KB940510 Concerns

[Clayton]

I have a legit copy of Vista on my computer and I understand that KB940510
update via windows update installs this update to enable Windows Vista to
detect software that bypasses product activation and interferes with normal
Windows operation.

Will this check once? or do I have another spyware program from Microsoft
that's going to check a million times and cause system performance issues,
or as Microsoft says, interferes with normal Windows operation?

cheers.

 

[Jon]

I have a legit copy of Vista on my computer and I understand that KB940510
update via windows update installs this update to enable Windows Vista to
detect software that bypasses product activation and interferes with
normal
Windows operation.

Will this check once? or do I have another spyware program from Microsoft
that's going to check a million times and cause system performance issues,
or as Microsoft says, interferes with normal Windows operation?

cheers.

According to the connected article "no functionality of your operating
system will be affected" which you can also read as its having zero benefit
to you the end consumer

Description of the update for Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940510

Those with legitimate product keys who choose not to activate or install the
WGA spyware will continue to do so, and those who do not object to WGA are
unlikely to have the issue anyway. So there's little point in the update
other than perhaps catching a few unwitting users who inadvertently install
it without thinking.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Clayton

The way I understand this update is that it is a one time check for the 2
most prevalent exploits, the "Grace Timer" and "OEM activation exploits.

See the following article for more information on these exploits.

How to remove the "OEM driver activation" exploit and the "grace timer
activation" exploit from a Windows Vista-based computer:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948253

 

[Clayton]

Thanks for the infomation, I see this update is only availble for Vista
32-bit and not 64-bit

 

[Dwarf]

Hi Clayton,

Only those users who are using illegitimate copies of Vista should have
anything to fear from this update. As RV says, it is a one-time check for 2
of the most prevalent activation exploits. If your copy of Vista is
legitimate and has been activated and subsequently validated as being
genuine, then you have nothing to worry about.
Dwarf

 

[u52983]

Well, this is precisely my concern with KB940510. I was burned badly by
Windows Genuine Advantage when it completely wiped out my XP laptop, which
had XP installed on it by Sony when I got it. Sony is many things to many
people, but it's not a pirate. Microsoft said exactly the same thing then,
that it would not affect people with legitimate copies at all. WRONG! I lost
the entire contents of that computer thanks to WGA.

I pay for the software I use, and I don't mind doing so to provide the funds
and the incentive to make better software. What I do mind is a nattering
nanny coming along with it, wiping out the entire computers of people with
legitimate, paid copies, just because of some coding error in the nattering
nanny code.

I'm now running a legitimate, paid copy of Vista, but I will be refusing to
accept KB940510, permanently. It's just "WGA for Vista", and none of my XP
systems run WGA. I would have thought Microsoft would have learned something
from the extreme negative reaction to the WGA fiasco, but it appears they
didn't.

DRM is dead already in the music industry due to consumer demand. What
killed it more than anything else was the DRM rootkit Sony put on some audio
CDs. Now iTunes is phasing out DRM - in order to make more money. Software
will not be far behind, but until then just don't install KB940510.

 

[caddy]

FYI: u52083 is referring to 905474 the WGA for XP:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905474

It is a POS process that hogs over 20 MB RAM and is nearly impossible to
remove.

 

[Dave]

what's the name of this process or service?