The Computer Corner (July 21, 2006)
By Charles Miller

Last week was “Black Tuesday,” and since then I have been getting a lot of calls and messages from Atención readers. Black Tuesday is the second Tuesday of each month when Microsoft releases their security updates.

The reason I am hearing from so many readers this month is that something called the “Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications” was included.

The fact of the matter is that many computer users in Mexico are using unlicensed copies of Microsoft software. Microsoft is aware of this and is now working to encourage everyone to buy more legal software licenses. The Windows Genuine Advantage, WGA for short, is their latest move, a marketing gimmick, and is what we in the trade refer to as a “nag screen.” If you have pirated software, every so often a screen will pop up to pester you to buy a legitimate copy of Windows.
Several people to whom I have spoken this week were unaware that their copy of Windows was pirated. That WGA has served to educate and inform is a good thing.

On general principles, I support what Microsoft is doing to protect their intellectual property. However, I also know that the WGA software has some bugs in it and that it wrongly hassles some users who have bought and paid for legitimate software licenses.

Microsoft Corporation obviously knows this too, because right on their own website they make available to the public the step-by-step information telling how to get rid of WGA. If you are being bugged by WGA, all you have to do to end this is go to Microsoft’s knowledge base at “support.microsoft.com” and look up Help and Support article ID number 921914 entitled “How to disable or uninstall the pilot version of Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications.” The procedure is not simple, but not beyond the capabilities of most computer users.

My biggest issue with WGA is that it and Microsoft’s Windows Update site requires the user to permit Active-X programs to run. These compromise your computer’s security and put you at risk of being infected with a virus, spyware or other nasty program. It is simply ludicrous to have to lower your security to get updates intended to heighten security. This is being pushed on Windows users entirely for Microsoft’s financial benefit and not to protect the consumer.

Software makers argue that software piracy costs them millions, and that anti-piracy measures help you the consumer. That may or may not be true, but it is not the point here. The point is that WGA is a really bad method to deal with this problem.

Users who know they have a counterfeit version of Windows are not going to rush to pay Microsoft for a legal copy just because they are being nagged.

Users who are less computer-literate and uninformed will simply think WGA is another of Windows’ many bugs. Likewise, they will not rush out to buy a legal copy.

A few users who have legal licenses and valid product keys will wrongly get the WGA nag screens with no way to easily get rid of them.

I have no magic answers to offer for how to deal with the software piracy issue. I just know that it is easy to see that there is very little possibility Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage can do anything to improve the situation. What it does do for sure is antagonize those good consumers who have bought legitimate copies of Microsoft Windows XP.

Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant, a frequent visitor to San Miguel since 1981 and now practically a full-time resident. He may be contacted at 044-415-153-8528 or email FAQ@SMAguru.com.