Windows Genuine Advantage

[Alias]

And yet windows continues to be the #1 installed platform on the market
and still appears to be selling quite well.

Time will tell. I never thought I would consider it, but after these
shenanigans, I am seriously considering Linux.

And, again, you've not provided any help for the OP.

This was your "help":

"Just exactly what did you think WGA was going to do when you installed
it? It has to phone home to properly complete it's job."

And you snipped this (I wonder why?):

And this job isn't to make XP and better or safer. It has no empirical
use or value for the end user. If all goes well, you've wasted five or
ten minutes at WU to, for the fourth time, prove you're not running a
pirated OS. If all doesn't go well, you could waste days and be forced
to run WGA diagnostic tools.

Alias

 

[ANONYMOUS]

And yet windows continues to be the #1 installed platform on the market
and still appears to be selling quite well.

And, again, you've not provided any help for the OP.

Now let me see; Have you providd any help in your above message? I
can't see anything helpful here!!

 

[Rhonda Lea Kirk]

Leythos wrote:

This was your "help":

"Just exactly what did you think WGA was going to do when you
installed it? It has to phone home to properly complete it's job."

I don't think he meant me, Alias. He meant the person who started the
thread. I didn't ask for help, I was bitchin', and he chewed me out for
that anyway. But that's okay, he's allowed to chew me out, because I
consider him a friend.

But in answer to you, Leythos, one person only needs one solution--and
all the rest is commentary anyway. That's usenet, as it was, as it is,
as it will be.

What makes me laugh sometimes is how some threads here get ignored
(really complicated questions) while others get the same answer from ten
different people.

At least the commentary adds some variety.

And you snipped this (I wonder why?):

And this job isn't to make XP and better or safer. It has no empirical
use or value for the end user. If all goes well, you've wasted five or
ten minutes at WU to, for the fourth time, prove you're not running a
pirated OS. If all doesn't go well, you could waste days and be forced
to run WGA diagnostic tools.

Well, I'm glad that hasn't happened to me, although it would have been
funny. I got a call last week from Michael Dell's office about the
problems I've been having, and reporting a non-genuine copy of
Windows--along with all my other picayune problems--would've been the
icing on the cake.

Minor update: I changed the firewall settings and I rebooted. Again the
little b@st@rd phoned home and sat there with an open connection. And
sat and sat and sat.

Then I changed the firewall settings back again, and all that happens is
that wgatray.exe loads at startup, tries to call out, gets rejected and
shuts itself down.

I do not understand the point of what it's doing when the firewall lets
it through.

--
Rhonda Lea Kirk

Insisting on perfect safety is for people
without the balls to live in the real world.
Mary Shafer Iliff

 

[Alias]

I do not understand the point of what it's doing when the firewall lets
it through.

A question that Leythos avoided like the plague.

Alias

 

[Alias]

I don't think he meant me, Alias. He meant the person who started the
thread. I didn't ask for help, I was bitchin', and he chewed me out for
that anyway. But that's okay, he's allowed to chew me out, because I
consider him a friend.

But in answer to you, Leythos, one person only needs one solution--and
all the rest is commentary anyway. That's usenet, as it was, as it is,
as it will be.

What makes me laugh sometimes is how some threads here get ignored
(really complicated questions) while others get the same answer from ten
different people.

At least the commentary adds some variety.


Well, I'm glad that hasn't happened to me, although it would have been
funny. I got a call last week from Michael Dell's office about the
problems I've been having, and reporting a non-genuine copy of
Windows--along with all my other picayune problems--would've been the
icing on the cake.

Minor update: I changed the firewall settings and I rebooted. Again the
little b@st@rd phoned home and sat there with an open connection. And
sat and sat and sat.

Then I changed the firewall settings back again, and all that happens is
that wgatray.exe loads at startup, tries to call out, gets rejected and
shuts itself down.

I do not understand the point of what it's doing when the firewall lets
it through.

WGA IV came out on May 31. Gotta quicken up my Linux learning curve.

Alias

 

[Leythos]

Time will tell. I never thought I would consider it, but after these
shenanigans, I am seriously considering Linux.

