pls help updates problem?

Question

i updated my windows to xp2 pack and now it's telling me that i may have not updated a genuine one. can i cancel all the downloaded updates? will it harm my computer?

Answer 1

The MS Windows Genuine Advantage application is already installed on your computer then as part of the download. It can not be uninstalled, at least not through normal processes. If your OS is legitimate, contact MS support and they will help you resolve the problem. The WGA application does occasionally report false positives. If on the other hand your copy is not genuine you will need to rely on the same pirates that you obtained the OS from for patching. I believe MS does allow downloading some patches (critical patches) manually (not through Windows Update) in order to help minimize exploits even for pirated copies. They do this to keep legitimate machines from being affected by exploited pirated machines.

As for canceling the downloads, sure you can do that. Some even support uninstalling if you need to do that. Some will not as they are so tightly integrated to the OS (i.e Internet Explorer and DirectX for example). Not downloading the patches on a regular basis puts your computer at a high risk for current and future exploits. NOTE: Going back to the same sources that provide pirated copies of Windows for the patches is risky too. You can never be 100% sure that they aren't including spyware, key loggers, trojans, etc....