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Microsoft DRM Tool Locked Out Genuine Users
News Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is the mechanism that Microsoft uses to validate genuine copies of the Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems. Without WGA approval, users are unable to use many of the features of the operating systems.
[August 28, 2007, 17:32]
Microsoft Disables IE7 Validation Process
News Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is part of Microsoft's Genuine Software Initiative. Previously, to download Internet Explorer 7, users had to authenticate to WGA. Microsoft said that it had dropped the requirement for WGA for security reasons.
[October 8, 2007, 14:11]
Microsoft Offers WGA Workaround
News The updated WGA Notifications package includes changes that respond to criticism Microsoft has faced over the software, the company said. For the first time, though, Microsoft is offering guidelines on how to remove WGA Notifications.
[June 28, 2006, 11:20]
Fighting Microsoft's Licence Check
News Some Windows users have started to search for ways around the antipiracy technology, setting up a struggle between Microsoft and WGA opponents. Since the 2004 introduction of the WGA programme, multiple hacks and tricks to circumvent the piracy...
[June 21, 2006, 9:10]
Microsoft 'frightened' By Police XP Hack
News McGrath denied that Microsoft's anti-piracy tool, Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), which prevents non-critical updates from being downloaded from Windows Update without WGA validation, was a security issue.
[November 13, 2007, 10:26]
Microsoft's Licensing Check Rounded Again
News For the software maker, the news is not the first time people have attempted to outwit WGA. Earlier this year, during WGA's pilot phase, a security researcher outlined another way to trick the check. The primary WGA checking mechanism uses ActiveX...
[August 8, 2005, 9:35]
Apple Files For DRM System Akin To Microsoft
News In August, around 12,000 Windows users found that they could not either register their software, or found that parts of it became unusable, because Microsoft loaded the wrong software during a WGA update.
[December 24, 2007, 12:15]
Rupert Goodwins' Diary
Blog And it's also the reason Microsoft is being so daft about some of the implications of Windows Genuine Advantage, or WGA. WGA is designed — let's be charitable — to encourage people to buy legitimate copies of the operating system.
[August 11, 2006, 19:15]
Second WGA Lawsuit Faced By Microsoft
News Microsoft has been named in a second lawsuit over its antipiracy Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program, which plaintiffs allege acts as "spyware" on their systems. Microsoft, however, contends the two lawsuits do not present a fair picture of WGA.
[July 6, 2006, 9:45]
The Genuine Advantage In Windows' Woes
Leader WGA went AWOL — and with it, many Windows users' abilities to prove their legitimacy. The biggest problem isn't that WGA is flawed in concept and execution, it's that it introduces a single point of failure.
[August 28, 2007, 16:29]
Windows Genuine Advantage Circumvented
News WGA is a software tool that verifies whether a particular copy of the operating system is properly licensed. The company has been testing the WGA licence check on its Download Center and Windows Update Web sites for several months.
[May 24, 2005, 9:05]
Vista PCs To Lock Out Rogue Software
Talkback But fears of intrusive interference with my computer were consoled by Microsoft’s claim that WGA was not going to disable my software but just notify me of problems and tell me how to fix them. The new WGA is nothing less than corporate sponsored...
[October 6, 2006, 23:25]
Shades Of WGA To Come From Other Vendors
Talkback If the Microsoft WGA outage caused this much disruption due to a user error then imagine what will happen when activation measures are deployed badly by more than one vendor - the knock on effects in business will be very disruptive.
[September 4, 2007, 4:39]
Windows 'piracy' Checks Rounded Again
News Microsoft's efforts to curtail counterfeiting hit a snag when hackers discovered a new way to bypass its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), only days after the licence-checking software's official debut.
[August 1, 2005, 12:40]
Microsoft's Anti-piracy Plan Condemned
News Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) programme, which is designed to help identify pirate copies of Windows, will increase the security problems faced by enterprises, according to research group Gartner.
[January 31, 2005, 8:00]
Microsoft Turns Up Heat In Licensing Push
News Microsoft signalled its intention to continue cracking down on unlicensed software this week when it announced the full roll-out of Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), and extended the roll-out of Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) to the UK.
[April 27, 2006, 11:35]
Microsoft Admits Targeting Wine Users
News A Microsoft spokesperson told ZDNet UK it made sure the validation tool used by its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) programme identified Wine users, so that only users are running a genuine version of Windows could download updates and add-on tools.
[February 25, 2005, 11:30]
There's Nothing Like The Real Thing: Genuine Software Is A Win-Win For Customers, Microsoft And Partners
White Papers Microsoft's genuine software programs - which are more than a year old - enable customers to quickly and easily verify if they are running an authentic version of Microsoft Windows or Office, using a validation mechanism through the Windows...
[March 7, 2007, 0:00]
Trust No One, Especially Microsoft
Leader The already controversial Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) programme - where users authenticate their copy of Windows in order to receive the latest patches and software add-ons - has repeatedly shown itself to be more insidious than previously...
[June 14, 2006, 17:00]
Wine Maker Relaxed Over Microsoft's 'blockade'
News Last month Microsoft said from the middle of 2005 customers will need to verify that their copies of Windows are genuine before downloading updates and add-on tools, through a programme, called Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA).
[February 23, 2005, 12:00]
