Office Genuine Advantage
Encyclopedia
Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) was a program by Microsoft
similar to Windows Genuine Advantage
(WGA) which required users of the Microsoft Office
software to validate their copy of Microsoft Office
to download non-critical updates and other downloads such as addons, samples etc.
This is different from Product activation
in that activation is required to use the software and is enforced at the software level, whereas validation permits users to download files and updates from the Microsoft web site and is Internet-based. Validation rejects those product keys that have either been leaked widely or those which have been key-generated to pass through activation but not validation. Office Genuine Advantage covers Office XP, Office 2003, Office 2007 and the 2010 Microsoft Office System.
As of January 30, 2007, users of Office Update are required to validate the legitimacy of their Office software in order to download files and updates (but you can bypass it somehow).
On April 15, 2008, Microsoft released Office Genuine Advantage Notifications to Windows Server Update Services
as KB949810. The package is shown as "Needed" for client computers with Microsoft Office
XP, 2003, 2007 or 2010 installed and is not removable after installation (but you can remove it by searching for a remover online). The notifications can be avoided by renaming/deleting three (or only two) files (OGAAddin.dll, OGACheckControl.dll and OGAEXEC.exe) in the directory C:\WINDOWS\system32. The file OGAAddin.dll can be left, as it alone doesn't cause the notifications.
It can also be uninstalled from either the command prompt
or run command
using the command: msiexec /X{B2544A03-10D0-4E5E-BA69-0362FFC20D18}
In a post on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010, Ed Bott's Microsoft report noted that OGA had been retired by Microsoft, as of Dec. 17, 2010.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
similar to Windows Genuine Advantage
Windows Genuine Advantage
Windows Genuine Advantage is an anti-piracy system created by Microsoft that enforces online validation of the licensing of several recent Microsoft Windows operating systems when accessing several services, such as Windows Update, and downloading Windows components from the Microsoft Download...
(WGA) which required users of the Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
software to validate their copy of Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
to download non-critical updates and other downloads such as addons, samples etc.
This is different from Product activation
Product activation
Product activation is a license validation procedure required by some proprietary computer software programs. In one form, product activation refers to a method invented by Ric Richardson and patented by Uniloc where a software application hashes hardware serial numbers and an ID number specific...
in that activation is required to use the software and is enforced at the software level, whereas validation permits users to download files and updates from the Microsoft web site and is Internet-based. Validation rejects those product keys that have either been leaked widely or those which have been key-generated to pass through activation but not validation. Office Genuine Advantage covers Office XP, Office 2003, Office 2007 and the 2010 Microsoft Office System.
As of January 30, 2007, users of Office Update are required to validate the legitimacy of their Office software in order to download files and updates (but you can bypass it somehow).
On April 15, 2008, Microsoft released Office Genuine Advantage Notifications to Windows Server Update Services
Windows Server Update Services
- External links :* * * – contains many detailed documents on WSUS operation, known issues, and troubleshooting* - German WSUS-Community * - Control installation of WSUS updates from command line...
as KB949810. The package is shown as "Needed" for client computers with Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
XP, 2003, 2007 or 2010 installed and is not removable after installation (but you can remove it by searching for a remover online). The notifications can be avoided by renaming/deleting three (or only two) files (OGAAddin.dll, OGACheckControl.dll and OGAEXEC.exe) in the directory C:\WINDOWS\system32. The file OGAAddin.dll can be left, as it alone doesn't cause the notifications.
It can also be uninstalled from either the command prompt
Command Prompt
Command Prompt is the Microsoft-supplied command-line interpreter on OS/2, Windows CE and on Windows NT-based operating systems...
or run command
Run command
On the Microsoft Windows operating system, the Run command is used to directly open an application or document whose path is known. It functions more or less like a single-line command line interface....
using the command: msiexec /X{B2544A03-10D0-4E5E-BA69-0362FFC20D18}
In a post on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010, Ed Bott's Microsoft report noted that OGA had been retired by Microsoft, as of Dec. 17, 2010.