How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications

This article applies to the version of Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) Notifications for Windows XP 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.

For more information about how to obtain the latest release of WGA Notifications, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

905474  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905474/ ) Description of the Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications application

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 successfully validated their copies of Windows XP cannot install other updates such as those for Windows Internet Explorer and Windows Defender, and they will not have access to downloads that are reserved exclusively for users of genuine Windows.
Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ ) How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

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, click Windows XP - Software, 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, click Windows XP - Software, click Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, and then click Click here for support information.
      
      Note If Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications does not appear, the release version is installed. You cannot uninstall the release version of WGA Notifications.
   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

For more information about WGA Notifications, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/AboutNotifications.aspx (http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/AboutNotifications.aspx)

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Note This is a "FAST PUBLISH" article created directly from within the Microsoft support organization. The information contained herein is provided as-is in response to emerging issues. As a result of the speed in making it available, the materials may include typographical errors and may be revised at any time without notice. See Terms of Use (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=151500) for other considerations.

APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional
• Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Update Rollup 2
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
• Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
• Microsoft Security Essentials