This article describes the Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications application. This program notifies you if a copy of Windows is not genuine.

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Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications notifies you if a copy of Microsoft Windows XP is not genuine. The notification messages only appear on computers that have failed the Windows Genuine Advantage validation process and that are running a copy of Windows XP that is not genuine. If you are running a validated, genuine copy of Windows XP, you will not receive notification messages.

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Notification messages

The following notification messages will appear on computers that are running a copy of Windows that has failed the Windows Genuine Advantage validation process:

•	Logon notification When you log on to a non-genuine copy of Windows XP, you receive the following logon notification error message: You may be a victim of software counterfeiting. This copy of Windows is not genuine and is not eligible to receive all updates and product support from Microsoft. Click Get Genuine now to get more information and resolve this issue. When you receive this message, you have the following two options: • You can click Get Genuine to start the Get genuine Windows process. • You can click Resolve Later. If you use this option, an icon will be available in the notification area that you can double-click to start the Get genuine Windows process.
•	Balloon notification After you log on to a non-genuine copy of Windows XP, you receive a balloon notification message in the notification area that is specific to the validation failure. You can click the balloon notification or the notification area icon to open the Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Failure Web page. This Web page gives you the specifics of the validation failure and the steps that you can take to make the operating system genuine.
•	Desktop banner text If you use the Resolve Later option, the following banner text appears on the locked desktop: This copy of Windows is not genuine. You may be the victim of software counterfeiting

Every time that a notification appears, you receive detailed information about the specific validation failure. The information includes steps that you can take to resolve the problem.

Notes

•	The frequency of the notification messages is determined at installation time. The notification messages continue to appear until the non-genuine copy of Windows has been validated as genuine.
•	Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications will be deployed by using Automatic Updates.

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How to install Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications

When you use Windows Update or Microsoft Update on a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP, you can install Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications. When you install Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, the Software Update Installation Wizard runs the next time that you log on to Windows. After the wizard starts, it runs the Windows Genuine Advantage Validation tool to verify that your copy of Windows is genuine. When the wizard finishes, it displays the results of the process. If your copy of Windows is genuine, you may continue to download Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications. If your copy of Windows does not pass the validation check, you receive a message that states why Windows did not pass the check.

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How to uninstall Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications

You can use Add or Remove Programs to view Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, but you cannot use Add or Remove Programs to remove the notifications.

You can temporarily disable Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications. To do this, right-click the Notifier icon in the notification area and select Change Notifications Settings. Then, follow the prompts. This will disable the Notification Prompts until a new release of the Notification Update is released.

For more information about Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

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