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Windows Genuine Advantage Gets More Lenient
Troglodyte writes in with word that Microsoft is revamping its Windows Genuine Advantage program so that it labels fewer users pirates. WGA now has a third category besides "genuine and "not genuine," called "not sure." Quoting: "[I]t's quite obvious what is going on here: Microsoft has added 'not sure' as a way of cutting down on the number of false positives associated with WGA. As many as one in five PCs were failing WGA checks, but this new setting should both reduce this and give Microsoft the chance to investigate further the kinds of things that are landing folks in the 'not sure' category."
Is this a genuine first post?
I'm not sure I want them to change anything else after being told my genuine copy was pirated.
"No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson
Me thinks I need ta be labeled 'genuine pirate'. Aaaarrrrrrrr!
So I guess the new categories are:
1. Not a pirate
2. Pirate
3. Ninja
There is no mod option "-1: Disagree" for a reason. "Overrated" is not an acceptable substitute. Post something instead.
Just do away with all this crap and stop bothering paying customers. Hackers will always find a way around whatever scheme MS or any other company devises. It's just a fact of life. If humans make it, humans can break it. Vista is already hacked and it will always continue. HDDVD has met the same fate.
gasmonso http://religiousfreaks.com/I'm a Mac
I'm a PC
I'm not sure
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=218426&cid=17
I hate to say it but "I told you so!"
Ok, I enjoy saying it
This is all well and good, but what about activation? I own a student edition of WinXP Pro and every time I install the OS the internet activation fails. I'm prompted (forced) to call a 1-800 number to activate manually within 30 days. When I do so I must key in or speak a 48-digit activation key which also fails every time. I'm then forwarded to a human being (in India, I'm quite positive) who asks me to repeat part of that 48-digit key, has the audacity to ask me WHY I'M INSTALLING WINDOWS, and then reads back a corresponding 48-digit key which always works.
I have never had trouble using pirated editions of Windows. Regardless of this softened WGA check, Microsoft punishes their legitimate customers. Period.
Soon the options will be:
* Signs point to yes.
* Yes.
* Most likely.
* Without a doubt.
* Yes - definitely.
* As I see it, yes.
* You may rely on it.
* Chances are good.
* It is certain.
* It is decidedly so.
* Reply hazy, try again.
* Better not tell you now.
* Ask again later.
* Concentrate and ask again.
* Cannot predict now.
* My sources say no.
* Very doubtful.
* My reply is no.
* Chances not so good.
* Don't count on it.
You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
That is a good question. I wonder Why MSFT can't do the simple things right but can complete the complex ones. maintaining Windows codebase, Extremely complex. Building WinFS so that it works across intranets, With Leopard, OS X will introduce that functionality into spotlight.
Though My first thought was that they wanted to cut down on customers getting the invalid key. Out of every million, 200,000 people where being told that their once valid copies were no longer valid. So in order to cut down on False Postives they added another point. So out of a million customers you have 150,000 peopling calling to say WTF fix this, and 50,000 pirates.
Their numbers still add up but the PR dept doesn't have to work so hard.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
no. also, that's Mr. Indian Tech Support Bozo to you.
You forgot the best one of all!
* Outlook not so good.
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
Novell would have each NetWare server broadcast its license on the network. If two boxes used the same license, both boxes would shut down.
And Novell tracked each license number by company. You could transfer your license to a different company by sending Novell a letter on your company's letterhead.
Microsoft couldn't distinguish between the serial number for a mouse and the serial number for NT server. Microsoft didn't keep a record of what licenses you had registered. They couldn't even tell you if you HAD registered any licenses.
So you could get one license code for NT server and install 1,000 "pirated" servers.
And Microsoft liked it like that. That gave them the edge over Novell.
Now that Microsoft's competition is practically dead, Microsoft is looking for ways to increase their revenue by making sure that every single license is paid for. Just like Novell was doing in the 90's.
It doesn't work that way. VLKs are basically on the honor system.
...because in those days 1 copy of windows would supply dozens of people (family, friends, their family, etc). I'm sure it was an even bigger problem for schools and businesses. Now, I'm sure some of you believe that all software should be free or open source, however, I can also see MS's view of wanting to actually get money for their OS. I don't believe WGA is necessarily the best way of doing this, but MS will never go back to "free copies for everyone win98" days.
The problem is not that there are fake keys lying around, it's that there are real keys lying around.
For quite some time, the key algorithm for the Volume License copies of XP has been cracked. They're perfectly valid keys, they simply haven't actually been sold to anyone. That's why they can't use the same algorithm, and why they have to keep this magic database of "actually sold" keys to compare against. I have no idea how this database was generated, but I'm willing to bet it was cobbled together, and that Microsoft had no real easy way of knowing which keys were sold and which were not, which resulted in a highly error prone database.
In the United States, it's pretty difficult to buy a pre-made PC without a license for Microsoft Windows. Yes, I've heard about the Dell "N" series, yes, I know you can build your own. But go to CompUSA, BestBuy, Costco, Dell direct, and these machines all have licenses for Windows.
