Microsoft quietly configures machines to phone home

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CTho9305

Elite Member
Jul 26, 2000
9,214
1
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WGA phones home. The article is written in a very pro-microsoft wording, so I figured this thread should get a very different wording for the title ;). The article basically says MS is afraid they might have made some mistakes in the Windows Genuine Advantage software and it phones home to see if it should turn itself off.
 
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JonnyBlaze

Diamond Member
May 24, 2001
3,114
1
0
Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Arstechnica journal entry about it.

One more reason to not turn my Windows machine on more than absolutely necessary.
Click to expand...

yeah, because you know its sendind all your personal information to them. :confused:



i just ended the process and erased wgatray.exe


no more worries.


 
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n0cmonkey

Elite Member
Jun 10, 2001
42,936
1
0
Originally posted by: JonnyBlaze
yeah, because you know its sendind all your personal information to them. :confused:
Click to expand...

Inconsequential. They weren't up front about it. That's just mean. Plus, the machine eats up electricity that can be spent on more useful machines. :)
 
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spikespiegal

Golden Member
Oct 10, 2005
1,219
9
76
The most annoying application I deal with in terms of 'phoning home' is by far any current product made by Adobe, not MS.
 
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ParatoOptimal

Golden Member
Jan 27, 2004
1,094
2
81
I have an Adobe product that's a few years old.

There's a drop down menu setting to make it never check for updates.

 
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wlee

Senior member
Oct 10, 1999
585
0
71
I suppose you could alway sniff the traffic and create a rule on your proxy-wall to filter out those nasty "tattle-packets".
 
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ParatoOptimal

Golden Member
Jan 27, 2004
1,094
2
81
Info on the net says to delete WGAtray.exe in your system32 folder.

ANother hadd some java text to put in the address bar when installing the new updater to disregard the wga key.

My windoze is legit.

I think I mistakenly installed wga.

The wga log files show some sort of failures and list my elaborate bytes virtual drive program.

A while back I had probs with my virtual drives and a CD-RW and CD-ROM drive died.

I wonder if WGA killed my optical drives.

I wonder if WGA is active on my systerm and accessing the Internet.

ZoneAlarm Pro doesn't show it accessing the Internet.

Niether does McAfee internet Security.

It may have had some option to tell it not to access the Internet when it installed that I chose. But it seems that such a choice would be counterproductive to their objective.

How can I tell if this thing is running on my system?

If it is, how can I disable it for good?

Could this thing have written to my registry to damage the operation of two optical drives that have "died"?

I'm currently using an old CD-RW drive.

Thanksx
 
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bsobel

Moderator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
Dec 9, 2001
13,346
0
0
Originally posted by: ParatoOptimal
Info on the net says to delete WGAtray.exe in your system32 folder.

ANother hadd some java text to put in the address bar when installing the new updater to disregard the wga key.

My windoze is legit.

I think I mistakenly installed wga.

The wga log files show some sort of failures and list my elaborate bytes virtual drive program.

A while back I had probs with my virtual drives and a CD-RW and CD-ROM drive died.

I wonder if WGA killed my optical drives.

I wonder if WGA is active on my systerm and accessing the Internet.

ZoneAlarm Pro doesn't show it accessing the Internet.

Niether does McAfee internet Security.

It may have had some option to tell it not to access the Internet when it installed that I chose. But it seems that such a choice would be counterproductive to their objective.

How can I tell if this thing is running on my system?

If it is, how can I disable it for good?

Could this thing have written to my registry to damage the operation of two optical drives that have "died"?

I'm currently using an old CD-RW drive.

Thanksx
Click to expand...

Oh brother. WGA didn't affect your optical drive.s The WGA checkin is a disability check, not a reporting of user information.
 
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ParatoOptimal

Golden Member
Jan 27, 2004
1,094
2
81
I only mentioned it because the wga logs listed my optical drives and virtual drive software/CloneCD software.

It didn't list other drives or software.

 
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bsobel

Moderator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
Dec 9, 2001
13,346
0
0
Originally posted by: bendixG15
It checks every day to decide if you are honest..
How greedy can MS get ??
Click to expand...

No, try reading it again.... Sigh.
 
M

magomago

Lifer
Sep 28, 2002
10,973
14
76
Originally posted by: stash
A while back I had probs with my virtual drives and a CD-RW and CD-ROM drive died.

I wonder if WGA killed my optical drives.
Click to expand...
Classic.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup: Indeed. Almost as good as wanting to download a videocard
 
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Pythias

Senior member
Oct 4, 2004
209
0
0
Originally posted by: magomago
Originally posted by: stash
A while back I had probs with my virtual drives and a CD-RW and CD-ROM drive died.

I wonder if WGA killed my optical drives.
Click to expand...
Classic.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup: Indeed. Almost as good as wanting to download a videocard
Click to expand...


..or threatening to download a virus at someone. :D
 
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networkman

Lifer
Apr 23, 2000
10,436
1
0
Originally posted by: ParatoOptimal
A while back I had probs with my virtual drives and a CD-RW and CD-ROM drive died.

I wonder if WGA killed my optical drives.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think it ripped the tags off your mattresses too. :roll:


 
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Pythias

Senior member
Oct 4, 2004
209
0
0
Originally posted by: networkman
Originally posted by: ParatoOptimal
A while back I had probs with my virtual drives and a CD-RW and CD-ROM drive died.

I wonder if WGA killed my optical drives.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think it ripped the tags off your mattresses too. :roll:
Click to expand...

ouch

 
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Smilin

Diamond Member
Mar 4, 2002
7,357
0
0
Originally posted by: networkman
Originally posted by: ParatoOptimal
A while back I had probs with my virtual drives and a CD-RW and CD-ROM drive died.

I wonder if WGA killed my optical drives.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think it ripped the tags off your mattresses too. :roll:
Click to expand...

ROFL. Nice
 
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spyordie007

Diamond Member
May 28, 2001
6,229
0
0
Originally posted by: networkman
Originally posted by: ParatoOptimal
A while back I had probs with my virtual drives and a CD-RW and CD-ROM drive died.

I wonder if WGA killed my optical drives.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think it ripped the tags off your mattresses too. :roll:
Click to expand...
Awesome
 
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wpshooter

Golden Member
Mar 9, 2004
1,662
5
81
Originally posted by: ParatoOptimal
Not physically/permanently but in the registry.
Click to expand...


They need to learn how to read posts completely before they start ranting.
 
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