Yet again: Get real Windows, you may be counterfeit

[Albo]

My neighbor wants me to deal with a "your Windows is not Genuine. Your
system may be counterfeit. You MUST get real NOW!!!" etc. followed by
an online sales licensing screen that is not available to licensed
users (at least one who comes in through aol...)

Anyway...I'd like to help my neighbor, but as a neighbor, I don't want
to flummox a system that isn't my own. I perused with interest many
entries here, especially the Carey Frisch 5/30 procedure for analyzing
and diagnosing WGA tools and likely necessitating reactivation of the
Windows system. My neighbor's Windows came preinstalled on a Gateway.

She has the install CDs, numbers intact, so reactivation is no problem.
But hers is a single-user system, no admin beyond her single
(automatic) login. I would of course wish not to lose access to central
personal files (pointers to My Documents?). Is it safe enough to go
through such a reactivation? Will she have to go through *all* the
customization and reinstall a bunch of other software? Is it going to
blow out aol? (Some of you may know how deep aol buries itself into a
system...)

Informed advise, in simple terms for a low to intermediate user like
me, would be appreciated.

 

[DanS]

My neighbor wants me to deal with a "your Windows is not Genuine. Your
system may be counterfeit. You MUST get real NOW!!!" etc. followed by
an online sales licensing screen that is not available to licensed
users (at least one who comes in through aol...)

Anyway...I'd like to help my neighbor, but as a neighbor, I don't want
to flummox a system that isn't my own. I perused with interest many
entries here, especially the Carey Frisch 5/30 procedure for analyzing
and diagnosing WGA tools and likely necessitating reactivation of the
Windows system. My neighbor's Windows came preinstalled on a Gateway.

IF, this XP came PRE-INSTALLED on a GATEWAY computer and has NOT been
upgraded by someone else, there is no reason why she/you should have to
do anything.

Carey's 'analyzing and diagnosing' is nothing more than a cut & paste
response to ALL inquires about WGA. His next bit of advice would be to go
out and buy ANOTHER retail copy of XP.

This is a matter for Gateway to handle. Temporarily, goto the M$ website
and search for the instructions on how to remove WGA.

They have provided these instructions because of all of the customer
'feedback' (read that as complaints) that were outraged at M$ pushing
down a WGA listed as a 'Critical' update through Windows update. In the
earlier versions of WGA, Windows would try to contact M$ on EVERY boot to
re-verify AGAIN, that the XP install is valid. The latest WGA update
changed that to every few weeks instead.

I'd call this one another false positive.

 

[Albo]

So in summary I take it you're saying,
(1) try MS procedure (which I found, BTW: test, diagnose, report, get
recommendation)
(2) if not satisfied, contact Gateway
(3) abide having to click two prompts at each boot until (1) and/or (2)
lead to results?
=====================================================

 

[DanS]

So in summary I take it you're saying,
(1) try MS procedure (which I found, BTW: test, diagnose, report, get
recommendation)

1A - You can do that to have the information to supply to Gateway when
you/she contacts them.

(2) if not satisfied, contact Gateway

2A - No...just contact gateway regardless.

(3) abide having to click two prompts at each boot until (1) and/or
(2) lead to results?

3A - No, remove WGA notifications by the procedure that can be found at the
M$ website here:

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;921914

Or there are other utilities online to do it automatically if you don't
want to manually uninstall.

 

[Badger]

1A - You can do that to have the information to supply to Gateway when
you/she contacts them.


2A - No...just contact gateway regardless.


3A - No, remove WGA notifications by the procedure that can be found at the
M$ website here:

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;921914

Or there are other utilities online to do it automatically if you don't
want to manually uninstall.

Hi Dan
Get Autoruns
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Autoruns.html
click on the winlogon tab and remove the checkmark for wga