WGA Turning Off PCs in the Fall

dafloppyone

dafloppyone

dafloppyone

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"Well, get ready, because eventually Microsoft may be turning off copies of Windows without WGA installed. According to a Microsoft technician, 'in the fall, having the latest WGA will become mandatory and if its not installed, Windows will give a 30 day warning and when the 30 days is up and WGA isn't installed, Windows will stop working, so you might as well install WGA now.'

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=84

We all know about Microsoft's WGA initiative that started last July. Most of us were troubled to learn that the WGA has been 'phoning home' (how-to remove) to Microsoft at every boot. Well, get ready, because eventually Microsoft may be turning off copies of Windows without WGA installed. According to a Microsoft technician, 'in the fall, having the latest WGA will become mandatory and if its not installed, Windows will give a 30 day warning and when the 30 days is up and WGA isn't installed, Windows will stop working, so you might as well install WGA now.' A new version of WGA was released on Tuesday and, at least for the time being, Windows users have the option of removing WGA from their systems.

The people who _knowingly_ run illegal copies of Windows won't be affected by this in the slightest. These people have been cracking WGA since it came out, first with Javascript, then later with cracked DLL's. I'm sure there will be a crack for this within 24 hours of it being released, and these people will able to get it very easily. The only people that this will affect are a) People who think they have a legal copy of Windows but really don't because whoever they bought it from screwed them, and b) People with legal copies who either don't want to run WGA for some reason, or c) People with legal copies who run WGA and it mistakenly identifies their machine as "not legit". In short, the "pirates" will continue on unaffected as they always have, while the "legitimate" users will get screwed.

In other news, a Los Angeles PC user has filed suit against Microsoft, claiming Windows Genuine Advantage is spyware. The lead lawyer for the case was the lead counsel in the Sony rootkit spyware case. The plaintiff in the Genuine Advantage case is hoping for class action status."
 
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While what you posted sounds true and certainly is true regarding copyright management and pirates (see Steam, WGA etc), it does sound as if it came straight from an email Forward...like the sort of thing you get every other week in your Junk Mail folder saying: MSN will be shutting down in November unless you forward this email blah blah.

Do you have a source link or something to back this up?
 
WGA is spyware, plain and simple.

My main computer is now my beautiful iMac and my second box is Linux. I am in the process of changing my office from Winows to Mac as well.

Gaming? Pfft, buy a console! :)
 
How ironic that the company that brought us one of the best antispyware programs (or pinched it from giant) is now the spyware distributor. How messed up is that?!!

I understand peoples argument that if you have not pirated windows then you have nothing to worry about but does that really mean that you should submit to microsoft phoning home on you?

And what about the people who's copies of windows are legit and have been wrongly flagged as illegal?

More reasons to move over to Linux I think
 
TBH that article just reads like the rantings of an angry man - and doesn't seem to be based on any real facts or even reliable information.

So much of his information seemed to be completely unreliable and obviously only included because it fitted his agenda.
 
n the fall, having the latest WGA will become mandatory and if its not installed, Windows will give a 30 day warning and when the 30 days is up and WGA isn't installed, Windows will stop working, so you might as well install WGA now.
Click to expand...

Haha, how's it going to shutdown a computer if it isn't installed? Or do you need WGA2 to detect if WGA1 is there and shutdown if it isnt, lol the guy hasnt got a clue.

I can just imagine the big corporations who dont roll out updates for months after they have arrived (especially in service pack cases), with all there computers turned off.

Seriously the guy who wrote the article hasnt got a single clue at all. Can you imagine the damage it would do to microsoft? Whilst i wont condone piracy, its a simple fact that microsoft is better off with you having a pirated version of its software than with you running linux.
 
Why the hell should WGA be installed? Idon't have it installed and manage to install office 2007, IE7 and WMP11 as wella s use Microsoft Update without a single problem, I just put the WGA in the hidden items area to never show again in window supdate.

If there is no WGA installe dthey cannot turn windows off because WGA is not installed to turn it off,,,

Stupid "article" tbh.
 
I'd like them to stop mine, I don't have any of there things running :p Services that control auot-update etc are forced off and I dont have that anti-spyware thing installed.

Ah the bliss of slipstream :D
 
Also how are they going to stop PC's that dont even have an internet connection or ones that use the internet as a lot of people have one or both options plus auto updates are turned off!!
 
And how is this supposed to work exactly? Some people dont even have the internet so they wouldnt even be able to access their os. :rolleyes:
 
Sounds like a pack of lies to me, would cost MS far too much money and imagine the term Customer Services be reprased the following day to YA ******* Tw** Services


Dont see it happening/
 
http://windowsupdate.62nds.com/ - for all your Windows Updates needs.

I have moved from IE to FF since using the above link. I have to say, it certainly seems more stable. If it had a few more things tweaked/sorting out, I'd be a truly happy person. :D
 
madman045 said:
Also how are they going to stop PC's that dont even have an internet connection or ones that use the internet as a lot of people have one or both options plus auto updates are turned off!!
Click to expand...


You phone up and they talk you through how to disable windows :p
 
basmic said:
http://windowsupdate.62nds.com/ - for all your Windows Updates needs.

I have moved from IE to FF since using the above link. I have to say, it certainly seems more stable. If it had a few more things tweaked/sorting out, I'd be a truly happy person. :D
Click to expand...
So you're downloading and installing critical OS updates from somewhere other than Microsoft?
 
(a repost from WServerNews mailing list)

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Microsoft Sued For Spyware Laws Violations

Redmond is facing a class-action lawsuit over its infamous WGA-tool that is gathering data on a user's computer in an effort to detect pirated copies of the Windows OS. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle last Monday, alleges that the Windows Genuine Advantage code while it collects hardware and software data and delivering it to Microsoft servers, violates consumer protection laws in California and Washington state laws against spyware -- invasive programs that surreptitiously collect data.

To confuse things even more, security analysts have detected a new piece of malware that looks like WGA, but is a worm spreading via AOL's IM

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Ooops... :-)
 
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