The Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool is a system that was designed and created by Microsoft in order to implement online validation of their most recent operating systems. This tool WGA is made up of two components:. The ActiveX Control on the other hand, is able to validate all of the above including Windows The WGA, when installed on your computer, will advertise the latest service packs for your operating system, this is especially the case with Windows XP based system.
WGA was originally a voluntary system, which was changed to mandatory in July Whether or not the Windows genuine advantage validation tool installs on your system, depends on your Windows Update settings. In most cases, the tool will be downloaded automatically, then install itself when you next restart the computer. During the installation process, you may or may not be able to review the licence terms and choose whether or not to decline the update.
If you choose to decline the install, then the operating system will never ask you to install the update again. Once the license terms and installation process has been completed, you will be greeted with the occasional update, relevant to your version of Windows.
After the installation is complete, the tool will run its validation process in order to verify whether or not your copy of Windows is genuine. If your copy of Windows is found not to be genuine, then when you next restart the computer, you will be presented with various notifications.
The notifications will inform you that your copy of Windows is not genuine and then present you with the appropriate option s to resolve it. If you opt to download the Windows genuine advantage validation tool directly from the Microsoft Download Center, then you will be taken through the typical installation process to apply the update. This will include you having to review and agree to the licence terms of the update. Windows Genuine Advantage WGA is an anti-piracy system created by Microsoft that enforcesonline validation of the licensing of several recent MicrosoftWindowsoperating systems when accessingseveral services, such as Windows Update, and downloading Windowscomponents from the Microsoft Download Center.
WGA consists of twocomponents: an installable component called WGANotifications that hooks into Winlogon and validates the Windows licenseupon each logon and an ActiveX controlthat checks the validity of the Windows license when downloadingcertain updates from the Microsoft Download Center or Windows Update. TheActiveX control however checks Windows Professional licenses aswell. WGA also advertises the latest service pack for Windows XP,which requires manual intervention to disable.
Previouslyvoluntary, it became mandatory for use of these services in July Despite its name it does not directly evaluate the integrity orsecurity of any computer. The WGA validation process validates the present installation ofWindows and its license key against the hardware involved and determines if theSoftware was licensed from Microsoft.
It is accessible by either astand-alone program, or as an ActiveX control within InternetExplorer, the latter of which is relevant to any attempt toaccess Microsoft updates via its browser. It includes the followingsteps:. If the software decides the instance of Windows does not have avalid license, WGA displays a specific notice to the user andprevents non-critical updates from being downloaded fromMicrosoft.
The ActiveX control is downloaded on the first validation andwhen a new version is available, but the validation itself can beperformed any time the user connects to a Microsoft website toupdate.
In early releases the tool could be readily disabledwith the IE Add-on Management feature. A Windows Group Policy wasadded by later updates, causing this option to be unavailable bydefault, but still accessible if the policy were removed. As ofJuly , the latest update blocks management by other means. A plugin also exists for Firefox. To remove the plugin, deletenpLegitCheckPlugin. The program uses either a stand-alone program to generate a keyor an ActiveX control todiscover whether the license key is valid;either way an Internet connection is required.
If WGA determinesthat a user's copy of Windows is unauthorized but wasinstalled from seemingly-legitimate media i. Microsoft also offers discounts topeople who want to purchase a legitimate copy of Windows but do nothave a valid CD. Microsoft has indicated that they will continue todeliver critical security updates through their Automatic Updatesservice as well as via the Microsoft Download Center, so that allsystems, including those that fail to pass validation, will stillcontinue to receive critical security updates.
The company has made installation of Windows Genuine Advantage arequirement for use of the Windows Update and Microsoft Update websites, in part to besure that customers who use support resources of the company areaware when their software is unlicensed. However, since non-critical Windows updates arenot presented by Automatic Updates, installation of WGA is requiredfor installation of such non-critical updates, which are onlyavailable through Windows Update or the Microsoft DownloadCenter.
In an attempt to assist I would like to provide the following information. There are many articles you can review. If you find that Windows Update refuses to install most patches, you can register its missing DLLs yourself. This can be accomplished by manually entering seven commands shown in Step 2, below at a command prompt. If you need to run the fix on multiple machines, it's easiest to use a batch file, as Steps 1 through 5 explain: Step 1.
Open Notepad or any text editor. Step 2. Save the file to your desktop, using a. Step 4. Double-click the icon of the. Step 5.
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