Genuine Windows Blog
Announcing the new Genuine Windows Blog on https://windowsteamblog.com/
It's been over three years since I first launched the Genuine Windows Blog, and a lot has changed in...
Date: 09/04/2009
Windows 7 OEM Product Key Leak
Yesterday we were alerted to reports of a leak of a special product key issued to an OEM partner of...
Date: 07/31/2009
Activating Windows 7
Now that the Windows 7 Beta and RC are out, and the official general availability date has been...
Date: 06/06/2009
Pirated Windows 7 RC builds a botnet
Just a quick follow up on my recent post about the Windows 7 RC being available over bittorrent...
Date: 05/16/2009
Windows Activation Technologies: Activation and Validation in Windows 7
Earlier today we posted on Microsoft's Press Pass site an interview with our group's General...
Date: 05/07/2009
Windows 7 RC torrent files infected with trojan
Wow that was fast, though I don't suppose I should be surprised. Earlier this evening I visited the...
Date: 05/02/2009
Can we get Hugh Jackman as Genuine Windows spokesperson?
Working on counterfeit and piracy issues at Microsoft for so many years now has given me a finely...
Date: 04/19/2009
The Surprising Risks of Counterfeit Software in Businesses
I pretty regularly see people in forums and blogs comment that DRM or anti-piracy technology doesn't...
Date: 04/18/2009
Update to WGA Notifications for Windows XP Pro
Starting this week, we will begin deployment of the latest version of WGA Notifications for Windows...
Date: 03/24/2009
Update to Windows Vista Activation Exploit detection begins today
Last year around this time, I blogged about some changes for Windows Vista that were released with...
Date: 02/24/2009
Windows 7 Beta
In the last week or so I've received a few questions related to the product activation experinece in...
Date: 02/23/2009
Updated genuine Web site
Earlier today we rolled out an updated look and feel to the Genuine Microsoft Software Web site. I...
Date: 12/09/2008
New How to Tell Counterfeit Gallery Design and Features
Recently, we launched a new design for the How to Tell Counterfeit Gallery. The design includes new...
Date: 12/03/2008
Research whitepaper shows companies using more unlicensed Windows software are at greater risk
Today Microsoft is posting a commissioned study conducted by The Harrison Group to determine whether...
Date: 09/29/2008
Update to WGA Notifications for Windows XP Professional
Starting this week, we will begin deployment of the latest version of WGA Notifications for Windows...
Date: 08/26/2008
Counterfeit software, identity theft and repeat offenders...
I saw a recent DOJ case the other day that highlights the risks of buying counterfeit software. The...
Date: 06/13/2008
Taking the next step with Windows Vista SP1
Back in December, I mentioned some changes were coming with WGA in Windows Vista. I want to say...
Date: 02/21/2008
Microsoft supports IP awareness in schools
I wanted to call out some work done by some colleagues of mine. A study was released yesterday about...
Date: 02/14/2008
Evolving WGA...
Tonight we're announcing some new developments with WGA. The full story is here on our PressPass...
Date: 12/04/2007
So what happened?
Now that we have had time to dive into the details more on what happened that caused the temporary...
Date: 08/29/2007
Update on Validation Issues
We're continuing to investigate what happened but here's a quick update to yesterday's post. The...
Date: 08/27/2007
Validation Issue Fix
We've been receiving reports on our forum and through customer service starting last night that...
Date: 08/25/2007
There’s more to it than code… www.HowtoTell.com gets an update
Typically on this blog I post about issues closely related to WGA. In the interest in providing a...
Date: 07/02/2007
Malware posing as Windows product activation
A new piece of malware identified by Symantec as ‘Trojan.Kardphisher' targets Windows XP users by...
Date: 05/11/2007
Reported OEM BIOS Hacks
I know many of you are aware of reports of hacks that attempt to exploit our OEM BIOS based...
Date: 04/10/2007
Another reported workaround ineffective...
Late last week, while I was out of the office sick and with my boss covering for me, our team...
Date: 03/19/2007
WGA Notifications and download and install telemetry
We’ve gotten a few questions recently about the fact that our latest WGA Notifications package sends...
Date: 03/07/2007
'Brute' Force Attack on Windows Vista now 'Moot' Force Attack
Over the weekend we learned that the widely covered 'Vista Brute Force Keygen' turned out to be a...
Date: 03/05/2007
Brute force attack on Windows Vista product keys?
This morning as I was checking my feeds while standing in line waiting for coffee I saw a few...
Date: 03/02/2007
Windows Vista Tamper Detection and misbehaving apps
We've seen reports indicating that customers are being prompted to activate Windows Vista on...
Date: 03/01/2007
New WGA Notifications rolling out...
If you'll remember back in November we made available a preview of a new installation experience for...
Date: 02/23/2007
Pirated Windows Vista may be worth-LESS
I saw an article in the LA Times this morning reporting that counterfeit copies of Windows Vista are...
Date: 02/07/2007
More on: WGA False Positives
An Information Week article was posted earlier today that attempted to calculate the rate of false...
Date: 01/23/2007
Report of a new hack - and one of my favorite websites stumbles
For me the report of this latest hack was a double whammy. First it's no fun to read a report of a...
Date: 01/02/2007
The 'Frankenbuild' monster
Over the last few weeks, we've seen a number of attempts at workarounds for Vista product...
Date: 12/14/2006
New WGA Notifications Released
Yesterday we released the latest WGA Notifications Tool for Windows XP. This update includes a...
Date: 11/29/2006
Windows Vista 'Frankenbuilds' spotted in the wild
Last week saw a reported leak of an RTM build of Windows Vista. The reports I read indicated that...
Date: 11/20/2006
Can numbers stand on their heads?
Sure they can but then they're just upside down numbers. Ed Bott posted on his personal blog a link...
Date: 11/02/2006
Windows Media Player 11 released
As I'm sure most of you know Windows Media Player 11 was released yesterday. WMP11 is of course...
Date: 10/31/2006
My Story
In my ‘what's the risk' post about the research done by IDC (PDF) on the risks of obtaining or using...
Date: 10/31/2006
What’s the risk?
Could using counterfeit software be risky in and of itself? Yesterday we posted a report done for us...
Date: 10/26/2006
IE7 now available
As most of you probably already know IE7 is now released and available for download. See the IE blog...
Date: 10/20/2006
WGA service outage
Earlier this week a server on the backend of the WGA service experienced a bug that resulted in a...
Date: 10/05/2006
New technology to protect Windows Vista and other products
This morning Microsoft announced a new set of technologies that will be included in the RTM of...
Date: 10/04/2006