Linux is actually almost as good as XP when it comes to ease of use, it
suffers from hardware support problems as vendors don't always make
drivers available since there are so many distro's available. I like it
for my own use, even though I use XP Prof as my primary (since my
clients are mostly MS based).

This was your "help":

"Just exactly what did you think WGA was going to do when you installed
it? It has to phone home to properly complete it's job."

Asking the user what they thought WGA was going to do with all the info
on it, that they had to try and ignore, and then telling them that it
phones home as part of its normal function was a lot more help than
anything you've provided about it.

And you snipped this (I wonder why?):

And this job isn't to make XP and better or safer. It has no empirical
use or value for the end user. If all goes well, you've wasted five or
ten minutes at WU to, for the fourth time, prove you're not running a
pirated OS. If all doesn't go well, you could waste days and be forced
to run WGA diagnostic tools.

I snipped it because it was more ranting that held no technical value.

 

[Alias]

Linux is actually almost as good as XP when it comes to ease of use, it
suffers from hardware support problems as vendors don't always make
drivers available since there are so many distro's available. I like it
for my own use, even though I use XP Prof as my primary (since my
clients are mostly MS based).


Asking the user what they thought WGA was going to do with all the info
on it, that they had to try and ignore, and then telling them that it
phones home as part of its normal function was a lot more help than
anything you've provided about it.

Well, what *does* it do?

I snipped it because it was more ranting that held no technical value.

I think you're gonna have to get used to it as WGA is not exactly going
over very well. Don't you think they're going overboard a tad?

Alias

 

[Leythos]

A question that Leythos avoided like the plague.

I didn't avoid it, as I don't consider it phoning home to be a problem -
I have no issues with WGA and don't have a problem if MS wants to check
my systems at any time. I spend a LOT of money making sure that we have
the proper amount of licenses, so I don't mind if they check.

 

[Rhonda Lea Kirk]

I didn't avoid it, as I don't consider it phoning home to be a
problem - I have no issues with WGA and don't have a problem if MS
wants to check my systems at any time. I spend a LOT of money making
sure that we have the proper amount of licenses, so I don't mind if
they check.

Tell you what.

I don't do drugs--ever--and I don't drink more than a six-pack
equivalent a year, but I wouldn't take a job that subjected me to a piss
test.

If I could think of a better analogy, I would, but what it comes down to
is that I am not a thief, and I resent being treated like one.

I also resent Microsoft using bandwidth I pay for so that I may prove
again and again that my copy of Windows is "genuine."

And wtf is with "genuine Windows" anyway? The marketing guy who came up
with that needs to be frisbeed about the head with a googol of AOL CDs.

--
Rhonda Lea Kirk

Insisting on perfect safety is for people
without the balls to live in the real world.
Mary Shafer Iliff

 

[Ian Merrithew]

Minor update: I changed the firewall settings and I rebooted. Again the
little b@st@rd phoned home and sat there with an open connection. And
sat and sat and sat.

One wonders how long it will take the malware writers to target said open
connection.

 

[Leythos]

but I wouldn't take a job that subjected me to a piss
test.

Maybe that's how we know the difference between people that don't have
an issue with WGA and those that do - as part of my security clearance
requirements I was PT'ed every couple months. I actually got a job at a
local mfgr because I was the (as they put it after telling me I was
over-qualified) only white male that had passed the PT.

I guess it's a matter of if you like using Windows or not - I like using
Windows XP and don't care if it phones home.

 

[Rhonda Lea Kirk]

Rhonda Lea Kirk wrote:

Maybe that's how we know the difference between people that don't have
an issue with WGA and those that do - as part of my security clearance
requirements I was PT'ed every couple months. I actually got a job at
a local mfgr because I was the (as they put it after telling me I was
over-qualified) only white male that had passed the PT.

I guess it's a matter of if you like using Windows or not - I like
using Windows XP and don't care if it phones home.

And that's fine. Just try to understand that to some of us, it's both
offensive and intrusive.

I paid for my software, and I shouldn't have to keep proving that I did
long after the purchase. No other vendor--of any kind--makes me do that,
and I don't see why Microsoft should have the right to make me dance on
a string because I use its product.

