[CS-FSLUG] "Windows Genuine Advantage Notification" via autoupdate?

[John Mark Clayton]

I'm considering letting autoupdate install it.  So, if I get this
right.  The chances that I'll get a false positive is pretty small.
If I do get a false positive, then all I have to do is call MS?
I'm still not sure I like the idea of it sending "who knows what" back
to MS.  It doesn't matter to me right now because I really don't use
it.  But someday that may change.
Thanks again,
Mark

Nathan, Thanks for the tip for suppressing the notice.


On 4/1/07, Nathan T. <celerate at gmail.com> wrote:
> I've seen some plausible false positives, but in many cases WGA seems
> accurate. Where I work we get phone calls every once in a while with
> someone complaining that their copy of Windows is reporting as
> illegitimate, at that point we ask them to bring it in and of those
> that don't shy away, every single occurrence I can think of involved
> a computer that didn't bear a Windows license sticker for the version
> they had installed. That's not to say the sticker being on the case
> proves innocence, I for one wouldn't soil my $300 Silverstone case
> with a Windows license sticker or "Intel Inside" case badge, so we
> assume the best of the customer and ask them where they got their
> copy of Windows from. Almost every time customers say they got their
> copy of Windows when they bought the computer second hand off an
> anonymous stranger, their kids installed it, their kids friend
> installed it, or a friend of a friend who's technically inclined
> installed it for them at no cost out of the goodness of their heart.
> None of these people have ever admitted to pirating copies.
> Interestingly the real pirates I've come across, those who had no
> problem admitting their copy of Windows was illegitimate, have never
> had problems with WGA, and maybe one or two people since I got my job
> had evidence enough to convince me that they got false positives.
>
> I haven't had problems with WGA, but I block it as a matter of
> principle. WGA just like DRM is just another anti-consumer extension
> of the "trusted computing" idea (companies can control what you do,
> legal or not, without you having a say). By the way, I have a full
> boxed (not OEM) copy of Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit edition, I
> am legally allowed to transfer it from one computer to another, but
> thanks to product activation and WGA now if I want to do that I have
> to call Microsoft and wait for their approval.
>
>
> On 31-Mar-07, at 5:51 PM, Tim Young wrote:
>
> > I install the Windows Genuine stuff on my computers. Linux email
> > client,"Pine" sends (or at least "sent") an email off every time
> > someone
> > installed it. I am careful to adhere to most EULAs, as much as
> > possible,
> > and I do not mind it people check that. I have reinstalled my OSes a
> > number of times and have not yet needed to call up Microsoft to have
> > them reactivate a license key. So far, I have not had any problems
> > with it.
> >
> > - Tim Young
>
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clayton256 at gmail.com