hi

i inadvertantly installed MS's WGA (windows genuine advantage) and was notified that "this copy of windows did not PASS genuine validation".  now WHENEVER i log on i get these dialog boxes telling me to "FIX" this now or later.  by fix, i think they mean BUY another legit copy for $140 which i cannot afford.  i have had this computer for 3 years that i got from my brother and have had no problems.

can MS MAKE me buy another copy of windows or will i be able to continue to use what i have and just be annoyed by the "threats" thanks

joanI assume you are running Windows XP SP1.

If you have the original copy of the disk w/ all relevant accompanying documents. I believe you can arrange to send the disk away to your countries' MS HQ and they will supply you a new disk & SERIAL key. FOLLOW the link that the WGA notification supplies and it will have multiple ways in which you can rectify the problem.

BUT, WGA cannot disable your system etc. All it will do is make you unable to download things such as IE7 (get FX anyway), WMP11, some updates on their site, and whatever else they feel was necessary to stop 'ungenuine' users of Windows obtaining.

Personally, I errr... will not go in to further details on my copy of Windows. Go here:

http://www.firewallleaktester.com/removewga_forbidden.htm

That will remove the pesty popups but you won't be able do any updates.

Alan <><  As I recall (though, I never had this issue myself... but I do on a virtual PC)
You should be able to call Microsoft, tell them what happened, and they should be able to fix it for you.
(You provide your serial, etc) alan

you directed me to a site to help me rid those pesky pop-ups about "ungenuine" windows but unfortunately i am pretty computer illiterate and haven't a clue what to do there.  can you explain?
thanks

joan

joani have  got a software which  removes this error.....so what is it?  if it costs money, forget it.  i'm broke. if i wasn't broke, i would buy a "real" copy of windows.My VPC just detected that it wasn't a genuine copy of Windows (Even though it is)
They killed it. I cant use it without activating. (Hey, now I know what happens!)

My recommendation:
Follow the directions on the "Lets Activate Windows" screen.
Call the Microsoft Support Center near you, its toll-free
Give them an incredibly long number, and they will give you a new incredibly long number back

Why do this?
Get your Windows version cleaned, and marked as Genuine, and have a clean slate.