Microsoft Talks Daily With Your Computer

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft Corp. acknowledged Wednesday that it needs to better inform users that its tool for determining whether a computer is running a pirated copy of Windows also quietly checks in daily with the software maker. The company said the undisclosed daily check is a safety measure designed to allow the tool, called Windows Genuine Advantage, to quickly shut down in case of a malfunction." The EULA is suppose to disclose this daily call-in feature. Lauren Weinstein, who is co-founder of People for Internet Responsibility, was one of the first people to notice the daily communications to Microsoft. Report from Yahoo.com"

Comments

What kind of bullshit excuse is this?

[ScrewMaster]

... quickly shut down in case of a malfunction.

So Genuine Advantage needs to contact the mothership in order to be told that it's broken and needs to terminate?

Please.

Re:What kind of bullshit excuse is this?

[Anonymous Coward]

I haven't had it happen, but maybe this is what you're looking for?

Re:What kind of bullshit excuse is this?

[pro_virus]

My Sygate got the beast on the fly and there wasn't any registry key that started it... So I couldn't block it from starting at each boot. So I simply renamed the file and I have not any trouble since that :D

The file is in the system32 directory and the filename is : "WgaTray.exe". I simply renamed it :"WgaTray.bak" and it left my alone :D

Hope this help. Chow

Re:What kind of bullshit excuse is this?

[ottothecow]

I hate that tool...it seems like it is the only update that gets pulled down regularily. It pulls itself down and gets installed when I finally relent to it (since I am in no hurry to update it, even though updates come out all of the time) but then it wants me to restart. That's all fine and dandy, I'll let it do its business the next time I feel like restarting.

Oh, whats this? It pops up every 10 minutes asking me to reboot and gives me no option like "remind me tomorrow"

Come on microsoft...dont force me to sit through this shit on nonessential updates

Re:What kind of bullshit excuse is this?

[jargoone]

And since I run a legit corporate copy, it's staying blocked.

... but if you ran a stolen corporate copy, you'd unblock it? ;-)

Re:What kind of bullshit excuse is this?

[JonahDark1]

I'm sorry, but you've completely missed the point. I don't want my computer talking to Microsoft daily. I don't believe Microsoft has any right to know what's going on with my computer. My software is a legal copy and if they want to check that when I download updates, I'll tolerate that, but it shouldn't be sliently calling home.

Re:What kind of bullshit excuse is this?

[oh_bugger]

According to some comments on a webpage posted earlier in the thread (hunt for it), people have been incorrectly accused of having non-genuine versions of Windows when they actually have completly paid for versions. If this is true then one day turning on their computer to find it's formated and not working will probably piss them off, even more if they realise it was Microsoft that did it. Also someone might deside to write some malware which fools the program into telling Microsoft that the copy of Windows is pirated, a while later Microsoft will go ahead and do the damage for them.

Whether or not Windows is or isn't the best OS to have, these people chose to pay their money to Microsoft and the excuse "It'll teach some pirates a lesson" is not enough to waste their time and money.

Re:What kind of bullshit excuse is this?

[Anonymous Coward]

Last week my "genuine" copy of Windows was accused of being pirated when I accidentally changed the date on my computer. There was no way to fix it, I spoke with several members of Windows customer support who could not help me and transfered me in a complete circle ending up with the original number that I called. I had to reinstall windows, hoping it would help and that I wouldn't lose everything (since I was prevented from accessing windows during this time). Reinstalling (repairing existing installation) helped but I still got the "not genuine windows" warning until I changed the date back to the correct date.

Thank you, Microsoft! :(

Re:What kind of bullshit excuse is this?

[ScrappyLaptop]

And luckily, you have that choice, but I am afraid it is you that has missed the point. Microsoft owns that software, not you. You are merely licensed to use it. By agreeing to the EULA and continuing to use Windows, you agree to whatever conditions Microsoft sets forth. The best part of it is that you *pay* for the honor of doing so. If you disagree with Microsoft's actions, you are free to use another operating system or office suite or what have you. I just wonder when that final choice will disappear; imagine if the EULA had a clause that stated, in legalese, "...and I further agree to only run Microsoft Operating Systems on this PC from this point forward". You know, all in the name of allowing Microsoft to provide better support, etc. No reason not to add a clause like that, really...