So ask yourself this... in the current situation, why is microsoft investing so heavily in WGA? Surely, there are no more licenses to be sold.
But apparently there is. Microsoft has so narrowly defined the definition of a "legal copy of windows" that you really can't be sure.
If my Dell is smoked, and I replace the motherboard, apparently, I don't have a valid license? Or maybe I do. MS will let me know when they decide.
If I've changed too many things too many times in my PC (RAM, HD, Memory, etc), apparently, I am a software pirate. Go figure.
Going back to my original point. If MS is saying 1 of 5 PC's fail this test, they're saying 20% of all PC's don't have a license for Windows. If I assume that 2% of new PC's are sold in the U.S. without a Windows license, then what happened to those other 18% of licenses?
It doesn't add up.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
Good, because ultimately it will be Microsoft's undoing. Small shops that were 100% Microsoft but were able to do so only by paying for what they cord afford and pirating what they couldn't will now be forced to dump Microsoft or stick with older versions of Microsoft software because the new versions are so locked down they can no longer engage in the casual copying they used to engage in to upgrade those PC's that they otherwise couldn't afford to upgrade. They'll then focus on finding less expensive or free alternatives that can integrate with the existing Microsoft software that they are running. Standards suddenly become important to these shops and they are now open to and aware of alternatives they were not open to or aware of before. Suddenly paying the Microsoft tax seems more and more ridiculous.
ID Processing Computer: "Please repeat your license key as it occurs on your M$ identity card. Document number G24L8"
Joe: "Well, I'm not sure if--"
ID Processing Computer: "You have entered the license status of 'Not Sure'. Is this correct, Not sure?"
Joe: "No, it is not correct."
ID Processing Computer: "Thank you. 'Not' is correct. Is 'Sure' correct?
Joe: No, it's not. My license key is rm233-"
ID Processing Computer: "You've already confirmed that your license key starts with 'Not'."
ID Processing Computer: "Please confirm the last part of your key, 'Sure'."
Joe: "My ke-- The last part of my key is not sure. No."
ID Processing Computer: "Thank you. Your pirating status has been entered as Not Sure."
Joe: "What I mean is my status is legi--"
ID Processing Computer: "Confirmation is complete. Please wait while I tattoo your pirate status on all your word documents and email correspondences."
Joe: "Tattoo, wait what?!?"
I'll just use my special getting high powers one more time...
I personally had to argue with Microsoft to get an activation code for Windows XP. The hard drive on my IBM Thinkpad failed, and I replaced it under warranty. Windows refused to authenticate using the product key printed on the bottom of my computer, saying the key was invalid. (I had bought the computer directly from IBM, which I expect eliminates the possibility this was a bogus key.) I called the Microsoft authentication hotline, which had an automated voice that insisted that I read out loud the 54-digit code that Windows provided. I tried typing it in, but it ignored me. When I read it out loud, the Hotline told me that number was invalid and hung up on me.
I called back. This time, I didn't try to read it the 54 digits again. When I was silent, it hung up on me. So I called back again. This time, I made random noises at it. After five minutes of random noises (which was quite amusing to those working nearby), I finally got hold of a person.
It took 20 minutes to convince the person at the other end of the phone that my license was legitimate. They gave me a new key to enter. Windows said the key was valid, and everything seemed ok.
Then I rebooted, and Windows again said I had an invalid key. I had to call back again, make random noises for five minutes--my coworkers were laughing hysterically--and get a new key. I told them to wait until my machine rebooted, and they said they couldn't. I asked for a way to reach them directly without making noises at their stupid voicemail, and she said there wasn't a way. While I rebooted, I said I wanted to speak to a supervisor. She waited a moment and then said there was a supervisor there--but I couldn't speak to him. She would relay what he said. (Yeah, right, Microsoft.) The "supervisor" told me I should type the "0" key on the phone when I got the first voicemail prompt, which would connect me back to a human operator. I said I didn't believe that would work (since I had tried typing the number already, when it insisted I read it). She laughed and said the "supervisor" had told her to tell me that, and she hung up on me. At least my stalling tactic worked--she stayed on the line until the machine rebooted so I could confirm it wasn't useless key.
I have lived through Microsoft's reactivation hell, personally. It's not FUD.
my guess is it will probably force you to play this on every single bootupe lated&search=
forcing this incredibly annoying song to go through your head all day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEBbu-wkKrs&mode=r
if that isn't a deterrent, I don't know what is
Working as designed.
Little known fact: Keys from major OEMs printed on stickers on your box / under your laptop are DUMMY KEYS. You can install the OS with them, but it will NOT activate.
If you use manufacturer's recommended recovery method (Recovery CD, recovery partition), the key is never asked. If you use some other media, the key is accepted, but it _will not activate_. If you call MS and actually get a human, they usually give you a new key when you explain the situation, but the sticker key not working is WORKING AS DESIGNED.
The sticker keys used to work, but then people stole them by writing them down from PCs (shocking!), so the MS answer was to make them essentially duds.