well thats total BS.i never install it and they never call.

If I understand correctly, this will install automatically whether you agreed to it or not. Come on hackers, do your thing.

It does this whether you tell it to or not, it's a background process.

Besides, it doesn't say they're going to 'call' you.

BTW: I love the username "Bignewb" that's awesome. :D

thanks.i used to be but now im senior member and i do the answering more than the talking so now i wanna change my name.

A GUID is a unique identifier. Simply because it isn't tied to personally-identifiying information (yet) doesn't mean it can't be. The purpose behind using a GUID is to identify a particular machine. And, it's none of MS business where my updates stopped, whether my machine is part of a domain, etc.

Boy, am i glad i run snort and keep track of all my processes with my geeksquad disc :-) not to mention i haven't updated in aaaages, and i turned off the security center nag screen that pops up if auto updates are disabled.
I knew being paranoid would lead to some good things eventually.
To all you folks who've already gotten this : find out if your government has rules against electronic surveillance, then start filing those privacy invasion claims ;-)

No offense, but the 'geek squad' is barely more capable than any old McDonalds employee; and I'd personally rather get my tech support from Mickey D's, because at least they won't pretend to know what they're doing.

As for unique identifiers...

M$ requires registration to activate Vista. This links you to your product, and your system ID information that M$ uses to monitor activity.

If that doesn't sound like Big Brother watching... I don't know what does.

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I agree about geek squad. They are idiots. I don't know how many times that I have argued with them about a bestbuy return only to find out that I was right in the first place.

this is just one of the many reasons i switched to a mac

i wish i didnt have to update, but i have to being at school :(

all the more reason to run a personal firewall so when your computer tries to connect to something it blocks it and notifies you untill you officialy allow it. and you can block it forever if you choose.

You can phone home my Windows is legit. However you are not going to get me to purchase multiple copies to install on my other machines. I feel one legit copy should be able to be enough.

The system you have in place is absolutely crapp and the people working in the call centre's are sometimes rude.

Agreed, once you own a software you should be able to install it as many times as you like, even if it's ms or anything else.

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I GOT HOSED!!!
The WGA tool will upload itself to your system eventually even if you keep telling it you don't want to download it. I just came in one day and my system was rebooted from where I leave it on all the time and the WGA was already installed. Thats what I call foul play on the part of MS. So i did some research to see how to get rid of it and I found out how to do that and so much more. The WGA is more than a Guid. If you look at the coding of the language its also a front to house DRM's. Ever notice how they said Vista was gonna be loaded with DRM's and right before they launched Vista, MS started this WGA tool for XP. With the DRM's in place for the XP WGA, it causes your video or sound card drivers to tweek out and corrupting whatever you try to play that you don't have a license for. Thats because they are trying to screw everyone using pirated XP software into getting rid of it to buy Vista. I think i'm gonna switch to a Linux based system next. I'm tired of dealing with MS.

I already run linux on one of my machines.

I'm eagerly awaiting Freespire 2.0, which should be vastly improved. I am also suspecting that with it; there may be improved functionality for windows-based games. And with M$ making it harder to authenticate legitimate games; I am hoping that companies like NCSoft will start making linux clients. ID and Epic already do with basically all of their games, so mayhaps this will start turning things.

I'm waiting to see how long it will take folks to switch to Linux or other open source operating systems. Wanna help that process along? support the folks writing code for them, that should send a big message to M$ and the industry.