Windows Genuine Advantage Servers Out 300
krewemaynard writes to let us know that Microsoft has been having major problems with its WGA servers since at least Friday evening. Quoting Ars: "Users of both Windows XP and Windows Vista were writing to say that they could not validate their installations using WGA, and one user even said that his installation was invalidated by the service... The Microsoft WGA Forums are full of problem reports, and Microsoft WGA Program Manager Phil Liu has acknowledged that there is a problem, and that MS is investigating." Update: 07/25 22:10 GMT by KD :Microsoft has identified and fixed the problem and posted instructions for anyone whose system mistakenly failed a WGA check. (The link posted earlier was to a 2006 article.)
Slashdot Delay (Score:3, Informative)
Re:WGA sucks (Score:0, Informative)
"need to move my FreeNAS to a better box anyway so that's what I'll probably do after wiping it."
Perhaps you should pick up Microsoft Home Server [microsoft.com]? It will work out of the box and you won't have to spend hours recompiling the kernel etc. to get it to work.
Here is a good video [microsoft.com].
Funny, I was starting to think that there would be a single day on Slashdot without an anti-Microsoft story.
Re:whoops (Score:2, Informative)
So the admins at google & youtube should be fired? More and more companies are realizing that commodity hardware can be just as reliable as the overpriced stuff (in certain senarios).
Phil Liu has workaround already (Score:5, Informative)
Additionally, I know you all are looking for an explanation/root-cause. I will get that ASAP. We are aware it is a server-side issue - the cause is unknown at this current time.
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Toro
Alternative workaround (Score:4, Informative)
I really love these features (Score:3, Informative)
Re:WGA sucks (Score:3, Informative)
That box also has my SVN repo but not much else, so it's never had X installed at all.
Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:No compiler needed (Score:3, Informative)
Except that it does.
Re:WGA sucks (Score:3, Informative)
Doesn't exactly prove his point, but Apple is known as a litigious company.
Re:WGA sucks (Score:2, Informative)
Re:No compiler needed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:WGA sucks (Score:1, Informative)
It's not your Mac, it's slashdot inserting spaces in long strings to prevent page-widening. Had you given it a short name there'd have been no trouble.
Re:No compiler needed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:WGA sucks (Score:3, Informative)
Unfortunately, it also wants you to pay the going street price to fix it. And it is very challenging to tell your customer that MS is over reacting and you didn't try to cheat them. I mean common, Microsoft said so and they know more about their software then you do right? And when you get MS on the phone, they tell you the OEM is responsible for it and won't say a word about it might be an mistake, and if it is, the license key will be replaced free of charge. Finally I told the guy, "I have been working on your computers and supplying you computers for almost 10 years. If you don't trust me after this 10 years of faithful service, I don't need your business" And he came around. I called my supplier and they instantly gave em a new key over the phone and overnighted a new license CoA.
If you ever get hit with the WGA, hope that whoever sold you the computer is still around or whoever sold you the OS can be reached and that there is a record of the transaction. The computer I am talking about was 4 years old with no problems at all until one day abou 6 or 7 months ago when the WGA insisted I was a crook. Since I built the system, sold it and maintain it, I was covered under everyone of the "someone is trying to screw you
I think they should be sued but I cannot find the web pages for evidence without the WGA going south again. Something I'm not willing to deal with on purpose. Next time around, I will save the pages and print them out, It won't be the same.