Brian Livingston published this column recently:
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Dump Windows Update, use alternatives
By Brian Livingston
The Internet interprets Microsoft as damage and routes around
it.
My apologies to John Gilmore for tweaking his famous 1993
quote about censorship. But the above statement just happens
to sum up the alternatives Windows users are adopting ever
since Microsoft's "Windows Genuine Advantage" (WGA) debacle.
It was only a few weeks ago when the Redmond software giant
started quietly auto-installing WGA to Windows machines in the
U.S., U.K., and a few other countries. The code, which
qualifies as spyware under any objective definition, was
programmed to contact Microsoft's servers every 24 hours. Now,
after hearing from plenty of outraged customers, the company
back-pedaled on June 27, saying it would release a version
that calls home less often.
That's not really a solution, as I'll explain below. Since
that's the case, the entire affair has given enormous momentum
to third-party products that render Microsoft's Windows Update
routine completely unnecessary.
I'll explain in today's article exactly how you can best deal
with WGA. For those in a hurry, here's a 4-point elevator
summary:
1. Turn off Automatic Updates in the Control Panel. Set
it to merely notify you of new patches, not auto-install
them.
2. WindizUpdate.com, an independent patch-download
system, which I've been asked about by many readers, is a
flawed alternative to Windows Update that I can't
recommend.
3. By contrast, patch-management software that's well-
supported, such as Shavlik's NetChkPro, provides an
inexpensive and reliable solution that far exceeds
Windows Update's capabilities.
4. Once your alternative update mechanism is in place,
follow the routine I describe below to uninstall WGA and
get it out of your system for good.
What's so bad about Genuine Advantage?
My last article, in the June 15 newsletter, flatly declared
that Windows Genuine Advantage is Microsoft-sponsored spyware.
That story received the highest reader ranking since we
started asking our readers last January to vote on our
articles (4.4 out of 5.0). We also received almost 200 e-
mails, far more than we normally get about any single topic.
Windows users are highly agitated.
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More at the site: http://windowssecrets.com/comp/060629/
How are you all dealing with this? Are you letting MS install WGA
on your computers and your client computers?
For much more on this subject, Click Here to do a Goggle Search for Windows Genuine Advantage.
