Windows Genuine Advantage for Windows XP

Since August of last year I've had this nagging annoyance of my copy of Windows XP being counterfeit. I cannot download newer versions of Windows software and I dont think I've been getting all (or any) of the updates.

I remember clicking on the pop up last year and it showed how I could purchase something for $200 or something to validate my copy of Windows XP. I ignored it because of the price and lack of time I had to do it.

Today I clicked on the pop up which appears in the lower right hand corner every time I log in. There is a kit called "Windows Genuine Advantage Kit for Windows XP" and it costs $149. I am assuming that if I purchase this I should get some new product key and it will transform my copy of Windows to become genuine.

I have not seen any lack of performance but I know for sure I have not gotten any updates for a while, and for a brief 2-3 day stretch, I did see a lot of glitches, but it passed by.

Should I go for this $149 kit or look for purchasing a copy of Windows XP and reinstalling? Or should I keep ignoring it?

Has anyone had experience with this Genuine Advantage Kit? If going for the kit option, is there a important need to back up files? I have nothing on this desktop besides storage of movies for my iPod, and applications are nothing crucial as I can reinstall them.

EDIT: I am leaning on buying the kit now because as part of purchasing the kit, Microsoft will send me a new Windows XP CD for future use.

 

I really hate Microsoft's WGA. I find it's an invasion of privacy. If you're Windows is genuine, why would it say it's not?
What I did was I downloaded and installed RemoveWGA. Note that after the removal of it, it may get downloaded from a windows update again.
In the next Windows update, instead of automatic installation, go to custom, and uncheck Windows Genuine Advantage Tool or whatever it's called. And when it asks you to hide it forever, click yes or check the tickbox (can't remember what it was like exactly). This way you won't have to worry about it anymore, and you still get updates.
Unless of course you want to go buy the $149 kit...

 

Just a tad bit late. I went ahead and purchased the $149 kit. It was very simple. I clicked a link in my email which went through the easy steps. Restarted and its now a genuine copy of Windows. In addition Microsoft will send me a new Windows XP CD for future use.

I see your advice but I do not even get updates. I have not seen any prompts for them or similar since the annoying Genuine Advantage thing kept popping up.

I was holding off for a while because of school and dependence on the computer, but now that I've got my laptop I wanted to go ahead and resolve this minor issue.

 

Just as a note: WGA has blocked all updates because it noticed your Windows copy is fake. After you remove it with the tool updates would start to come back. But yeh... it's too late now anyway.

 

Maybe because it's not genuine? There are some unscrupulous computer dealers that will sell systems with pirated copies of Windows, or a used copy may have been activated on another machine and is thus unusable on the current one.

If you have a legit copy of Windows, WGA will never bug you.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Genuine_Advantage#Criticisms

And yes I know... it's Wikipedia. Still I trust it more than MS

 

Not 100% true. If you have a legit copy of Windows, Windows Genuine Advantage will pass you most of the time. Although there have been cases where legal users of a licensed copy of Windows were declared pirated.

So its most of the time WGA "works", but there are times when it doesn't work even on perfectly legit copies of Windows.

 

Usually that's because of a major hardware change, so yes there are situations which will force a legit user to re-activate Windows (typically through a phone call) and nag them until it's done. It's pretty unlikely on a laptop though.

 

We have some of those unscrupulous dealers here in our area called Seaside Computers. Dell and some local citizens have filed lawsuits against them that are pending. They are still in business, but the only ones that buy from them are the illegal immigrants of which there are plenty in this area.

 

My copy of Windows XP was likely not genuine. The same CD was used to install Windows XP on more than one computer. I'm sure this is not "legal"

 

Not legal at all.

 

Meh, I would never pay for a copy of windows.

 

I suppose that would explain why you're using a Mac.

 

I have never paid for any version of Windows. They either come from the OEM or a VLK from work. I have had OEM Dells fail WGA.

 

the WGA remove tool, can I get wmp11 then? I know that it asks me to validate my copy of windows when i try to install....

 

No you can't. It only remove WGA so that you get all the critical updates from the automatic update thing in the notification area. As far as I've heard, you can't use the software from the Microsoft website which requires validation, except if you actually got a valid copy.

 

And that is pretty much how it should be, isn't it?

I don't want to get up on my high horse here, but it's a little alarming how some people consider it a badge of honor that they have never bought a copy of windows...which is basically, "I'm proud I stole something worth $150!'

If you buy an Operating System and amortize it over the life of its use, you're probably talking less than a 10 cent a day (assuming 5 years of life)

If you want to quibble windows is not worth that, and that Microsoft's monopoly position has enabled to keep its price artificially high, I will at least listen to the argument, but to be proud of being a theif....sad.

The fact that Linux has become so ridiculously easy to use and is free makes it even more crude.

The only reason the thieves are getting updates at all is to protect the rest of us from your machines getting compromised. A compromised machine connected to the Internet is a DoS bot waiting to happen.

People decry Microsoft for treating its real customers (the real purchasers of Microsoft products) like criminals with the activation and I see that point, and agree with it, but you do have to give them their due that even though they do that they are still trying to protect legitimate users from piraters with its critical update policy

There is a lot not to like about MS, but people rarely give the company its due.

 

Firstly, nobody is happy about having a fake copy of windows, we haven't even talked about that.
Second, Windows Genuine Advantage... why advantage? Is it an advantage to the consumer? No... it's more of an advantage to Microsoft. And during updates it's marked as 'critical'. But why would it be critical to anyone except Microsoft?
By the way. I'm using a genuine copy of Windows, had it checked on their website. But I still didn't install the WGA. I mean, why would I need it?

 

perhaps not in this thread, but in others they have.

And, for what it is worth, there is an advantage...for example, a genuine windows xp license entitles you to at least three things I put on every machine--ie7, wmp 11 and uphclean.

There are a number of other things you can download from MS only with WGA--you may install it, then remove it, but to get those things you need it. WGA is not the advantage--owning a legitimate copy of Windows entitles you to some advantages. There are others as well--Windows defender, when it started out, was actually top notch...there are more to, I just cannot think of them off the top of my head

So, just because you don't view it as an advantage does not mean there isn't one...it just means you choose not to avail yourself of it or you choose to ignore that it is an advantage.

 

Unless I'm wrong and their somehow connected in software, I believe that when you validate during IE7's and WMP 11's installation, you don't require the WGA tool downloaded via automatic update. They have their own thing. Of course I could be wrong.

 

I would have to agree with the posters here who cite those boasting themselves for not ever buying a copy of Windows. I dont hear people saying they never buy a copy of Mac OS X and use bootlegs or whatever.

For me, I evaluated if I would rather spend time reinstalling Windows XP (which I dont know how much retail costs but for college students its cheaper) which would take up some time, also to configure network connections, or pay $149 for it online and within 5 minutes my copy of Windows was fixed.

 

For $149 you can buy yourself a new copy of windows. Screw the kit.

 

BTW, there are ways around the WGA. but if I told ya, I'd have to kill ya. You know. It's top secret.

 

I think this thread has gone far enough...and maybe too far already. /Thread