KB971033: How to Block Or Uninstall Windows 7 Activation Update

Microsoft has pushed their latest Windows 7 Activation Update checker which checks whether Windows 7 is activated legally through Microsoft or it has been cracked using several activation methods. Installing this update creates a process that checks for activation method of the Windows every now and then to see if the Windows is legal.

In some cases even legit licenses suffer from these genuine validation warnings.

Fortunately Microsoft has made it easy for the people who don’t want this update to uninstall it. If you haven’t downloaded and installed this update then you can disable it using the following method:

Block Windows 7 Activation Update KB971033 Installation

1. Go to Start Menu and write Windows Update in the Start Menu Search
2. Select Windows Update to go to Windows Update program
3. Select Optional Updates
4. Search for the update labeled “Update for Windows 7 (KB971033)”
5. Right click it and select Hide Update

This will disable this update from automatically installing into your system.

Uninstall Windows 7 Activation Update KB971033

If you have already installed this update. Follow these steps to uninstall this update the safer way.

1. Go to Control Panel –> Programs –> View installed Updates
2. Search for “Update for Windows 7 (KB971033)”
3. Right click it and select Uninstall.
4. It is now advised to block the updated as described above to prevent it from reinstalling itself.

Disable the Windows 7 Activation Update KB971033

If the update is already installed and you don't want to remove it completely, you can just prevent it from running using a "Software Restriction Policy". 

This procedure will work on Windows 7 Professional/Enterprise only, because Home versions don't include the Local Security Policy tool needed for the job.

Open Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Administrative Tools > Local Security policy
Right click on Software Restriction Policies and create new Policy
Go to Additional Rules and right-click for more options.
Create two New Hash Rules and on each rule browse and choose one of these files:

C:\Windows\System32\Wat\WatAdminSvc.exe
C:\Windows\System32\Wat\WatUX.exe

Apply, close & Restart Windows.
The update was installed but the operating system is now blocking it from ever running.

Fix: How To Remove Office Genuine Notification (OGA Update)

Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) is another initiative by Microsoft to stem the piracy and counterfeit copy of Microsoft Office business producitivity suite and applications. Since April 15, 2008,Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) Notifications was pushed to client computers installed with Microsoft Office XP, Office 2003 or Office 2007 as “Important” or “Needed” update, and is not removable or uninstallable after installed.

After installed, OGA validation component will perform a check on install Office software, and OGA Notifications notifier component will display various “This copy of Microsoft Office is not genuine” message if the Office software is determined as not genuine or not legitimate.

Although officially Microsoft prevents and disallows end-users from removing OGA Notifications (KB949810), there are several workarounds or hacks to remove Office Genuine Advantage Notifications. In fact, as it’s a MSI (Windows Installer) package which installed the OGA, the KB949810 OGA update can be removed and completely uninstalled properly and completely by using MSI uninstall string.

How to Uninstall Office Genuine Advantage Notifications (KB949810)

Open an command prompt window with elevated privileges.

Depending on the version of OGA (Office Genuine Advantage) installed (can be view from properties of %SystemDrive%\Windows\System32\OGAAddin.dll or DEL %SystemDrive%\Windows\System32\OGACheckControl.dll), run following commands below (see Tip below if you only want to run one command):

MsiExec /X {049F2E8F-D5EC-4133-87FA-8E94837D8D0C} /QN /NORESTART ALLUSERS=1
MsiExec /X {B148AB4B-C8FA-474B-B981-F2943C5B5BCD} /QN /NORESTART ALLUSERS=1
MsiExec /X {DB427EF6-F13E-4AA6-9D40-5D962394774F} /QN /NORESTART ALLUSERS=1
MsiExec /X {B2544A03-10D0-4E5E-BA69-0362FFC20D18} /QN /NORESTART ALLUSERS=1

Note that the GUID identifier for OGA application may vary from system to system, depending on version and language installed. Generally, it works for OGA v1.7.0102.0, OGA v1.7.0105.35.0 and OGA v1.7.0105.35.0 v2.0.48.0.

Tip: To determine which is the exact application ID for Office Genuine Advantage installed on your system, run registry Editor (RegEdit), and navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurentVersion\Uninstall

There are many registry sub-keys that resembles the product ID above. Go into each and everyone of the registry sub-branches to look for and locate DisplayName REG_SZ value data which matches or similar toOffice Genuine Advantage or OGA.

After uninstalling OGA properly, it’s wise to clean up and remove all trace of OGA from the system. Run the following commands to delete all registry entries and system files, if still present:

REG DELETE HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins\OGAAddin.Connect /f
REG DELETE HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins\OGAAddin.Connect /f
REG DELETE HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Powerpoint\Addins\OGAAddin.Connect /f
REG DELETE HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\OGAAddin.Connect /f
DEL %SystemDrive%\Windows\System32\OGAVerify.exe
DEL %SystemDrive%\Windows\System32\OGAEXEC.exe
DEL %SystemDrive%\Windows\System32\OGAAddin.dll
DEL %SystemDrive%\Windows\System32\OGACheckControl.dll

User who want an automated solution to remove Office Genuine Advantage can download the OGA Uninstaller, a batch script that automatically run all of above commands.

Download this batch file

Download Windows Vista SP2 / Server 2008 SP2

Microsoft finally released the final (RTM) bits of its second Service Pack for Vista/2008.

The client and server operating systems are based on the same kernel, and therefore use the same update package.

The SP2 update will be publicly available through Automatic Updates from 30th of June 2009.

But if you want, you can download and install it yourself:

At the moment, only 5 Languages are available: English, French, German, Japanese, or Spanish

Download: Vista SP2/Server 2008 SP2 32 bit
Download: Vista SP2/Server 2008 SP2 64 bit

Important Release Notes From Microsoft:

Prerequisites

If you have any beta versions of SP2 installed, they must be un-installed prior to installing

• Use the Control Panel applet “Programs and Features” and select “View installed updates” from the top left of the task pane, under Windows, look for KB94846

You must have a genuine copy of Windows Server 2008 with SP1 or Windows Vista with SP1 installed on the computer prior to installing SP2

• Windows Server 2008 released with the Service Pack 1 code included
• SP2 is the first post-release Service Pack for Windows Server 2008

Recommendations

If “vLite” was used to customize your Windows Vista installation, you may have removed required system components which prevent Service Pack 2 from installing. See KB 968279 for additional details before installing Service Pack 2.

Beta versions of Windows Server 2008 SP2/Windows Vista SP2 are time-limited software that will operate until June 1^st, 2010. If you installed any beta versions of Windows Server 2008 SP2/Windows Vista SP2 it is highly recommended that you uninstall them before June 1^st, 2010