MU problem – Windows Genuine Adv. ActiveX control

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Does anyone know what to do when Microsoft Update (MU) page will not accept the ActiveX control that is installed?

That is, and now I have to translate to English, it says: Your browser can not use the ActiveX control that is needed for verification. I suppose they mean WGA ActiveX control.

Background: I have not used Windows Update (WU) or MU for updating purpose for several years. Instead I read the bulletins and download the updates (saving them for future use as well). Sometimes, though, I used WU to check the update status. This summer I changed from WU to MU. All went OK. Later I found that before scanning for potential updates MU wanted to install: KB898461 Package Installer and KB892130 Windows Genuine Advantage. The same was obviously the case with Automatic Updates (AU).

At this time I had all security updates installed as well as Windows Installer 3.1 (KB893803 v.2).

Well, I let it rest. Now (11 days ago) it was time for the October security updates (9 altogether, not 8 that Brian Livingston mentioned in Windows Secrets Newsletter). OK, quick bulletins check rules out one that is not needed for WinXP SP2, that’s 8 left. As this system is a Home ed. skip one more update. I downloaded the 7 updates and installed, to begin with, the three critical ones.

Now I thought, OK let MU do its thing (WGA). From MU page I installed the two updates mentioned above, it reported OK, I rebooted and checked that they were installed OK (Cpl. add/remove program, registry key “Updates” etc.). I also verified that IE “Add-on Manager” showed the WGA ActiveX control as enabled. Now I should mention that I have the MS WU/MU pages in the Trusted sites zone, and for that zone I have lower settings; enable on signed ActiveX not prompt or disable etc. So during the install above and whenever I visit MU I don’t need to answer.

When I now go to MU and click scan for updates, after scanning I get to the page Do you want to validate your Windows Copy, I click Yes, and I get the error mentioned above. The alternative is to click a link and run a program. (I think I’ve read somewhere that it’s possible to download that file and run it “offline” to generate a key.)

Ah, well I installed the other 4 updates I had downloaded (All this is one week ago), AU is working as usual after the Package Inst. and WGA update, but not Internet Explorer. Since I most of the time use Fx, I have not that much knowledge about IE Add-on Manager. In this context (MU/WGA ActiveX installed); what does/can the update in Add-on Manager do?

Any thoughts are appreciated.
Regards,
Argus

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Solved.

Argus

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Great, what was the problem?

StuartR

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Stuart,

I do not know what the problem was, but I do know the solution.

Before posting my question I had done a great deal of googling – given the issue it wasn’t all that fun (all these sites about security hacks) – also looked at MS newsgroups and found several with problem but no solution, and did not fancy to read all of them.

Since no responses here about what the WGA package contained or where the files would be found after a correct install etc., I did however suspect that it wasn’t all correct installed. The WGA ActiveX control showed up in add-on manager as mentioned, and I did find:

LegitCheckControl.DLL
GWFSPidGen.dll

in System32. But if I clicked on the WGA control in the add-on manager there was no possibility to click “Update” (greyed out). Also, in Downloaded Program Files I only found MU, WU and Office, no WGA control.

Ed Bott mentions an important thing when removing controls (from Downloaded Program Files); do not select the control and press Delete key, instead right-click and choose Remove. In my case it was not useful since the control wasn’t there.

Now since there is no way to uninstall WGA (KB892130), the obvious choice would be to try to install it again. But MU and AU didn’t offer that (since the install two weeks ago was “successful”). One suggestion in the newsgroups was to d/l the cab-file and then manually install it moving the files to their correct places and run REGSVR32 etc. I did not want to do that.

I temporarily added microsoft.com to Trusted sites, and checked once more that all ActiveX was “Prompt” instead of “Enable”.

I then went to Genuine Microsoft Software and from there to Genuine Microsoft Software | How to Tell selected “Windows Validation Assistant”. Obviously I did all this on localized, Swedish sites. Answered Yes if I would like to download, clicked proceed and that was it. The OS is genuine. Did proceed through their little tutorial how you can check your COA and CD. Ah, well.

At this time I DO find the WGA validation tool in Downloaded Program Files. And yes MU is working as supposed.

Regards,
Argus

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Your question(s) is not clear. What do you want to know?

1. See Description of Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA)

2. The 892130 (WGA) update is available ONLY through Windowsupdate website, and is NOT available for download and redistribution (later installation).
See Genuine Windows FAQ for details.

Is it answers your question(s)?

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Is it answers your question(s)?

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No. However I did use one site mentioned in “Description of Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA)”.

Many times people get confused by, how should I say (my English is not the best, pardon me), the supposed or potential problem, instead of the real underlying problem. In this case: I did not have problem with non-genuine Windows, no problem with understanding the “WGA-program” or what is does.

The problem was: Does anyone know what to do when Microsoft Update (MU) page will not accept the ActiveX control that is installed? as asked in my post.

Now MY problem was: how do I find relevant information about this, wading through search results about cracks, hacks etc. Can I search for general information about ActiveX problem? Yes, and I do have help files offline, but will it be relevant to this WGA issue? So I had to mention what specific ActiveX control it was and how I had tried to install it. Sorry if the questions were not clear.

See picture from MU history and my initial install, also my post to Stuart. Thanks for your concern.

Regards,
Argus

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