How to Uninstall Windows Genuine Advantage Program
The Windows Genuine Advantage program is a utility that periodically dials into Microsoft’s servers to ensure you are running a legitimate copy of the Windows operating system. Microsoft introduced this utility to fight against pirated copies of their OS. Unfortunately, the system isn’t perfect and has been known to report genuine copies as fraudulent. If this is the case or simply don’t want your computer calling into Microsoft every day, you can remove the utility and avoid the warnings.
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Instructions
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1
Restart the computer. Press and hold “F8” as the computer boots up to bring up the “Safe Mode” options. Select “Safe Mode with Networking” and hit Enter to start Windows in Safe Mode.
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2
Select “Run...” from the Windows Start menu. Type “regedit” into the “Run” window and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
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3
Navigate to the registry entry located at “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Notify” and right-click the “WGALogon” folder. Select “Delete” and exit the Registry Editor, saving your changes.
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4
Open the Windows Task Manager (simultaneously press Control, Alt, Delete). Click on the process “wgatray.exe” and click “End Process.” Exit the Task Manager.
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5
Navigate to the folder located at “C:\\Windows\\System32” and delete “wgatray.exe” (right-click > “Delete”). Navigate to the folder located at “C:\\Windows\\System32\\dllcache” and delete “wgatray.exe.”
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6
Restart the computer. Windows will warn that certain files are missing, as it boots back up. Write down or make note of these missing services.
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7
Select “Run...” from the Windows Start menu. Type “msconfig” into the “Run” window and hit Enter.
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8
Select “Services” (tab) and disable all services noted in Step 6. Once complete, you will no longer receive Windows Genuine Advantage warnings or pop-ups.
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