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    I am not asking if we should pay or not. We have to pay for our products. But why should we bother with WGA and all the problems people are having with it?

    Microsoft tries to block non-genuine versions as best they can. But if you payed for a license and WGA doesn't validate, why shoudnt we remove WGA and be non genuine?

    Please no Microsoft propaganda or scare tactics. I want real arguments, because I can't find any myself.

    Thursday, October 21, 2010 1:57 PM

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    But why should we bother with WGA and all the problems people are having with it?

    But if you payed for a license and WGA doesn't validate, why shoudnt we remove WGA and be non genuine?

    I have been participating in this forum for over four years, and during that time I think there have been a handful of people whose nongenuine situation turned out to be a clerical error on the part of Microsoft or one of its distributors, where their product keys were mistakenly reported to Microsoft as lost/stolen/shop spoiled by distributors.

    So I reject your premise of "...all the problems people are having with it?"  The problems are not with WGA, the problems are nongenuine software.

    You wrote, "But if you payed for a license and WGA doesn't validate, why shoudnt we remove WGA and be non genuine?"  A:  For the same reason you should not take the batteries out of your smoke detector because it's making all that hi-pitched ear splitting noise.  Instead, put out the fire!!!!  If WGA is telling you that an installation is nongenuine, correct the problem causing the report rather than deleting the reporting software.

    There may be benefits to using Genuine software, but there are excellent reasons to NOT use nongenuine software.  The risk of embedded malware is the greatest risk to the user and to the internet community as a whole, and the moral implications of using stolen property is another excellent reason to NOT use nongenuine software.

    Buy Office 2007 Now, Get Office 2010 Free http://office2010.microsoft.com/en-us/tech-guarantee/microsoft-office-2010-technology-guarantee-FX101825695.aspx?CTT=97
    Thursday, October 21, 2010 3:23 PM

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    But why should we bother with WGA and all the problems people are having with it?

    But if you payed for a license and WGA doesn't validate, why shoudnt we remove WGA and be non genuine?

    I have been participating in this forum for over four years, and during that time I think there have been a handful of people whose nongenuine situation turned out to be a clerical error on the part of Microsoft or one of its distributors, where their product keys were mistakenly reported to Microsoft as lost/stolen/shop spoiled by distributors.

    So I reject your premise of "...all the problems people are having with it?"  The problems are not with WGA, the problems are nongenuine software.

    You wrote, "But if you payed for a license and WGA doesn't validate, why shoudnt we remove WGA and be non genuine?"  A:  For the same reason you should not take the batteries out of your smoke detector because it's making all that hi-pitched ear splitting noise.  Instead, put out the fire!!!!  If WGA is telling you that an installation is nongenuine, correct the problem causing the report rather than deleting the reporting software.

    There may be benefits to using Genuine software, but there are excellent reasons to NOT use nongenuine software.  The risk of embedded malware is the greatest risk to the user and to the internet community as a whole, and the moral implications of using stolen property is another excellent reason to NOT use nongenuine software.

    Buy Office 2007 Now, Get Office 2010 Free http://office2010.microsoft.com/en-us/tech-guarantee/microsoft-office-2010-technology-guarantee-FX101825695.aspx?CTT=97
    Thursday, October 21, 2010 3:23 PM
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    So what you are saying is that there are malware with tools that remove the WGA. That might be true.

    Let me be perfectly clear i am not condoning unpayed software. One should pay for a license.

    Say you exchange your motherboard, I did that with a computer, and then the OEM license didn't work anymore. I also found a tool that removed the WGA without malware, downloading of WGA protected stuff from Microsoft still works. Why shouldn't i use that tool instead of using work hours to call Microsoft or in this case OEM vendor support?

    WAG dosen't protect against trojans, viruses, scams, botnets or any other risk Windows is facing.

    Thursday, October 21, 2010 4:14 PM
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    Hello Idar2,

    Replacing a motherboard on a computer running an OEM license for Windows can be, but is not always, problematic.

    If the motherboard is replaced with the OEM's furnished replacement, there will be no problem with Windows Product Activation (WGA has nothing to do with motherboard replacements).  If the motherboard is replaced with an equivalent that does not have the OEM's SLP marker, then telephonic activation has to be done because there is no marker to mesh with the SLP functions of the OEM's Windows installation.  Telephonic activation takes about 6-7 minutes---if that's too much time to take away from work or your life, then you've already wasted ten times that much time with this specious argument.  If the motherboard is replaced with one that adds significant features or performance (say, it goes from one Intel CPU socket to the next intel CPU socket), then a new computer is created and a new OEM (or retail) license will have to be purchased and installed, as the original OEM license is good for a computer that no longer exists.

    WGA does indirectly protect against malware.  If an average user is alerted to the fact that their computer has nongenuine software, which is recognized as having a greater potential for embedded malware, and then removes the nongenuine software and replaces it with genuine, there is a reasonably good possibility that they have "shut off" an infected installation of Windows and replaced it with a clean installation of Windows.  Every time that happens, that's a good thing for the Internet and its users overall.

    Buy Office 2007 Now, Get Office 2010 Free http://office2010.microsoft.com/en-us/tech-guarantee/microsoft-office-2010-technology-guarantee-FX101825695.aspx?CTT=97
    Thursday, October 21, 2010 4:41 PM
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    Hi Idar2,

    Well there are many benefits of using Genuine Microsoft software. To directly answer your question, it is very unlikely that WGA will give a false positive. I have used Microsoft software for over 10 years and I have never had a problem with WGA ever since it came out. In the unlikely event that WGA does turn up a false positive, you can always contact Microsoft Support or Microsoft Supplemental and Replacement Parts.

    And to answer the question about the OEM software:

    If you are moving an OEM-SLP installation, yes, it will have problems, because transferring OEM-SLP software is prohibited. The only case in which you should have an OEM-SLP installation is when you bought it from a Royalty OEM. If your motherboard fails, it is covered by Microsoft licensing and you should contact your PC's manufacturer and they should be able to provide you with a motherboard with the proper SLIC tables.

    If you are moving an OEM System Builder installation, then all you have to do is re-activate (use telephone activation), and it should work fine.

    WGA does protect against malware and viruses because many non-genuine installation are found every day. Just because your system is thought to be genuine, it could be discovered as non-genuine and contain many virus softwares.

    • Proposed as answer by motherboardlove Wednesday, November 3, 2010 8:43 PM
    Wednesday, November 3, 2010 8:43 PM