--
Rhonda Lea Kirk

Insisting on perfect safety is for people
without the balls to live in the real world.
Mary Shafer Iliff

 

[kurttrail]

<snipped>

Kurt, m'love,

When you're done watching this guy terrorizing himself, could I have a
moment of your attention, please?

WTF is going on?

I let Microsoft install that WGA (update?) this morning. Thereafter,
the firewall asked if I wished to give it access, (which, of course,
meant the installation stalled and I had to reboot but that's another
story) and I figured, "Well, might as well see what Microsoft has in
store for me this time."

Next thing I know, TCPView is telling me that this friggin' "WGATray"
has phoned home, and not only that, it wants to stay connected.

As I said, WTF?

The firewall and I have since had a short but effective chat, and WGA
will not be phoning home again, but if this ain't spyware, I don't
know what is.

MS is now the largest spyware distributor in the world.

Another maket that MS will try to monopolize! ;-)

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[kurttrail]

Just exactly what did you think WGA was going to do when you installed
it?

Probably let her use Microsoft/Windows Update.

It has to phone home to properly complete it's job.

And continue the contection? What does WGA need to be contected
continuously for?

With all the
other things that contact MS, why do you care about WGA?

Like I let the search wizard or WMP contect to MS?!

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[kurttrail]

And yet windows continues to be the #1 installed platform on the
market and still appears to be selling quite well.

LOL! The times they are a-changin'!

And, again, you've not provided any help for the OP.

And you have?

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[kurttrail]

I didn't avoid it, as I don't consider it phoning home to be a
problem -

WGA is his only friend, so he has to let it phone home or it will leave
him.

I have no issues with WGA and don't have a problem if MS
wants to check my systems at any time.

Leythos likes the Matrix.

I spend a LOT of money making
sure that we have the proper amount of licenses, so I don't mind if
they check.

See that's where you are totally beyond screwy. When most people pay
alot of money for something, they usually expect to get something, not
to have the thing you are buying to take more from you.

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[the guru]

And that's fine. Just try to understand that to some of us, it's both
offensive and intrusive.

I paid for my software, and I shouldn't have to keep proving that I did
long after the purchase. No other vendor--of any kind--makes me do that,
and I don't see why Microsoft should have the right to make me dance on
a string because I use its product.

Absolutely. In the real world, if the police kept knocking on your door
and asking to look round your house to see if you had any stolen stuff,
it would be considered an infringement of civil liberties. This is even
worse, since many people have updates set to automatic, so it's like
the police marching in and looking round without even asking. Microsoft
should not even be using the automatic update mechanism for a purpose
that has nothing to do with updates.

I have to use Windows because knowing about it and developing software
for it is how I make a living, but the day I retire I shall wipe it off
and install Linux, and never buy another Microsoft product. That's how
I feel about Microsoft's policy.

The PC Guru: www.the-pc-guru.com

 

[Alias]

I didn't avoid it, as I don't consider it phoning home to be a problem -
I have no issues with WGA and don't have a problem if MS wants to check
my systems at any time. I spend a LOT of money making sure that we have
the proper amount of licenses, so I don't mind if they check.

Translation: Leythos has no idea what it's checking but due to his
unwaivering loyalty to MS, he doesn't care. Would you drink the Kool
Aide too?

Alias

 

[Alias]

One wonders how long it will take the malware writers to target said open
connection.

Not mine. I have my firewall blocking WGA. For some strange reason, I
think MS should clarify what it's doing before I allow it to do it on my
machines.

Alias

 

[Leythos]

And that's fine. Just try to understand that to some of us, it's both
offensive and intrusive.

I do understand how some of you feel about it, but, what you don't seem
to understand is that you have other options if you don't like what it
does. You licensed XP for use, you don't own it, you don't really know
what it's doing when you're online, your firewall may not really be
telling you everything.... You don't really know what's in the Windows
updates that you're installing....

I paid for my software, and I shouldn't have to keep proving that I did
long after the purchase. No other vendor--of any kind--makes me do that,
and I don't see why Microsoft should have the right to make me dance on
a string because I use its product.

Since it's an automated process you don't really have to "Keep proving"
anything, it just happens without you needing to do anything, so, if you
trust microsoft enough to use their OS, you should trust them enough to
let their OS phone home....