Windows Genuine Advantage

Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is an automated validation process integrated on later Microsoft operating system products. Windows Genuine Advantage was developed by Microsoft Corporation in order to bolster its anti-piracy campaign. This automated validation process makes it a requirement for Microsoft Windows OS users to go through a series of validation systems before being granted by the Microsoft website to download and subsequently install updates and various version releases of software programs.

These updates and new releases of software program versions can all be found on Microsoft Download Center and Windows Update. If a user of a pirated Microsoft Windows OS version attempts to access the services being offered by Microsoft Download Center together with Windows Update, the embedded Windows Genuine Advantage process which can be found within the core of authentic Microsoft Windows OS versions provides information necessary for the aforementioned web portals to validate the authenticity of the Microsoft Windows OS version used by an individual to access its services. The absence of the process would make the Microsoft Windows OS version virtually null and void to access the services of the aforementioned web portals. But upon detecting the presence of fake Windows Genuine Advantage process versions integrated on such Windows OS products, the web portals embed a message which details the counterfeit status of the product together with the steps necessary to take in order to resolve the piracy problem.

This means that Windows Genuine Advantage is directly embedded in the core of later Microsoft Windows XP and Vista OS versions. This, in turn, provides Microsoft Corporation with a means to check the validity of Microsoft Windows OS versions which are accessing Windows Update and Microsoft Download Center services. Some Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 versions also have Windows Genuine Advantage incorporated on its systems, but it can be disabled by going through a series of manual optimizations. Right after its release during the early 2000s, Windows Genuine Advantage was designed to be a voluntary add-on to the OS versions of Microsoft Windows users. But after Microsoft Windows OS 2005 versions were released, Windows Genuine Advantage is now a requirement when it comes to accessing the services that are being offered by Microsoft Download Center and Windows Update.