Will my Zone alarm firewall stop windows genuine advantage accessing the internet?

Question

As yet I still don't have windows genuine advantage on my PC. I don't have a problem with it checking my copy of Windows (my pc is from Dell, so should be genuine!) but I do however consider WGA an invasion of privacy (apparently it connects to the net to send back "reports" on your activity). My Zone alarm firewall always notifies me when something on my PC tries to connect to the net, and I then have the option of denying access if I so wish. Does this also apply to WGA? Does anyone have WGA and a Zone alarm firewall, and if so does the option still come up of allowing/denying internet access for WGA? Thanks in advance

Answer 1

I can't recall if Zonealarm picked up Wga - probably not; I took proactive steps to remove the wga notification tool altogether by using Remove wga which is free here

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Uninstallers/RemoveWGA.shtml



note this doesn't affect windows genuine advantage, merely its ability to call home

Answer 2

Yes but you will be unable to download and install anything except critical security updates.



Actually WGA asks for an ActiveX component to be installed and that gathers your CPU and hard disk serial numbers. So you could stop it at that stage and deny it access to download.

Answer 3

Yes you can stop but if you don't allow Microsoft checking you can't update windows and therefore leave yourself open in future to viruses and trojans , and if you think how many genuine windows there are out there in the wide old world the chances of them actually being malicious in their checking is very slim lol.

Answer 4

Well, you need to disable or uninstall WGA.



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:

a. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

b. 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.

c. 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:

a. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

b. Double-click Add or uninstall Programs, locate and then click Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, and then click Click here for support information.

c. 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:

a. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.

b. 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

Answer 5

When it requests to connect, say NO

But then lose all the updates in future.

It only actually sends some anonymous info on hardware and software configuration, nothing to identify you.

Answer 6

I use NIS. Just allow one time and the problem is solved.

It never ask again.

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->> merely its ability to call home...



And to use Windows Update.