Vista WGA woes

Forums › Microsoft Windows › Vista WGA woes

bradstewart

4338 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 166

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#15495 25-Aug-2007 22:33

Two days after activating your legit copy of Vista you do not expect to see this:

I rang the activation helpline and all I was told was it was a pirated copy and when I argued the point I was hung up on. Disgusting treatment.

If Microsoft don't come up with some solution to this (there are many being hit with the same issue) then I will look at an alternative solution, Mac or Linux.

1 | 2

BDFL - Memuneh
80833 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41461

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#83813 25-Aug-2007 22:54

Have you rebooted and tried again? I had this same dialog shown when a Windows Update failed - after reboot it worked ok.

But yes, getting the phone on your face is not nice...

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

heavenlywild

5111 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 908

Trusted

#83814 25-Aug-2007 22:58

freitasm: Have you rebooted and tried again? I had this same dialog shown when a Windows Update failed - after reboot it worked ok.

But yes, getting the phone on your face is not nice...

Does this happen with machines with pre-installed Vista too?

bradstewart

4338 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 166

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#83815 25-Aug-2007 23:04

freitasm: Have you rebooted and tried again? I had this same dialog shown when a Windows Update failed - after reboot it worked ok.

But yes, getting the phone on your face is not nice...

Rebooting after a failed validation was what killed aero. It turns out that Microsofts validation servers are down but instead of giving you a notice saying please try validating at a later time they brand you as a pirate. I am not impressed. Apparently this won't be fixed until Tuesday 28th (US time). Unbelievable.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80833 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41461

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#83816 25-Aug-2007 23:07

How did you find out about the servers being down?

And why the customer (dis)service person didn't say anything, instead of going over the tangent calling everyone a pirate?

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

bradstewart

4338 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 166

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#83817 25-Aug-2007 23:10

The Windows Genuine Advantage forums are abuzz: http://forums.microsoft.com/Genuine/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=1004&SiteID=25

bradstewart

4338 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 166

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#83818 25-Aug-2007 23:17

freitasm: How did you find out about the servers being down?

And why the customer (dis)service person didn't say anything, instead of going over the tangent calling everyone a pirate?

Because they are bound to a script and if they don't know an answer they hang up on you.

Geekzone

Want to support Geekzone and browse the site without the ads? Subscribe to Geekzone now (monthly, annual and lifetime options).

paradoxsm

3000 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#83823 26-Aug-2007 01:04

To be so blunt. Vista is just horrid. Same with MACOS on intel,,aka TreacleOS

I know people whom are still bent on using Win98 (lite). On a P4 it's so fast it's just amazing.

And don't score 3.11 just yet, I use it everyday, VERY reliable and so simple.. (Win95 installer hack Miniwin for FAT32 support and 32X)

chiefie

I iz your trusted friend
5877 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 151

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#83830 26-Aug-2007 09:02

bradstewart: Because they are bound to a script and if they don't know an answer they hang up on you.

you should blog it and push it out to public to show that Customer Service can rain the company's image. Very crucial!

Internet is my backyard...

«Geekzone blog: Tech 'n Chips Takeaway» «Personal blog: And then...»

Please read the Geekzone's FUG

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80833 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41461

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#83834 26-Aug-2007 09:25

This was sent out to an Australian SBS user list:

From: Melb-SBSusers@ [mailto:Melb-SBSusers@]
Sent: Saturday, 25 August 2007 11:36 PM
Subject: [Melb-SBSusers] A quick head's up for any Vista users
Anyone using Vista would be well advised to steer clear of any downloads from the Microsoft Download Center that entail validation.

The validation server is completely fubar. All Vista users who attempt to validate before downloading will get a failed to determine validation status message, which will lead to Vista thinking that it is non-genuine. No Aero. No updates apart from critical updates. No Windows Defender. And a nice message on the desktop informing you that 'This copy of Windows is not genuine'.

Well, I just had to try and replicate after reading customer complaints. My completely genuine Vista is now flagged as not genuine.

Quite frankly, it sucks. Big time. Allegedly, Microsoft is aware of the issue.

It really really surprises me such a widespread problem and you get to talk to a Microsoft CSR who hangs up the phone calling you a pirate.

Disgusting.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9998

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#83835 26-Aug-2007 09:26

It appears the issue is now resolved if you read the Microsoft WGA forums posts.

It's a very poor showing by MS.

cokemaster

Exited
4937 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1089

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#83838 26-Aug-2007 10:09

Its a massive failing if peoples copies of software which they have legitimately purchased cease working because of an outage on Microsofts side. At the risk of 'allowing' piracy, they should at least implement some sort of method where if you have been validated previously, you won't get stung again.
What happens when Microsoft discontinues the activation servers (many many years from now, when Vista and XP are forgotten)?

This is just another example how DRM fails consumers. Coupled with customer service that was given... lets hope that it was just that rep.

Strangely enough, the cracked versions of Vista have WGA disabled (I have a real Ultimate OEM copy here) ... its strange when the pirated versions have more functionality during outages than the real deal!

webhosting

Loose lips may sink ships - Be smart - Don't post internal/commercially sensitive or confidential information!

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80833 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41461

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#83840 26-Aug-2007 10:22

http://blogs.msdn.com/wga/archive/2007/08/25/validation-issue-fix.aspx

We've been receiving reports on our forum and through customer service starting last night that Windows Vista validations have been failing on genuine systems. It looks now as though the issue has been resolved and validations are being processed successfully.

Customers who received an incorrect validation response can fix their system by revalidating on our site (http://www.microsoft.com/genuine). We encourage anyone who received a validation failure since Friday evening to do this now. After successfully revalidating any affected system should be rebooted to ensure the genuine-only features are restored.

Now, I really, really think customer services people who fail the "services" part should get the boot. Or retraining under fire.

Bad service is the worst thing in any industry.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

bradstewart

4338 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 166

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#83844 26-Aug-2007 11:50

At the risk of going off topic on my own thread here: What is the point of Validation? Surely when activating your copy of Windows it has checked for a blacklisted key. If Microsoft wanted to go down this route then surely the system should be all rolled into activation. Once activated that install of Windows should be marked as genuine for the rest of the time it is installed.

Or do they just like to keep checking up on you to make sure your key hasn't been blacklisted since activation?

Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of Windows and Vista in particular but this experience coupled with several other Microsoft screw ups has left me with a bad taste.

barf

643 posts

Ultimate Geek

#83851 26-Aug-2007 14:12

in a strange twist of fate, the resident Linux-troll knows the answer to your WGA question

WGA exists to tackle large piracy efforts as opposed to restricting victims of piracy, the customer annoyances are intended to make one submit details about where the copy came from.

It would be nice to see Microsoft be more honest about this still. Not much of an official explaination I can find. Even if they had to say "Office party got out of control, Mike passed out in the rack room and woke up covered in cat-5" it would lend to their credibility.

Sniffing the glue holding the Internet together

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9998

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#83862 26-Aug-2007 16:13

Any the irony of this all being that pirated copies of Vista do exist that completely bypass all WGA checks anyway. The pirates are sitting there with a fully working copy of Vista that doesn't need to phone home all the time all while the users who own a genuine copy get told that they're running a pirated copy. How messed up is that?!

1 | 2