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• If a machine fails WGA validation, Automatic Updates installs only those security patches Microsoft rates as "Critical," not those rated "Important" or lower (some of which are just as crucial to a user's security, in my opinion);
  
  
• Many users turn off Automatic Updates out of fear that their machines will be disabled, which was Microsoft's policy in the original release of Vista (as explained in a February 2007 article by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes);
  
  
• If WGA has labeled a system as "nongenuine," Microsoft prevents the user from running Windows Update or the more extensive Microsoft Update, which are the official methods to patch a system on demand.
  

• Step 1: Install and activate XP. For XP SP2 only (not XP SP3), you must also download and install the patch described in KB article 898461, which updates the installer program and ensures that your system will receive future updates.
  
  
• Step 2: In either version of XP, click Start, Control Panel, Security Center, Automatic Updates. Choose Download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them.
  
  
• Step 3: Whenever you see a yellow-shield icon in the notification area (previously known as the system tray), click the icon and then choose Custom install.
  
  
• Step 4: Scroll to the bottom of the patch window and uncheck Windows Genuine Advantage Notification (KB905474), as shown in Figure 1. (For more info, see Microsoft KB article 905474 to read the company's description of WGA Notification.)
  
  
  Figure 1. Uncheck KB905474 to prevent WGA from being installed on the system.
  
  
• Step 5: After you click Install, check Don't notify me about these updates again in the resulting dialog to prevent WGA from being included in future Windows updates (see Figure 2). Click OK.
  
  
  Figure 2. Check this option to avoid being offered WGA Notifications as part of future updates.
  

From this point forward, every time you update your system, review the patches being offered to you and deselect those you don't want before proceeding with the installation.

Microsoft occasionally updates the WGA Notifications tool, so you can count on its being offered to you again, despite your choice in Step 5 above. The explanation Microsoft officials gave me for this decision is that the company feels it's wise to reinstall WGA periodically to ensure that customers haven't been the victim of unscrupulous consultants who use illegal media when reinstalling your operating system.

There's a flaw in this thinking: the reason many of these consultants use the wrong media is that Microsoft doesn't make it easy to get replacements for your Windows installation discs. It's also difficult to get up-to-date installation media unless you're one of Microsoft's enterprise-level customers.

Microsoft's recommendation that you set your machine to update automatically as the best way to protect it is also flawed. These days, our PCs aren't just simple e-mail and Web terminals. They're crucial to all our work, and if they're disabled we can't make a living. For example, if a Windows update causes our Internet connection to break because of a conflict with a third-party security program — as has happened many times in the recent past — we might be unproductive for hours or days.

Also, if you enable Automatic Updates, you may be as dismayed as I was to learn that Microsoft treats legitimate customers like thieves. The WGA Notifications patch described in KB article 905474 automatically installs if Automatic Updates is empowered to act without permission. In that case, you either have to run the WGA tool the next time you reboot or press Cancel every time you start your system. (See Figure 3.) Is that any way to treat a customer?


Figure 3. If you install WGA Notifications on XP, this dialog box will reappear each time you reboot until you click Next and run the process.

Use a third-party patch testing tool

The WS Security Baseline page is periodically updated to describe a bare-minimum set of defensive tools that home users of Windows should install. The page currently recommends, among other things, that you regularly test for OS and application patches that vendors have released but you haven't yet installed. Secunia.com's Online Software Inspector is listed as a third-party service that tests for app patches in addition to Windows updates.

However, I personally prefer the free Shavlik Patch Google Gadget. I'm not thrilled with Shavlik's use of Google Desktop as the platform for its update checker. But Shavlik's tool recently informed me about an update to Adobe Flash Player on a test PC, whereas Secunia's tool had missed this fact.

I'll bring you a detailed report on the two services in a future article soon. In the meantime, to get Shavlik's program, visit the company's download page. For more information on Secunia's online and downloadable software inspectors, visit the company's vulnerability scanning page.

To recap: the best way to keep your system up-to-date is to set Windows' updater to download patches but not to install them automatically, deselect WGA Notifications updates, and run a tool such as the Shavlik Patch Google Gadget at least once a month to verify that your software is fully patched.

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• "I am in WGA hell. I have a completely valid copy of Windows XP Pro. Our company (to remain unidentified) buys a site license from Microsoft. I can install Windows on as many machines at work as I please.
  
  "I replaced the motherboard on an old working computer. I wanted to keep the hard drive intact, so I deleted the drivers. My intention was to install the motherboard and then reinstall the drivers. Because the hard drive had not been altered, all my programs and data files would be intact.
  
