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Windows Genuine Advantage Servers Out

krewemaynard writes to let us know that Microsoft has been having major problems with its WGA servers since at least Friday evening. Quoting Ars: "Users of both Windows XP and Windows Vista were writing to say that they could not validate their installations using WGA, and one user even said that his installation was invalidated by the service... The Microsoft WGA Forums are full of problem reports, and Microsoft WGA Program Manager Phil Liu has acknowledged that there is a problem, and that MS is investigating." Update: 07/25 22:10 GMT by KD :Microsoft has identified and fixed the problem and posted instructions for anyone whose system mistakenly failed a WGA check. (The link posted earlier was to a 2006 article.)

15 of 300 comments (clear)

  1. Slashdot Delay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Of course, by the time it hits Slashdot, WGA is operational again. Digg and Reddit have had this on the FP for hours

  2. Re:WGA sucks by MicrosoftElitist · · Score: 0, Informative

    As someone who also objectively likes Microsoft products I have to agree with you here. WGA makes the legitimate customer feel like a criminal.

    "need to move my FreeNAS to a better box anyway so that's what I'll probably do after wiping it."

    Perhaps you should pick up Microsoft Home Server? It will work out of the box and you won't have to spend hours recompiling the kernel etc. to get it to work.

    Here is a good video.

    Funny, I was starting to think that there would be a single day on Slashdot without an anti-Microsoft story.

  3. Re:whoops by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    you should be fired if you made the decision to use commodity hardware and software.

    So the admins at google & youtube should be fired? More and more companies are realizing that commodity hardware can be just as reliable as the overpriced stuff (in certain senarios).

  4. Phil Liu has workaround already by Torodung · · Score: 4, Informative
    Phil Liu details a workaround here, third post down.

    Please go to www.microsoft.com/genuine and click VALIDATE WINDOWS to resolve this issue immediately.

    Additionally, I know you all are looking for an explanation/root-cause. I will get that ASAP. We are aware it is a server-side issue - the cause is unknown at this current time. Best of luck to all you Vista users.

    --
    Toro
  5. Alternative workaround by symbolset · · Score: 3, Informative

    Available here.

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
  6. I really love these features by malraid · · Score: 2, Informative

    I really love these "features" that prevent users from using their computers. I can't remember how many times I had to troubleshoot licensing problems in NetWare. Windows NT and 2000 used to be quite trouble free regarding this kind of crap. But now with WGA I'm making money off copy protection again. Right now I'm migrating a server from Windows 2000 to Linux for a client for that very reason. Thanks for giving me business, Microsoft.

    --
    please excuse my apathy
  7. Re:WGA sucks by The+Bungi · · Score: 2, Informative
    No, my NAS is a headless Fedora server install running on another, older box. The one that was running Ubuntu is beefier, so that's where I'm going to move NAS to.

    That box also has my SVN repo but not much else, so it's never had X installed at all.

  8. Re:WGA sucks by hairyfeet · · Score: 2, Informative

    While it's agp and not pci,most boards made in the last 10 years have an agp,so here you go. http://www.surpluscomputers.com/store/main.aspx?p= ItemDetail&item=CRD10801

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    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  9. Re:No compiler needed by ivan256 · · Score: 2, Informative

    By that logic, someone with Ubuntu can't compile anything, because it doesn't come with a compiler.


    Except that it does.
  10. Re:WGA sucks by watchingeyes · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notable_litigation_of _Apple_Inc

    Doesn't exactly prove his point, but Apple is known as a litigious company.

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    http://watching-eyes.blogspot.com/
  11. Re:WGA sucks by LiquidFire_HK · · Score: 2, Informative
  12. Re:No compiler needed by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 2, Informative

    The compiler doesn't come on the disk, but it is free. Anybody running a Windows OS can install any of the "Express" IDE/compilers on their computer for free. Anything from C++ to VisualBasic to SQL Server.

  13. Re:WGA sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
    Interesting that I'm having trouble cutting & pasting that link on a Mac.

    It's not your Mac, it's slashdot inserting spaces in long strings to prevent page-widening. Had you given it a short name there'd have been no trouble.

  14. Re:No compiler needed by ivan256 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Except that it does. Just because some idiot on a forum couldn't figure out how to check the box at installation time to have it installed doesn't mean it doesn't have one. Windows ships with plenty of things that aren't installed by default too.

  15. Re:WGA sucks by sumdumass · · Score: 2, Informative

    Personally I've never had problems with WPA or WGA,
    I have had the WGA haunt me. It comes in at the startup/login screen telling you your version of windows is pirated. It then bugs you some more about it. It offers a link to fix the problem but it is a link to a site that tells you your running a stolen version of windows and attempts to blame it on your tech support for fixing your computer with pirated software and then it says you could have bought it from a vendor who isn't reputable and could have pirated the software. (yes, I paraphrased but it isn't anything different from what is on the site).

    Unfortunately, it also wants you to pay the going street price to fix it. And it is very challenging to tell your customer that MS is over reacting and you didn't try to cheat them. I mean common, Microsoft said so and they know more about their software then you do right? And when you get MS on the phone, they tell you the OEM is responsible for it and won't say a word about it might be an mistake, and if it is, the license key will be replaced free of charge. Finally I told the guy, "I have been working on your computers and supplying you computers for almost 10 years. If you don't trust me after this 10 years of faithful service, I don't need your business" And he came around. I called my supplier and they instantly gave em a new key over the phone and overnighted a new license CoA.

    If you ever get hit with the WGA, hope that whoever sold you the computer is still around or whoever sold you the OS can be reached and that there is a record of the transaction. The computer I am talking about was 4 years old with no problems at all until one day abou 6 or 7 months ago when the WGA insisted I was a crook. Since I built the system, sold it and maintain it, I was covered under everyone of the "someone is trying to screw you ;)" scenarios that MS offered up to get the user to buy a legit copy.

    I think they should be sued but I cannot find the web pages for evidence without the WGA going south again. Something I'm not willing to deal with on purpose. Next time around, I will save the pages and print them out, It won't be the same.