wga
RSS wgaThere's Nothing Like the Real Thing: Genuine Software Is a Win-Win for Customers, Microsoft and Partners
White Paper Microsoft's genuine software programs - which are more than a year old - enable customers to quickly and easily verify if they are running an authentic version of Microsoft Windows or Office, using a validation mechanism through the Windows... [10 Apr 2008]
Microsoft unchains IE 7 for XP users
News Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is part of Microsoft's Genuine Software Initiative. Previously, to download Internet Explorer 7, users had to authenticate to WGA. Microsoft said it had dropped the requirement for WGA for security reasons. [09 Oct 2007]
Microsoft rolls out Vista patches
News Users must validate their version of Vista with Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) - a Microsoft mechanism to protect against the illegal copying of its software - to receive the updates. Microsoft has released two updates for Windows Vista. [10 Aug 2007]
Microsoft tees up anti-piracy tool update
News Microsoft will soon start pushing out a new version of its controversial Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) Notifications anti-piracy tool to Windows XP users. The updated WGA Notifications package includes additional changes in response to continued... [29 Nov 2006]
Windows Genuine Advantage: An Overview and Screenshot Gallery
White Paper Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is a component of the Engineering part of the unholy triumvirate. The first, dubbed WGA Validation, determines whether the version of Windows on which its running is legitimate. [21 Nov 2006]
Microsoft to push IE 7 onto XP users
News Automatic Updates is a Windows feature typically used for security updates but Microsoft has also used it to push its anti-piracy tool WGA Notifications. Microsoft plans to automatically push Internet Explorer 7 to Windows XP users when the browser... [27 Jul 2006]
Microsoft: Learn to love software licences
News Changes made last week to Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) licence management program have caused mixed feelings among users but the company has insisted its licensing strategy is mainly aimed at helping users, not penalising them. [05 Jul 2006]
Microsoft to go public on product privacy
News Earlier this month, it faced criticism for not disclosing that one of its anti-piracy tools, called Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) Notifications, pinged the company every time a PC was booted up. It would be easier to endorse if we could be more... [26 Jun 2006]
Q&A: Microsoft UK head of anti-piracy Michala Alexander
Comment You launched the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) scheme in April which gives users access to more tools if they sign up to the service and register their copy of Windows but blocks some downloads to customers who don't. [22 May 2006]
Microsoft battles piracy on the desktop
News Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) was launched in September 2004. The WGA expansion is a precursor to the anti-piracy features Microsoft is building into Windows Vista, the update to the operating system expected in January 2007. [25 Apr 2006]
Windows piracy check: Foiled again
News For the software maker, the news is not the first time people have attempted to outwit WGA. Earlier this year, during WGA's pilot phase, a security researcher outlined another way to trick the check. The primary WGA checking mechanism uses ActiveX... [08 Aug 2005]
Hackers foil Windows security check
News Microsoft's efforts to curtail counterfeiting hit a snag when hackers discovered a new way to bypass its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), only days after the anti-piracy software's official debut. The software giant announced WGA 1.0 on Monday. [01 Aug 2005]
Windows piracy check has a backdoor
News Researcher Debasis Mohanty outlined what he said was a technique to trick Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation check, in a posting to the Full Disclosure security mailing list on Monday. [24 May 2005]
