Article 20 - Windows Genuine Advantage

Windows Genuine Advantage

Are you using Windows XP? With XP, are you using the facility to update Windows automatically? Really, in principle, this is the correct thing to be doing, as it ensures that you get all of the security updates as Microsoft issues them. However, there is a snake in the grass these days – called Windows Genuine Advantage (or WGA), which is also downloaded as part of the updates. Once downloaded, Windows Genuine Advantage proceeds to check you computer to see if your copy of Windows is "genuine" and legal. If your computer fails this check, then a message appears on the screen saying that you have an illegal copy of Windows, with a link to click on to “fix the problem”. This fix takes you to the Microsoft shop where you can buy a legal copy. In addition to an annoying message, failing the WGA check means that you can no longer download certain optional Microsoft programs.

There has been a fair amount of discussion in the IT industry about this new so called feature in Windows XP. There are pending court cases in the United States (so call “class actions”) aimed at stopping Microsoft from acting in this way. There are also people who maintain that WGA is a form of “spy ware” in that it acts like spy ware and transmits information from your computer to a third party without your express permission. On the other hand, the anti spy ware companies are not really concerned in this case as they think that Microsoft has every right to to protect itself from piracy.

As you might expect, Microsoft has been busy defending its actions regarding WGA, especially in view of reports that WGA is reporting fully legal copies of Windows XP as being illegal. According to Microsoft, virtually all of the 60 million PCs that failed the WGA validation were using an illegal copy of the software, with only a fraction of a percent of the copies deemed illegal being actually legal copies. Actual numbers are not available – and a fraction of a percent could still make up many thousands. It is also interesting to note that the 60 million “illegal” copies represents one in five of the copies of Windows XP which have been checked by WGA.

According to Microsoft, among the possible causes of WGA failure where the user thinks that they have a legal copy are:

Users unknowingly being sold copies of Windows XP by shops which illegally reuse the same licence key with multiple customers.
Users who take their PC for repair and the repairer uses the same licence key for multiple customers instead of using the individual licence key for that PC.
Users who bought a PC from a company such as Dell, HP, Packard Bell etc, and who then use the licence key from that computer when installing Windows XP onto a new computer – possibly when the original computer is no longer in use. The reseller licences with these manufacturers forbids the transfer of the licence to another computer.
Users sharing Windows XP with friends and family.
Users who use Windows XP on more than one computer at home. The licence agreement forbids this practice – the licence is for use on one computer only.

This is a story which may well run for some time. I will try to keep you up to date with developments.

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