antdude
A Ninja Ant
Premium,VIP
join:2001-03-25
|  WGA servers down; installs being marked as counterfeit!
»forums.microsoft.com/Genuine/Sho···iteID=25 from »www.boingboing.net/2007/08/25/mi···ver.html
"... DRM bites again: the Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage servers (which every XP and Vista install phones home to) all failed sometime earlier today.
The result? Every single Windows XP and Vista installation -- except possibly those with volume license keys -- is being marked as counterfeit when it tries to check in. Installations which are flagged as counterfeit switch to a "reduced functionality mode" which results in features like Aero and DirectX being disabled.
So far, the only public response from Microsoft has been indirectly via their technical support forums, where a user has posted the following snippet from an email he received from MS's technical support address:
Thank you for your response.
I’m sorry to inform you that the Windows Genuine server might be down for few days. I have escalate the issue to our Genuine team, kindly try to validate again on Tuesday 28 Aug 2007.
Thank you for contacting Microsoft Technical Support..."
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Ant @ The Ant Farm: »antfarm.ma.cx ... Please do not IM/e-mail me for technical support. Use the forum (I check often)! Disclaimer: The views expressed in this posting are mine, and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer. |
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MarkAW
Barry White or lil bratt
Premium
join:2001-08-27
Canada | Also here »Just keeps getting better (not)... Windows Validation Issues |
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Sindows 7
join:2006-09-13
Hope, BC
| reply to antdude
Guess I was lucky |
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NICK ADSL UK
Premium,MVM
join:2004-02-22 | reply to antdude
There has been an error today and is in the process of being addressed
»forums.microsoft.com/Genuine/Sho···iteID=25 |
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La Luna
Surviving Ashraful
Premium
join:2001-07-12
Warwick, NY
clubs:
 ·Optimum Online
 ·Vonage
1 edit | reply to antdude
From NICK ADSL UK  's link if anyone is having an issue with this:
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EGeezer
Go Bobcats
Premium
join:2002-08-04
Country!
·Callcentric
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T CallVantage
| reply to antdude
Ah, I think my Monday morning tech updates will be interesting - especially those geared to SMB and enterprise users with Vista implemented (what few there may be). It'll be interesting to see if VLA customers escaped unscathed.
I also suspect the initial "it'll be OK Tuesday" response will be a PR debacle. |
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antdude
A Ninja Ant
Premium,VIP
join:2001-03-25 | reply to antdude
Fixed
»it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=0···/1819248 reports the issue was fixed. |
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EGeezer
Go Bobcats
Premium
join:2002-08-04
Country!
·Callcentric
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T CallVantage
2 edits | Well, sort of - there's still some work to do - if you have 50 or a hundred machines or more affected systems, you're gonna have a nice weekend getting your users ready to go for business Monday - or an interesting Monday morning.
said by link :Here are the specific steps that can be taken now to fix this issue on any affected system that is genuine: 1) Delete the data.dat file from C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Windows Genuine Advantage\data (The drive letter will depend on where the OS was installed) 2) Revisit » www.microsoft.com/genuine/downlo···ate.aspx to confirm whether the machine is genuine. 3) Run wgatray.exe /b from the command line to ensure that the latest validation is updated for WGA Notifications. This command may be absent from the user’s machine and should not be considered an error. Please ensure that this is run as an Administrator. A reboot may be required to remove all non-genuine notifications. We also implemented a webpage with special instructions that will receive any traffic from systems that are running on product keys that could have been affected by this issue. WGA broke it automatically, but MS can't issue an update or a pushout MSI to do this for users? Hmmmm...
Hopefully this will be an event that drives change.
I recommended to my customers not to order machines with Vista yet - I feel sooo smart!  |
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AB
Premium
join:2006-04-04
Leesburg, VA
| said by EGeezer :. . Hopefully this will be an event that drives change. Not unless there's a change at the top at Microsoft Corp., imo.
Mr. Ballmer is hell-bent-for-leather that Microsoft Corp. will be in charge of the OS, not the user. Read any of his comments regarding WGA. He comes across as borderline psychotic.
Any change will be in the 'tightening the screws' area, not in the relaxing of them. IMO, of course. |
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TurtleFan
join:2003-05-03
Wyckoff, NJ
| Sigh.... If Macs where not so damned expensive too get the best...
