Windows Genuine Advantage Problems and Solutions

What is Windows Genuine Advantage?

Windows Genuine Advantage is Microsoft's not so subtle crackdown on illegal piracy of Windows XP and Microsoft Office products. Microsoft started with an ActiveX component to force owners of Windows XP to validate their version before downloading security updates. Unfortunately this particular scheme was rather easily foiled by groups on the net and workarounds appeared almost instantly including cracked files and javascript fixes.

Now Microsoft is becoming more advanced in their attack on pirated versions of Windows XP or Microsoft Office. They are including a Windows Genuine Advantage security patch in the updates of Windows XP. The newest patch, released the first week of June 2006, actually produces popups on the login screen and on the desktop explaining that this version of Windows XP is not genuine and the owner may be the victim of software counterfeiting.

If your version of Windows XP is not genuine and does not pass the validation schemes, you will not be able to download security patches from Windows Update, or install the latest version of Internet Explorer 7 and other software. For those users that do have a valid version of Windows XP, Microsoft offers some special promotions.