Let me start off by saying I don’t condone piracy and if you don’t have a valid Windows XP license, please get one. But just because your copy of Windows is valid doesn’t mean that you want the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) tool hogging resources and constantly sending information about your software license and computer use to Microsoft.
The WGA tool is being pushed out again for automatic installation (for real this time). It is possible for you to prevent the installation if you wish, but you must act before installing it or else it will be very difficult to remove.
First off, you need to make sure that your automatic updates are configured for manual approval:
- In control panel, choose ‘Automatic updates’
- Select ‘notify me but don’t automatically download or install them’ (you will now be forced to approve of updates, which is the point, but make sure that you actually do it occasionally because there will always be important security fixes to download)
Now, when you are notified that there are updates available, click on the message (or little yellow shield) and the following window will pop up:
Now you need to disable the WGA update forever:
- Uncheck the box next to “Windows Genuine Advantage Notification (KB905474)” and click on ‘Close’.
- Another dialog box will appear. Make sure that “Don’t notify me about these updates again” is checked.
You’re done! Now you can go about your life with no WGA to tie you down.
