Turn off Windows WGA Alerts
This post was published 3 years 8 months 25 days ago which may make its actuality or expire date not be valid anymore. This site is not responsible for any misunderstanding.A few weeks ago Microsoft forced a piece of software on most North American Windows XP users, that was designed to alert computer users if they were running a pirated or illegal installation. However this tool was highly controversial because Microsoft forgot to document that the program pinged Redmond every time a computer was restarted. Of course this angered users, and initially Microsoft said this tool could not be removed. Guess they had a change of heart.
Microsoft has made the removal process VERY EASY (ha ha). Just use the following steps to uninstall the WGA alert application. Kinda nice that Microsoft makes you go to this trouble for a piece of software that was forced on your computer:
1. Log on to the computer by using an account that has administrative permissions.
2. Make sure that the WGA Notifications version that exists on the computer is a pilot version. The version format for the pilot version is 1.5.0532.x. In this case, you can uninstall versions 527-532 only. For example, you can uninstall versions that range from 1.5.0527.0 to 1.5.0532.2. To find the WGA Notifications version, follow these steps:
a. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
b. Double-click Add or uninstall Programs, locate and then click Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, and then click Click here for support information.
c. In the Support Info dialog box, verify the version number, and then click Close.
3. Rename the following files by changing the extension to .old:
• Rename %Windir%\system32\WgaLogon.dll to %Windir%\system32\WgaLogon.old
• Rename %Windir%\system32\WgaTray.exe to %Windir%\system32\WgaTray.old
4. Restart the computer.
5. Unregister LegitCheckControl.dll by using Regsvr32. To do this, follow these steps:
a. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
b. At the command prompt, type the following, and then press ENTER:
Regsvr32 %Windir%\system32\LegitCheckControl.dll /u
6. Restart the computer.
7. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
8. At the command prompt, delete the following files by typing the Del command. Press ENTER after you type each command.
• Del %Windir%\system32\wgalogon.dll
• Del %Windir%\system32\WgaTray.exe
• Del %Windir%\system32\LegitCheckControl.dll
9. At the command prompt, type regedit.
10. Locate and then right-click the following registry subkeys. Click Delete after you locate each subkey.
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Notify\WgaLogon
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Notify\WgaLogon
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\removeremove\WgaNotify
11. Restart the computer.
[via]
no, really I’m sure that Microsoft “”forgot”" to document this feature. They were afterall only looking out for our best interests, right?
Not.
Anyone whos stupid enough to install that in the first place deserves to be shot.
Thats why I read the description of every security update I download I unticked that crappy annoying update and voila,no problems.
Funny thing is,a dude in a german forum I am on made a Thread saying he had a problem with his WinXP so I went in and his problem was exactly that.
And everyone was laughing at him for being borderline stupid.
Or you could just run RemoveWGA, just download and click…
http://www.firewallleaktester.com/removewga.htm
Isn’t it just a lil easier to f8 into safe mode to delete all the files and registry entries? I had to do this on a client’s pc the other day and it seems like less of a hassle to do it that way – my 2 ¢
Or you could just never boot Windows again ;) Ok nevermind that. I’m with Dean in that everyone should take the time to read through the updates that are being fed to them. This is a great example why I hated the auto updating convenience of the security center in SP2.
You could just not get Genunie Advantage update and then you wouldnt have any problems. Or of course you could buy the software…. but who wants to do that. And Derek I really think its and issue with Windows :-p its more like user error, they know they have an cracked copy of Windows, do people really think Microsoft will just keep letting people get away with that forever?
i just fire up good old zap.exe and cleared it off that way
Folks…let’s remember that some people want to use Windows instead of championing it. i.e., those who want to drive cars without becomming a mechanic in order to do so. It doesn’t mean they’re stupid. It does mean they see Windows as a tool to get work done. Why does everyone have to be a geek in order to use a tool? Plus, in the case of WGA, lots of brand new Dell and HP PCs fail the test right out of the box. Why should these users be hassled?
Say, why not price Windows XP Pro for $99? It certainly isn’t worth any more than that, especially when you have to nurse it and fix it and hack it to get it to work right. At that price, maybe they’d get everyone to buy it.
Or maybe not. Since Windows is a piece of junk, maybe nobody should have to pay anything – and for me, that might just begin to cover all the frantic hours I’ve spent fixing the things Microsoft should’ve fixed themselves, before releasing Vista.
I sure hope VMware gets installed on PCs first, so we can use our systems for real work using the best app for the job.