Re:What kind of bullshit excuse is this?

[Archtech]

"If you disagree with Microsoft's actions, you are free to use another operating system or office suite or what have you".

And there you have it. As more and more users come to understand the legal facts of the matter, as expounded in this thread, they will have a strong incentive to adopt other operating systems that cost less and impose less unreasonable conditions.

In this context it is interesting to note that the difference between Windows and Linux is steadily being eroded. Indeed, in some ways Linux is distinctly superior; but the key point is that its weaknesses relative to Windows (read: buying objections) are rapidly disappearing. SuSE, to which I am in the process of migrating, is easier to install than Windows; just as efficient; more flexible; and, AFAICS, just as easy to use once you get used to it (which takes a few days). On the plus side, it's far less expensive, offers far better support, and is open and extensible.

Applications used to be a deal-breaker, but I have been using OpenOffice.org recently and it is, if anything, better than Office for my purposes. (Admittedly, I still have Office 97 which is arguably inferior to Office 2003, but why should I shell out big bucks every few years for what is essentially the same product?) Quicken used to be an issue, until Intuit suddenly withdrew from the UK market at the same time as my copy of Quicken mysteriously stopped working. So now there is really no reason why I would prefer Windows to Linux.

Whoa!

[rahrens]

Just one more reason NOT to use Windows as my operating system!

I'm protected.

[Anonymous Coward]

*wraps computer in tin foil and duct tape*

BRING IT ON!!!

XP Phone Home!

[Anonymous Coward]

XP Phone Home!

Ooops!

[kozumik]

I guess they forgot to disclose that in the EULA. Honest mistake, stuff happens. Now let's go back to not worrying about DRM or Net Neutrality because Big Bussiness is looking out for our best interests.

Talks daily to whose computer?

[Entropy]

TFA says "your computer", but aren't all Windows installs "my computer" on the desktop? Shouldn't it say "your my computer"? Or is it "my your computer"?

Ah screw it! And screw Microsoft, too.

Re:Talks daily to whose computer?

[Bob Cat - NYMPHS]

Several times, after telling someone to "Click on My Computer", I was put on hold while they ran over to the server, picked up the extension, and then asked me "Where should I click?". I'm not making a joke here. Mod this "Sad".

OMG! Everyday?!

[__aaclcg7560]

I knew my PC was cheating on me after I got a Mac. But Microsoft...

Re:Yawn

[sweetooth]

A safety feature that it doesn't need. Genuine Advantage only needs to be checked once. Upon verifying your Windows install it should never communicate with Microsoft unless specifically asked to do so. Doing anything else is highly suspicious and bad form. Failing to put this communication information in the EULA is also bad, but is likely an oversight on someones part so can probably be forgiven, we all make mistakes.

Re:This happened to my moms computer yesterday

[oscartheduck]

Just be aware that there's a piece of malware going around that performs this function also. It looks like a microsoft box, comes up before you sign in and claims that your copy of windows is not genuine.

...the hell?

[AWhiteFlame]

Here at Microsoft, we care about the Customer Experience. As a result, we've taken the following measures to make sure your experience is as pleasant and beneficial to you as possible.

- Our new operating system, Windows Vista, requires only the best high-end hardware so that, even on a system well beyond the power you should ever need, you'll still get the true Windows Experience(TM)

- The new Windows Media Player 11 features all-new and exclusive DRM, or Degradation Resistment Technology by Microsoft, which not only provides wonderful sound in the new and improved WMA format, but protects your rights as well.

- Our operating systems now report back with system information and other information which we feel should be collected from your system at any given time to improve your computing experience.

Microsoft: Where do we want to take you today?

Re:Yawn

[collectivescott]

Regarding point 1: My copy of windows checks time.nist.gov, not microsoft. In addition, however, I was asked before this function was enabled, and I can disable it at will.

Regarding point 2: Where is the safety switch for internet explorer? I'm sure IE causes way more "computer explosions" than genuine advantage.

