I noticed a few minutes ago that I had a new Windows update to install. Now I’m a little bit curious, and a little bit paranoid, so I decide to do the custom option, just so I can see what they’re wanting to put on my computer, and I’m presented with this:
“The Windows Genuine Advantage Notification tool notifies you if your copy of Windows is not genuine. If your system is found to be a non-genuine, the tool will help you obtain a licensed copy of Windows.”
Now, I may have been suckered a few times in the past, but I’m pretty certain that the copy of Windows XP that I purchased from the store several years ago was genuine, since they’re not out of business yet.
Furthermore, I’m pretty certain that most people who don’t have ‘genuine’ copies of Windows are fully aware that their copy lacks ‘genuineness,’ and aren’t interested in obtaining a licensed copy.
To me, it seems like they might as well have a pop-up that says “Did you pirate your Windows copy?” If they click yes, let them get on with their business, if they click no, then take them here and refuse to do anything else until they buy a copy, because I have a feeling that it would be about as effective, since you can just as easily opt out of installing the updates.
Yes, my copy is legit. I just would rather not install useless software which could probably be considered spyware.
Yeah, uh - that thing’s bad juju. I can see why microsoft has done it, but it’s not going to net them the results that they want.
We’re finding it’s causing problems for some of our customers who have the non-legitimate copies, because either a) They got the computer from a friend/family member and don’t have an idea what this is all about, and so they panic and then manage to stuff up their whole system trying to remove it or b) We’ve found some customers where the update has then locked them out of their system (or so they claim), and now they can’t log back in again because their windows login screen keeps telling them it’s a non legitimate copy.
There is a screen that pops up on boot that says “non legitimate” and makes you wait a short amout of time before you can do anything else. After you log in a popup will keep bugging you about it.
I don’t know what happens if you ignore it for days on end.
If it bothers you, just uninstall the update.
(Knows this because of a machine at work with a proper license but for some reason got flagged as non proper - It took me about 5 minutes to get rid of the error and pass the issue to IT who will sort the license out later. Months later I’m sure)
The whole thing is dumb really. It wasn’t rocket science to shut the thing down. It’s not going to stop a bunch of pirates thats for sure.
It does make me wonder, though - as an ISP who deals with potentially hundreds if not thousands of customers who have pirated versions of windows, are we obligated in any fashion to notify microsoft when these customers call us with their problems? Or are we supposed to just hint that perhaps they should look at purchasing a valid copy of the software they’re using…
We’d be telling 'em to uninstall it, but it’s against business rules to remove anything related to windows updates/security etc. Hell, we’re not even supposed to tell 'em how to uninstall a program from their add/remove programs if they ask us.
You don’t have to report anything. As the OP and several other posters have said, people with legit copies are getting “hit” by this. So as far as you know, they have a legit copy of Windows and Microsoft’s tool is wrong.
You’re an ISP…you don’t fix this for them, right? You just say "gonna have to call Microsoft…yeah? If not, and you’re an ISP who fixes people’s software problems, then your company is da bomb
Heh. You’d think that’d be the way it works, but you should hear the yelling whenever we do suggest a customer calls microsoft to remove/reconfigure something they’ve installed, or that has updated automatically…
But this is precisely the reason I don’t run automatic updates on my machine. Ever.
Um, yeah, I put this in way back. Nothing at all wrong for me. Does it actually do anything after initially verifying whether or not Windows is legit? I mean, does it tie up resources (enough for me to give a damn)?
I do all updates manually too by going to the Microsoft website. When I saw that came up I told it to go into the “never install” category. Now they wont let me update because of it. I’m not overly worried though.
Five minutes or less with google will tell any knowing user of pirated software how to bypass windows genuine advantage, and they are quite likely to give some prior thought along the lines of ‘mmmmm, I am a pirate, wonder if I should take precautions about this particular update’.
Legit users and people who have unknowingly got a pirated copy, on the other hand, will not expect any trouble and are IMO less likely to have the computing nous to work around any difficulties it caues. So once again the paying customer gets reamed and the software thieves are lauging, just like with all the overcomplicated registration routines that come pre-cracked or with cracking tools on the pirate discs but which legitimate buyers have to follow. It’s kinda frustrating.
I own a legal version of Tascams Gigastudio 3 which is a higher end music application. Bought new, in a sealed box.
To install the software you have to enter your CD key which generates a number. You take this number to their website and “register”. This returns another number which will unlock the software. If you uninstall the software from the computer you have to do the whole mess again. If you enter things in the wrong order or if something happens during registration you have to uninstall the software and delete any entry in the registry before it will let you reinstall/register/unlock the software.
Gigastudio has a reputation of being a picky piece of software which will require reinstallation from time to time. Even their manual says if you have issues then reinstall on a “clean” version of windows.
Sure enough, I had issues. It took three of four times of installation and messing with configurations to tweak the system and have Gigastudio run solid (it didn’t like particular drivers, etc). I went through the “registration” process many times and it was a major pain in the ass. My music workstation (as well as most pro systems) doesn’t have access to the internet so I have to spend time transfering crap betweek different computers. It was a royal pain in the ass.
One day Tascam will decide to not support this software and I’ll be screwed.
I decided enough was enough and I ended up scouring sites to find a “cracked” version of the software just so I don’t have to deal with this crap anymore. Guess what? It’s out there. The only thing their copy protection did is piss off a paying customer. It didn’t stop this from being cracked and passed around.
It’s really sad that a legal owner of software has to try and find a pirated version of the same software to make life easier (which I suspect is legal to a degree. I have record I bought the software, have the install disks and am registered MANY times at their website. Grabbing an install of it on-line is kind of like making a backup to another disk).
At the end of the day, while I love this software, it will be the LAST software I ever buy from Tascam unless they change their registration model.
