eventually Setup will stop and tell you that it has found a current installation of Windows and show you the location. It will offer three options: Repair installation, Fresh Installation, or F3 to Exit Setup. Press R to repair your installation. This will preserve all of your programs and settings, although you may need to repair/reinstall your anti virus program or some other touchy applications. You will also have to download all Windows Updates after setup has completed.
Early in the Repair Installation process you will arrive at the Product ID input fields. Type in all of your new, legal codes and continue with Setup. Once Setup has completed you will get to your Welcome Screen. No matter which account you try to log into you will have to Activate Windows XP before entering the Desktop. If you are online on broadband, and your firewall doesn't block communications before the desktop appears, Activation should proceed instantly. If it doesn't, use the phone option, speaking or entering numbers into your phone, or ask to speak to a human ("Use other means"). This will take a few minutes, but you will be legally registered when you get off the phone.
Be sure to run Windows Updates ASAP, becaue the Repair Installation wipes out your previous updates.
This is really the best solution, since you won't have to worry about being denied any more updates, or deal with popup notices about running an unlicensed copy of Windows. You will no longer be a "victim of counterfeiting."