Let's be honest here. A phone-home capability in genuine advantage is suspicious, given the function of the genuine advantage program. It makes people running pirated versions of windows especially nervous. The bottom line is, if it isn't a spy tool, there ought to be an option to disable it. If it is a spy tool, get it the fuck off my computer. Period.

Re:Old News

[Anonymous Coward]

WTF? This isn't old news. Every time I have downloaded this to do installations on the computers we setup at work it says very clearly it performs a "one time check". When did "one time check" become every day? Microsoft is fucking scum.

Re:Ethereal anyone?

[Crazyscottie]

Or better yet, you can just prevent those packets from ever reaching their destination.

The DOS command route -p add 207.46.0.0 mask 255.255.0.0 [192.168.0.254] (replace the address in brackets with a random address on your current subnet) will permanently route all would-be "phone home" packets to the random address that you specified.
 
... You could also, of course, use a firewall, but where's the fun in that? ;-)

Re:Yawn

[Agent Green]

Microsoft doesn't really give a shit about the single-use, single-pc key so much. The whole crux of the Genuine Advantage thing is to keep an eye on the corporate volume licensing keys.

If a corp. license gets out into the wild, it's going to spread like mad (duh). With all those updated PCs phoning home on a daily basis, Microsoft should be quick to get wise to whose key just slipped out and put the kibosh on it.

How many people had the FCKGW key before that got pulled in SP1? :)

Re:This happened to my moms computer yesterday

[spectecjr]

This happened to my Uncle's computer yesterday - Uncle Sam that is. The WinBlows PC that is my email machine popped up the "This copy of Windows is not genuine" tag yesterday. This is on a major DoD site that has Everything legit, monitored, and locked up. It locked the system down so that I could not access the system with either the CAC card/PIN method nor the username/password means.

The Genuine Advantage tool doesn't lock your system. It just doesn't let you download cool freebies (at this time).

You got hit by something else. Upthread someone said that there's some spyware which masquerades as the Genuine Advantage system, and *does* lock your system down.

Bug in Windows Update?

[Savage-Rabbit]

TFA says "your computer", but aren't all Windows installs "my computer" on the desktop? Shouldn't it say "your my computer"? Or is it "my your computer"?

I got a totally different result myself. When I ran Windows Update on my parents laptop about an hour ago Windows Update renamed 'My Computer' to 'All your computer are belong to Microsoft' and changed the system name to 'Skynet subnode 3964270017356334576934-X371N02'. Has anybody else experienced this?

remote deauthorization

[johnrpenner]

if microsoft can remotely 'unlegitimize' a copy of windows,
couldn't a virus or worm massively remotely cripple loads of machines
by exploiting this...?

Re:remote deauthorization

[Poltras]

Actually it can, quite easily... with administrative rights, it can cripple most of your registry and many drivers/dlls (even those unchecked by Windows) and then reboot the machine :) that would work quite efficiently.

The goal of many viruses is not to destroy stuff, but simple other goals such as:

• Make money over advertisement (adware).
• Botnets, in order to attain other goals (DoS, attacks, etc)
• Get passwords, credit cards number and other information which could be useful.
• Leave a message (think MSBLAST.exe kind). What better way to tell "I <3 you" than with the gift of a virus?

A destroyed installation of Windows does not serve much...

This is why you should have set it to:

[Atario]

"Notify me but don't automatically download or install them". (In Control Panel -> System -> Automatic Updates.)

Then you can pick and choose which updates you want, and when you decline one, it pops up a message in which you can check "Never ask me again".

Too late for those who trusted Microsoft, though...now you have to do a lot of registry tweaks and stuff.

Virus scenario

[Anonymous Coward]

A virus could use one of the "Product-Key Changer" scripts (see http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=328874) to install a pirated product key on every infected computer (whiping all traces of the original key).

This would render millions of genuine installations indistinguishable from pirated installations. What a mess for Microsoft! They would have to immediately "kill forever" the WGA helper, and maybe even remove the WGA check on Windows Update.

Such a virus would be a hard lesson to learn for the writers of all kinds of automated "genuine" checks.

Regards,
M.