You'd think that with all the millions microsoft makes that they'd be able too loosen things up a bit. The people who buy genuine will always do so, unless there is no benefit or it's so damned tough too get a genuine copy too work... |
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Dustyn
Premium
join:2003-02-26
Ontario, CAN
|  reply to Sindows 7
Re: WGA servers down; installs being marked as counterfeit!
said by Sindows 7 :Guess I was lucky  Can someone explain what that update is?
Vista downloaded that update a couple of days ago but there is no description of what it is? 
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»/forum/wall |
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sMh
join:2003-08-24
| said by Dustyn :Can someone explain what that update is? Vista downloaded that update a couple of days ago but there is no description of what it is? I believe it's an update to the Windows Update client. |
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Dustyn
Premium
join:2003-02-26
Ontario, CAN
1 edit |  Thanks. Couldn't find a description of any kind.
I guess the update shares some correlation with this thread.
Noticed the update being applied to my system while performing a reboot. 
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»/forum/wall |
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HA Nut
Premium
join:2004-05-13
USA
| reply to AB
Re: Fixed
said by AB :said by EGeezer :. . Hopefully this will be an event that drives change. Not unless there's a change at the top at Microsoft Corp., imo. Mr. Ballmer is hell-bent-for-leather that Microsoft Corp. will be in charge of the OS, not the user. Read any of his comments regarding WGA. He comes across as borderline psychotic. You have him pegged pretty well. He's scary! It doesn't take much research to come up with this opinion either... |
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MSeng
Premium,Ex-Mod 2001-08
join:2000-07-13
Ork
clubs:
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to antdude
Re: WGA servers down; installs being marked as counterfeit!
An issue with WGA validation has NOTHING to do with Digital Rights Management. 
Regarding comments about Mr. Ballmer, it has been my experience the man is very passionate about the products he represents.
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Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot. |
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redwolfe_98
join:2001-06-11
·RoadRunner Cable
1 edit | reply to antdude
i am not even seeing wgatray.exe on my computer any more, or the files that it used to generate in my c/windows/temp folder..
i think MS must have changed the way that they check windows to see if it is licensed.. maybe it is built into the updater, now..
anyway, i ain't checking for updates until the next update tuesday.. |
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AB
Premium
join:2006-04-04
Leesburg, VA
| reply to MSeng
said by MSeng :. . Regarding comments about Mr. Ballmer, it has been my experience the man is very passionate about the products he represents. To say the least.
That can be viewed in different ways. Passionate, overbearing, enthusiastic, single-minded, borderline psychotic. Or any number of other adjectives.
It all depends on how one percieves it, I suppose.
I'd say "very passionate" is a mild description.
Not that there's anything specifically wrong with that in and of itself.
It's how that single-minded passion affects me as an end-user that I'm concerned with. |
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caffeinator
Coming soon to a cup near you..
Premium
join:2005-01-16
Spokane, WA
 ·WebBand
| reply to antdude
All I can say is yippee for the Security Bulletins and manual updates.
I feel for those in IT environs though, it must be a nightmare... 
-CaFF |
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MSeng
Premium,Ex-Mod 2001-08
join:2000-07-13
Ork
clubs:
·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to AB
said by AB :said by MSeng :. . Regarding comments about Mr. Ballmer, it has been my experience the man is very passionate about the products he represents. To say the least. That can be viewed in different ways. Passionate, overbearing, enthusiastic, single-minded, borderline psychotic. Or any number of other adjectives. It all depends on how one percieves it, I suppose. I'd say "very passionate" is a mild description. Not that there's anything specifically wrong with that in and of itself. It's how that single-minded passion affects me as an end-user that I'm concerned with. Just as "borderline psychotic" is way over the top, I suppose. The same as implying this one man was responsible for the decision implemented to protect his employers interests. You don't know that.
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Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot. |
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AB
Premium
join:2006-04-04
Leesburg, VA
| said by MSeng :Just as "borderline psychotic" is way over the top, I suppose. Is it? Again, a matter of whose eye is doing the perceiving.
Shall I post that video ("I LOVE this company!") where the paramedics almost need to be called because of how worked up he is?
My description of him as "borderline psychotic" was over-the-top, yes, and was merely a description for effect.
You've probably noticed I tend to be that way sometimes. 
Maybe I'm "borderline psychotic" too? Could be . . .
The same as implying this one man was responsible for the decision implemented to protect his employers interests. You don't know that. No, I don't.
Policy starts at the top, though. Shit rolls downhill. "The buck stops here", Harry Truman said.
I tend to doubt it's the night janitor formulating Microsoft Corp. policy. |
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