How to disable or uninstall the pilot version of Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications (921914)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage
  • Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional
  • Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition
  • Microsoft Windows XP 64-Bit Edition
  • Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry

SUMMARY

This article applies to the version of Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) Notifications that is distributed during the pilot program. For example, this version is included in the pre-release version that accompanies the Microsoft Software License Terms. To safely and easily uninstall the pilot version, you must install the general release version of WGA Notifications. If you do not install this version, you can follow the steps in this article to disable or uninstall the pilot version.

Important These instructions have not been tested on the general release version of the WGA Notifications. Therefore, these instructions are not supported. Microsoft will offer the general release version of WGA Notifications to users who uninstall the pilot version at a later date. These users will obtain the general release version through the Microsoft Automatic Update service. WGA Notifications is part of the Windows Genuine Advantage program.

When you use a non-genuine version of Windows, you receive a message when you log on that states that the copy of Windows appears to be non-genuine. Then, you are directed to the WGA Web site to learn more. If you do not want to obtain a genuine copy of Windows, you receive periodic messages that notify you that the copy of Windows appears to be non-genuine.

Note If you are running a genuine copy of Windows and want to use WGA Notifications, you may receive messages to update Windows XP.

Regardless of genuine status, users are not denied access to critical updates. However, users who have not validated their computers as genuine are not able to install other updates such as those for Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 and Microsoft Windows Defender.

MORE INFORMATION

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

Disable WGA Notifications

  1. Log on to the computer by using an account that has administrative permissions.
  2. Make sure that the WGA Notifications version that exists on the computer is a pilot version. The version format for the pilot version is 1.5.0532.x. In this case, you can uninstall versions 527-532 only. For example, you can uninstall versions that range from 1.5.0527.0 to 1.5.0532.2. To find the WGA Notifications version, follow these steps:
    1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
    2. Double-click Add or Remove Programs, locate and then click Windows XP - Software, then click Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, and then click Click here for support information.
    3. In the Support Info dialog box, verify the version number, and then click Close.
  3. Rename the following files by changing the extension to .old:
    • Rename %Windir%\system32\WgaLogon.dll to %Windir%\system32\WgaLogon.old
    • Rename %Windir%\system32\WgaTray.exe to %Windir%\system32\WgaTray.old
  4. Restart the computer.

Manually uninstall WGA Notifications

  1. Log on to the computer by using an account that has administrative permissions.
  2. Make sure that the WGA Notifications version that exists on the computer is a pilot version. The version format for the pilot version is 1.5.0532.x. In this case, you can uninstall versions 527-532 only. For example, you can uninstall versions that range from 1.5.0527.0 to 1.5.0532.2. To find the WGA Notifications version, follow these steps:
    1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
    2. Double-click Add or Remove Programs, locate and then click Windows XP - Software, then click Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, and then click Click here for support information.
    3. In the Support Info dialog box, verify the version number, and then click Close.
  3. Rename the following files by changing the extension to .old:
    • Rename %Windir%\system32\WgaLogon.dll to %Windir%\system32\WgaLogon.old
    • Rename %Windir%\system32\WgaTray.exe to %Windir%\system32\WgaTray.old
  4. Restart the computer.
  5. Unregister LegitCheckControl.dll by using Regsvr32. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
    2. At the command prompt, type the following, and then press ENTER:

      Regsvr32 %Windir%\system32\LegitCheckControl.dll /u

  6. Restart the computer.
  7. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
  8. At the command prompt, delete the following files by typing the Del command. Press ENTER after you type each command.
    • Del %Windir%\system32\wgalogon.old
    • Del %Windir%\system32\WgaTray.old
    • Del %Windir%\system32\LegitCheckControl.dll
  9. At the command prompt, type regedit.
  10. Locate and then right-click the following registry subkeys. Click Delete after you locate each subkey.
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\ CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Notify\WgaLogon
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows \CurrentVersion\Uninstall\WgaNotify
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:9/7/2006
Keywords:kbinfo kbhowto KB921914 kbAudITPRO kbAudEndUser
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