I recently received an email from one of my readers who asked if there would be a secure way to update a Windows XP installation that already had service pack 2 installed with the latest patches issues by Microsoft in the months after the second service pack was released. His main concerns were about WGA, Windows Genuine Advantage. He did not like the fact that data was sent from his computer to Microsoft.
Microsoft admits 1% false positives rate by WGA checks
Microsoft recently published updated figures about their Windows Genuine Advantage protection that tries to hinder users of illegal versions of Microsoft Windows to update their system with some of the software that can be downloaded from the microsoft homepage. Software like the new Internet Explorer 7 or the Windows Media Player can only be downloaded after a successful WGA check. The download and installation will be denied if a check fails.
Things to check before switching to Vista Part 3
Welcome to the third part in my Things to check before switching to Vista series. The last two articles dealt with possible hardware and software incompatibilities and ways to check whether your hard- and software would run in Windows Vista. It is imminent to check this before you make the switch. Just imagine that you make the switch and a program that you run on a daily basis will not install or run properly.
Will Microsoft ever learn ?
According to the website apcmag “pirates” were able to crack the vista activation server. As you all know every Windows Vista edition has to be activated, even the enterprise editions which was not the case in Windows XP. Imagine a company with thousands of computers all running Windows Vista. It would probably take some time to activate each on its own. The clever folks at Microsoft wanted to make it more comfortable for their business clients and created the so called Key Management Service.
Block windows update from automatic updating to IE7
It seems that Microsoft added the upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 to the automatic upgrade feature of Windows XP. Automatic Updates will notify the user that a new version is ready for download giving the user the option to Install, Don’t Install and Ask Me Later. It seems a pressing matter to Microsoft to get a large basis of Internet Explorer 7 users in a hurry to regain lost grounds in the waging browser war against Opera and Firefox.
Install Windows Media Player 11 without WGA check
Windows Media Player 11 for XP has been released and Microsoft decided to add a WGA check to the installation routine. Once you double-click the executable that you downloaded the tool asks for a WGA check and will not continue the installation until it was checked whether Microsoft thinks your Windows installation is legit or not. We heard about users that had problems with those WGA checks and could not install software that performed checks although they had a legit system.
Download everything from Microsoft without WGA Check
When you want to download a file from Microsoft a WGA (windows genuine advantage) check is performed. Microsoft installs a small piece of software on your computer that contacts the Microsoft server and checks for validity. If the test fails you will not be able to download the file(s). The following method gives you the ability to download every file from Microsoft without a WGA check.
