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One In Five Windows Installs Is Non-Genuine

Posted by kdawson on from the false-positives dept.

snib writes "Microsoft disclosed Monday that, according to reports collected by the notorious Windows Genuine Advantage tool on millions of users' PCs, 22% of all Windows installs do not pass its validation tests and have therefore been deemed non-genuine. Quoting: 'Since WGA launched in July 2005, over 512 million users have attempted to validate their copy of Windows, Microsoft said. Of those, the non-genuine rate was 22.3 percent... [T]he Business Software Alliance... reports that 35 percent of the world's software is pirated (22 percent in North America)...'"

7 of 481 comments (clear)

  1. The number is high by adamstew · · Score: 4, Informative

    I know for a fact that my install is 100% genuine...Although WGA has flagged it as non-genuine.

    I obtained my copy of XP from a university site license that was given to all the students at the university of Pittsburgh. They just recently invalidated that site license...so you are looking at tens of thousands (if not a couple hundred thousand) students, faculty and staff that were all using that key that is now non-genuine.

    1. Re:The number is high by eli+pabst · · Score: 4, Informative
      I had the same issue happen at the University of Pittsburgh and it wasn't just limited to student software. The volume license key I was given as a student was identical to the one that my department IT administrators had, so this wasn't just an issue of "loaning" it to students. The "real" reason they decided to invalidate the license key was that Microsoft wanted them to start giving out XP disks that had *individual* license keys rather than a volume license so that they could track who was distributing software.

      From the U of Pittsburgh's own software distribution site:
      "Students are permitted to keep, for their personal use, copies of Microsoft software received under this license upon leaving the University."

      Plus I just read the official Products Use Rights statement and their isn't anything about loaning or revoking the license at any time.
  2. i dont think that word means what they think it me by User+956 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Microsoft disclosed Monday that, according to reports collected by the notorious Windows Genuine Advantage tool on millions of users' PCs, 22% of all Windows installs do not pass its validation tests and have therefore been deemed non-genuine.

    genuine /dnyun/ -adjective

    1. possessing the claimed or attributed character 2. descended from the original stock; pure in breed:

    Even pirated software is genuine.

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
  3. idiots by lewis2 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've bought/built about 20 PCs for personal use over the years. I bought retail or retail upgrades for each machine (I have 3 concurrent licenses in total). Recently I got a SMART warning and swapped a data drive. I had to talk to a Microsoft support person to get a new license key as the one that came with my install CD didn't work. I since then had to swap the system drive and submitted a support request b/c it won't run windows update and they assigned me a case # a month ago and haven't called back. Fortunately for the community I know Microsoft's machines - even when patched - are a risk so I don't allow them on the public network without a firewall (openbsd in my case). However they should know better than to prevent a paying customer from applying their patches.

  4. Re:A la Bash.org by Fordiman · · Score: 4, Informative

    Feh. I don't bother with WGA. Check out http://www.windizupdate.com

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    110100 1101000 1101000 1100110 0 1101111 1101000 1100011 1
  5. Re:Well... by pla · · Score: 5, Informative

    Your story is telling...mostly telling lies. Added RAM? that alone wont cause it to need a new key.

    Presuming you mean that seriously, rather than just to troll the guy...

    He said, and I quote, "I added a gig of RAM and a different video card" (bolding mine). Two changes, depending on which ones, can trigger reactivation.

    Really quite annoying, actually. I find it much easier to just pirate VLK versions. That way, no messy activation (or cracks thereof) to bother with.



    To which I will reply: Fine, Why didn't you just call Microsoft?

    Have you ever called a company to tell them they've made a mistake? Hmm?

    Trust me, it takes far less time to just download a "third-party patch" to correct the problem, than trying to do things the "right" way.

  6. Re:A la Bash.org by Jjeff1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    False positive rate?
    Not sure, but we do work for schools. I walked in to a computer lab one day, and saw perhaps 5 out of 30 machines with a stupid WGA error message. Mind you, all of these machines were the identical model PC, purchased at the same time, imaged at the same time, with the exact same WinXP disk image and the exact same internet access.
    Based on that, I'd say their 22% rate is just about accurate, though not for the reasons they think.