Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is an anti-infringement system created by Microsoft used to validate the licences of several Microsoft Windows operating systems upon accessing services such as Windows Update and Microsoft Download Center.
It consisted of two components: an installable component called WGA Notifications that hooks into Winlogon and validates the Windows license upon each logon and an ActiveX control that checks the validity of the Windows license when downloading certain updates from the Microsoft Download Center or Windows Update.
WGA Notifications covered Windows XP and later, with the exception of Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.
The ActiveX Control checked Windows 2000 Professional licenses as well.
In Windows 7, WGA was renamed Windows Activation Technologies.
In Windows 10, Windows Activation Technologies was renamed to "Activate Windows."
Despite its name, it does not actually evaluate the integrity or security of any computer.
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