Windows Geniune Advantage -- Windows and repair store...

[danr_18]

I just spoke to someone who told me that over the past few days he has
been getting the MS warnings on his screen about not having a legit
version of Windows. He definately has had legal Windows on the PC --but
his computer needed to be fixed due to virus infestation. The theory is
that either A)WGA is mistakenly showing it as a fraudulant copy B)The
repair place installed a non-legit copy of Windows.

As he does have a legit license (he thinks he has the original CDs and
serial #, but will have to check) - is there any way of fixing this
issue without a reinstall of Windows? Can the real, legit serial number
be entered in to fix the problem? Would a "repair" install of the
legit version of Windows work?

He doesn't need to install anything that would require the WGA, it's
just a pain getting the window every hour.

Please reply to the group. Thanks.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

A virus attack mandates a complete "clean install".
Why? Read the following:

Viruses - I feel your pain
http://blogs.msdn.com/larryosterman/archive/2004/06/18/159482.aspx

Clean Install Windows XP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------­----------------

:

| I just spoke to someone who told me that over the past few days he has
| been getting the MS warnings on his screen about not having a legit
| version of Windows. He definately has had legal Windows on the PC --but
| his computer needed to be fixed due to virus infestation. The theory is
| that either A)WGA is mistakenly showing it as a fraudulant copy B)The
| repair place installed a non-legit copy of Windows.
|
| As he does have a legit license (he thinks he has the original CDs and
| serial #, but will have to check) - is there any way of fixing this
| issue without a reinstall of Windows? Can the real, legit serial number
| be entered in to fix the problem? Would a "repair" install of the
| legit version of Windows work?
|
| He doesn't need to install anything that would require the WGA, it's
| just a pain getting the window every hour.
|
| Please reply to the group. Thanks.

 

[R. McCarty]

Alternately, If the user has imaging capability (Ghost, True Image...)
then the need for a Re-install/Fresh install can be avoided. I'm not
sure I would agree that all Virus infections require a Clean install.
Most Security software vendors capture and document the "Baddies",
so their apps can safely remove them.

 

[DanS]

A virus attack mandates a complete "clean install".
Why? Read the following:

Viruses - I feel your pain
http://blogs.msdn.com/larryosterman/archive/2004/06/18/159482.aspx

Yeah, a 2 year old article.

--"I tried about 6 different ways of removing this from my machine
reinstalling again, reinstalling clean, reinstalling into another
partition. Nothing worked, and I was left with wiping the machine."--

--"I got the dreaded “Access violation in LSASS.EXE at 0x00000023” that
indicates I was infected with Sasser."--

I see no mention of any Anti-Virus program, no attempts of manually
removing, or saying he looked at any of the AV sites for a removal tool
or instructions. In fact, the virus, if there was one, was never
identified by any tool as far as I can see. If it was indeed a Sasser or
variant, I'm sure that ALL of the AV sites have detailed explanations of
everything that this virus does, including where it hides and what it's
payload is.

--"You see, I was running an interim build of XP SP2, and wanted to
update to the RC build. So I uninstalled the interim build (we only
support upgrading from public releases).

And my machine puked. This happens; there was probably a bug in the
interim build’s uninstaller, no big deal, it’s not like I’ve not done
this dozens of times before.

So I figured I’d reinstall XP and re-install the patches. Again, nothing
new here. I’ve done this dozens of times, its part of the cost of
running interim builds.--

Who's to say there wasn't an issue with the uninstaller for the INTEREIM
BETA XP SP2 that he was running.

And if you read the article in full Carey, you would have seen 3 or 4
non-destructive options on how to deal with it in the follow-ups.

 

[Ron Martell]

I just spoke to someone who told me that over the past few days he has
been getting the MS warnings on his screen about not having a legit
version of Windows. He definately has had legal Windows on the PC --but
his computer needed to be fixed due to virus infestation. The theory is
that either A)WGA is mistakenly showing it as a fraudulant copy B)The
repair place installed a non-legit copy of Windows.

As he does have a legit license (he thinks he has the original CDs and
serial #, but will have to check) - is there any way of fixing this
issue without a reinstall of Windows? Can the real, legit serial number
be entered in to fix the problem? Would a "repair" install of the
legit version of Windows work?

He doesn't need to install anything that would require the WGA, it's
just a pain getting the window every hour.

Please reply to the group. Thanks.

The first thing he needs to do is to determine if the repair place did
in fact install a non-legit copy. To do this he needs to first
locate his original Product Key for Windows XP. If it is a retail
version then that key will be in the folder that the XP CD came in.

Next step is to download Magic Jelly Bean key finder:
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml and run it to see what
key was actually used for the current install. If that is not the
same as the one from his Windows XP package then that is almost
certainly the source of the problem.

If the two product keys are identical then there is another factor at
play here, and there are several possibilities. But check out the
product key first and post the results back here.

Note:
If the Windows XP is a retail version that came in a Microsoft Retail
box and not an OEM version that came preinstalled on a new computer
then there is a quick check that can be done that just might show
something. Open Control - System - General and look at the 20 key
Product i.d. code that is shown on the last line of the "Licensed to:"
section. If the second segment (3 characters long) of the product
i.d. reads OEM then the installed Windows is an OEM and not a retail
version.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Davy]

Have a look here at this lin
http://www.howtofixcomputers.com/bb/ftopic177159.html&highlight

taking note of this link taken from the above pos
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2006/...ws-genuine-advantage-notifications-nag-screen

Dav