  "Except for WGA. After I replaced the motherboard, Windows asked me for my password and then informed me that 'this copy of Windows must be activated with Microsoft. Do you want to activate Windows now?' If I answer no, my computer is kindly rebooted by Microsoft and I'm back at the Windows log-on screen.
  
  "If I answer yes, I get an 'activate software' screen. I tried to activate the software over the phone by calling Microsoft, but the Microsoft technical people (it's pretty funny that they are called 'technical people') told me that my computer was generating an 'installation ID' that tells the activation people that I have an illegal version of Windows. So I read to them my Windows XP Pro installation-disc product key, and they agreed that it's valid. But there's nothing they could do.
  
  "In effect, WGA software has hijacked my computer. I can't log on. I can't run programs. I can't do anything. I need my computer, and I don't want to reformat and reinstall everything. I have now been e-mailing and calling Microsoft for two weeks. I'm no closer to having a functional computer. I'll probably break down soon and reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows."
  

• "I installed MS Office 2003 Student Version — purchased from Office Depot — and activated it in 2006. Fast forward to January 2009, when I installed a new motherboard and a hard drive. Last week, I needed to do some work that required Office 2003, and I tried to activate it using the same key code of the original install. No go.
  
  "Tried to activate again via the Internet. No go.
  
  "Got on the telephone, keyed in the eight or so groups of numbers. No go.
  
  "Got back on the phone and went through the whole eight-groups-of-numbers routine with an MS rep. No go.
  
  "He switched me to the next level. Line disconnects. Tried the whole routine again — including reciting the numbers to the rep while he ate lunch. Line cuts off.
  
  "Tried to find someone to call at MS Web site. No go.
  
  "Gave up.
  
  "My tale of woe is only one of thousands. Something has to be done with MS. This is wrong. The only way they're going to move is if you folks keep the pressure on. Great article."
  

• "I've been in IT since 1980 in a wide range of corporate and private positions, ranging from early adopter to executive IT administrator. There has never been an instance in which I thought WGA was a mistake or thwarted users.
  
  "At one point in my career, I was a software manager for the California State University system. At CSU, student piracy of everything — software included — was rampant. The networks and data storage were so clogged with unlicensed software being downloaded, stored, and traded among students, friends, and faculty that an endless supply of money was thrown into expanding them so as not to upset the 'freedom' accorded tuition-paying students. In other words, the university looked the other way and piracy was allowed to flourish.
  
  "During this time, WGA was introduced. It never impacted campus systems, since our licenses were institutional. Student-owned systems were impacted, but only where students were trying to install pirated OS or applications on them or where their systems were infected or misconfigured....
  
  "Most systems I have pulled out of the ditch had one or more of these issues:
  
  "Pirated software, viruses, spyware, adware, no WGA, OS and application software updates missing, fragmented hard drives, unnecessary OS and application tweaks, antivirus software, antispyware software, anti-adware software, mismatched system resources (such as not enough memory to do the expected job), etc.
  
  "The list of horrors in personal systems goes on and on. People abuse their personal systems more than I could imagine. But the 'helping' anti-whatever software is often the cause of the problem.
  
  "WGA is not the problem, nor is it a problem. It is certainly a symptom when it fails. WGA is Microsoft's way of protecting their revenue stream so they can bring us more marginal software in the future. I can't justify a lot of product decisions that Microsoft makes, but I can appreciate some of their business decisions."
  

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By Katy Abby We're taught from a tender age not to play with our food. Still, many of my formative years were spent slyly sculpting fortresses out of mashed potatoes and creating formidable moats of gravy — those green beans never stood a chance! Watch what happens when some valiant victuals get their own ideas about who's at the top of the food chain in this incredible stop-motion short. The video shows that war isn't healthy for any of the major food groups. John Belushi's got nothing on these morsels. Warning: gastronomically explicit! Play the video

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TOP STORY By Susan Bradley Get all security patches without WGA nightmares How to patch without running WGA validation Use a third-party patch testing tool KNOWN ISSUES By Dennis O'Reilly WGA affects legitimate MS customers differently WACKY WEB WEEK By Katy Abby This food's out to attack more than your heart

	LANGALIST PLUS By Fred Langa Fix power-management glitches in XP and Vista If XP's Power Options Properties are greyed out Restore Vista's missing hibernation function Protect USB devices by using an extension cable "I got them new-netbook-backup blues!"
	BEST SOFTWARE By Ian "Gizmo" Richards Software improves lighting on digital photos Digital photography's dirty little secret The limitations of digital image editors New image editors improve picture balance
	WOODY'S WINDOWS By Woody Leonhard Microsoft improves AutoRun and AutoPlay features The problems with how AutoRun and AutoPlay work What's changed in Win7's AutoPlay and AutoRun Safer AutoRun/AutoPlay coming soon to XP, Vista

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