Warning-Avoid using WGA for the moment!

Lotsurb · 08-25-2007, 01:08 PM

Thought I'd pass this along for anyone that may be in the same boat.

Whoever was playing BF2 with me knows what happened but maybe not the cause. BF2 crashed on my last night, Stryker suggested downloading the Performance and Compatibility update from Microsoft for Vista. The first step in installation was to make sure my copy of Vista was 'genuine' (which it is) using their Windows Genuine Advantage (note the 'advantage') tool.

Upon running that tool my copy of Vista was rendered invalid due to the fact that the tool said "The validation service is unable to determine whether this copy of Windows Vista is genuine". Upon receiving that message, I rebooted, only to find out after the reboot a lot of my Vista features are now disabled (because, after all, this couldn't be a paid for copy of Vista). Everytime I start my computer now I am greeted with the friendly message stating "It appears you are the victim of software counterfitting". LOL.

Anyway, it's annoying. I searched this morning for similar problems and it seems A LOT of people are experiencing the same thing. There are many theories floating about but the one that seems to be most prevelant is that the validation server(s) have crashed. No one at MS tech support knows about this, they keep trying to get you to buy a new CD Key. It's just absolutely a cluster-f over there.

As I said last night, Vista does for me exactly what I need it to flawlessly (video editing and stuff), so I like it. However, this is damn annoying. ETA for a fix is Tuesday. Expect a class-action lawsuit from all the businesses this is affecting. As someone posted the timeline for a fix is as follows.

Saturday: Microsoft employees are off
Sunday: Microsoft employees are off
Monday afternoon: By fluke, someone from the WGA team will come across this problem while trying to install some MS software. 4 hours of meetings will be had.
Monday evening: Microsoft employees are off
Tuesday morning: WGA server will be rebooted

So, whatever you do, DO NOT let the WGA tool run.

and now for some inspired irony...

Q: How are Bill Gates and WGA the same?
A: They're both worthless tools.

Ricko0 · 08-25-2007, 01:28 PM

You can use a program like Autoruns from Sysinternals to shut down WGA. It'll get rid of that annoying message until MS gets their shit figured out.... like that'll ever happen...

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sys.../AutoRuns.mspx

Negative · 08-25-2007, 01:40 PM

Wouldn't that affect other OS's though? Unless they have servers specifically for different ones...

MrBabytaz · 08-25-2007, 02:13 PM

Dont be had by that he has a pirate amoung his computer its called none reg vista loloolloolololloloololool

Lotsurb · 08-25-2007, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Negative

Wouldn't that affect other OS's though? Unless they have servers specifically for different ones...

That's what I was thinking because I remember them introducing WGA with XP. However, all the posts I saw only referenced Vista.

BTW, I was just able to validate so I guess they rebooted the server or fixed whatever problem was causing this!

Lotsurb · 08-25-2007, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by =nsn=MrBabytaz

Dont be had by that he has a pirate amoung his computer its called none reg vista loloolloolololloloololool

Taz the only 'pirate' around here is you (and I'm not talking software pirate).

MrBabytaz · 08-25-2007, 08:06 PM

heheh so you can play tonight

Ricko0 · 08-26-2007, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by =nsn=MrBabytaz

Dont be had by that he has a pirate amoung his computer its called none reg vista loloolloolololloloololool

SSSHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Stryker412 · 08-26-2007, 08:26 PM

http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/25/m...-pirate-today/

Quote:

Customers who received an incorrect validation response can fix their system by revalidating on our site (http://www.microsoft.com/genuine). We encourage anyone who received a validation failure since Friday evening to do this now. After successfully revalidating any affected system should be rebooted to ensure the genuine-only features are restored.

Lotsurb · 08-26-2007, 09:20 PM

Yup, I'm all set now. Just for laughs here is the email I received in response to my Microsoft Tech support ticket I put in Friday night.

BIG NOTE: This response was created and sent this (Sunday) morning, almost a full 24 hours after the server went back up and I was able to revalidate. Could have just sent me an email saying, "Sorry, our new tech support guy tripped over the plug. Server's back up, validate you heart out." But no, I get this:

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Windows Update Support. My name is Mike and I am glad to work with you. You can contact me directly by writing an email to [email address was here] with the case ID XXXXXXXXXXXXX in the subject line.

From the case log, I understand that the Windows Vista could not pass genuine validation. If I have misunderstood your concern, please do not hesitate to let me know. We will work together to resolve this specific issue through the course of the case.

I would like to explain that the validation could be caused by several factors, such as:

1. Some third-party software do not compatible with Vista
2. The vista is not activated correctly.
3. A temporary issue.

Hence, I suggest that we access the following website to online re-validate the system to troubleshoot the issue. I suggested that we use Internet Explorer (IE) to access this site:

1. Please go to http://www.microsoft.com/genuine
2. Click Validate Windows button on the website.

Please let me know if the issue is fixed. If the issue persists, I suggest we re-enter the key and re-activate the system to refresh the relevant data store.

Re-enter the product key and activate the system again
===============================================
1. Please click the Start Button, right-click on "Computer" and click "Properties".

2. Click "Change product key".
Note: The operation requires administrative privileges, please click "Continue" or "Allow" when the User Account Control dialog-box appear.

3. Please enter the same product key and click "Next".

Then, please access the above site to confirm if the issue is resolved again. However, if the problem still exists or you encounter any other problems, please help collect the following information for my further research. I am glad to be of your assistant and will do my best to help you.

Please capture a screenshot of the error message you received when validate Windows from the above site