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A Different Kind of WGA 'Problem'

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the foolproof-just-found-a-better-fool dept.

Ed Bott recently attempted to scout out the problems reported in so many horror stories floating around the net relating to Microsoft's WGA. He did experience problems, however, not the ones that you might expect. He intentionally installed a pirated copy of Windows XP to see how the process worked but was unable to get WGA to recognize his computer as pirated. From the article: "I'm reluctantly running a pirated version of Windows and can't get caught no matter how hard I try. But these same people want us to believe that the WGA software they've developed is nearly foolproof. They claim that all but "a fraction of a percent" of those 60 million people who've been denied access to Microsoft updates and downloads are guilty, guilty, guilty. Right."

14 of 348 comments (clear)

  1. A solution to your problem by TheOtherChimeraTwin · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm reluctantly running a pirated version of Windows and can't get caught no matter how hard I try.

    Here you go!

  2. Post the key! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, I just want to confirm the article. Really.

  3. This is surprising by spykemail · · Score: 3, Funny

    because none of Microsoft's software products have any flaws...

    --
    Haiku for you!
  4. Funny that... by dcapel · · Score: 4, Funny

    It seems I can't get Canonical's apt program to recognize I'm running a pirated version of ubuntu. It should be obvious, since I even got it as an iso file on the internet for free...

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    DYWYPI?
    1. Re:Funny that... by click2005 · · Score: 5, Funny

      apt-get install WGA

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  5. I am having this same problem... by Itninja · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...except I am running Linux. No matter how hard I try, I can't get those dweebs at Linux Corp. to understand that I never paid for this copy. I keep calling them and asking for a invoice or bill or something. But I guess they don't have a record of my purchase. Go figure. Just lucky I suppose.

    --
    I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
    1. Re:I am having this same problem... by FuturePastNow · · Score: 5, Funny

      You're just calling the wrong people: http://www.sco.com/

      --
      Give a man fire, and you warm him for the night. Set a man on fire, and you warm him for the rest of his life.
    2. Re:I am having this same problem... by Schraegstrichpunkt · · Score: 4, Funny

      Talk to Trading Standards in the UK.

      --
      http://outcampaign.org/
  6. can I get a link by lophophore · · Score: 4, Funny

    can I get a link to that Google page with the 5 valid keys, please?

    --
    there are 3 kinds of people:
    * those who can count
    * those who can't
  7. Re:Many people just use their employeer's key by Joebert · · Score: 3, Funny
    What happens though when Microsoft detects all 11 out of your 10 licensed machines online at the same time?

    Isn't it obvious ?

    Whoever made out the schedule to have more than 10 people working that day is fired.
    --
    Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
  8. Re:Who are the developers by DigitAl56K · · Score: 3, Funny

    Uh.. ok 'JFK' should be 'JFC'. I was so mad about the whole thing it made me incoherent.

  9. What MS shoudl do by cab15625 · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's probably been suggested before, but what MS should do is what games used to do back in the '80s. When you turn on your computer, it asks you "on page 10 of the manual, what is the 7th word in line 13?"
    Espeically since windows has become too complex for a purely software based solution to ever work reliably.

  10. It's okay... by writermike · · Score: 4, Funny

    *My main PC is a Fedora Core box. My wife's main PC is a Mac. We share this Windows box, mainly for gaming.

    It's okay, man. You don't have to prove yourself to us. :-D

    --
    If Nalgene water bottles are outlawed, only outlaws will have Nalgene water bottles.
  11. A simple bug by real+gumby · · Score: 3, Funny

    They just forgot a "!" in the checking code!

    A 10MB mandatory patch should clear that one right up.