You may be a victim of software counterfeiting – Easy Fix

You may be a victim of software counterfeiting“, “this copy of windows did not pass genuine windows validation”, “ask for genuine Microsoft software”, You will see these errors when you don’t have genuine Windows XP. Not only this error message, but your screen may get blank. You may not install some software. You will get too many problems.

This solution is for using not genuine Windows XP without any issues. If you want to Fix Windows 7 not a genuine error, read my earlier article about How to Fix This copy of Windows is not genuine error in Windows 7.

The solution to this problem is very easy. Before going to tell you about the solution, I strongly recommend you buy the latest version of Windows. Because Microsoft has stopped support for Windows XP. When you use the older OS, your PC may get hacked easily. And your PC will be infected by the virus very easily.

If you want to buy Latest Windows, buy only from the Microsoft Windows store only. Because if you get any problem in the future Microsoft will help you. If you buy a Windows DVD from any other online shop, you may be in trouble.

Why I am seeing this Error message?

When you update Windows, Microsoft will install Windows Genuine Advantage(WGA). It is an update created by Microsoft to validate your Windows license. See more details about WGA from Wikipedia.

You are seeing “you may be a victim of software counterfeiting” error message because knowingly or unknowingly you have installed a WGA update.

Now the solution is very simple, just remove WGA from your computer, you will not get an error message. Follow below simple steps to remove the WGA component from your computer.

Fix: you may be a victim of software counterfeiting error

You need to follow below 3 steps to remove the error and to stop the WGA update.

Total Time: 3 minutes

Step 1: Remove WgaLogon folder using Registry Editor
regedit in run windows

Go to Start -> Run or Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog. You will see the Run dialog.

Type Regedit and click Ok as shown in the first image. You will see the Registry Editor window shows that in the second screenshot.

1. Click on + symbol left to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. You will see the subfolders.
2. Click on + symbol left to Software.
3. Click on + symbol left to Microsoft.
4. Click on + symbol left to Windows NT.
5. Click on + symbol left to CurrentVersion.
6. Click on + symbol left to Winlogon.
7. Click on + symbol left to Notify.
8. Right-click on the WgaLogon folder and Click Delete.
9. Now restart the PC.

You don’t see “you may be a victim of software counterfeiting” error message.

Step 2: Remove any other WGA files

you may be a victim of software counterfeiting

For additional security, you can remove any other WGA files from the Windows/System32 folder and Windows/System32/dllcache folder. To remove those files,

Open C: drive -> Go to Windows -> Go to System32. 

Search for any WGA files. Those files may have a hidden attribute. So first you need to change folders and files view options.

1. Click Tools on the top menu.
2. Click Folder Options.
3. Go to View tab.
4. Check Show hidden files and folders option.
5.Click Apply and Click Ok.

Now you can see hidden files. Now you are C/Windows/System32 folder. You can see manually for WGA files or Click the Search for files or folders option on the left side shows that in the above screenshot.

Type Wga*.*  

Search for the results. Delete all the files. You may see Wgatray.exe, Wgalogon.dll, Wgasetup.exe. Delete every file. Even if you see any other file with WGA word, delete them.

Now follow the same step 2 procedure to delete Wga files from C/Windows/System32/dllcache folder.

Step 3: Stop Wga update

automatic updates xp

You have removed all WGA components. You are free from the error message. If you install updates, there is a chance that Microsoft will install a WGA update one more time and you will get an error message one more time.

To solve this problem you need to turn off updates. Or you need to set it manually to approve updates. To do that,

1. Go to the Control panel.
2. Go to Automatic Updates. You will see the below screen.

You can check “Turn off automatic updates” so that you will not get any updates and you will not get a WGA update.

You can check “Notify me but don’t automatically download or install them”. In this case, you will receive all Windows updates. You need to manually install them. When you see the WGA update, you should not install them.

Click Apply and Click Ok.

Supply:

  • software

Final Word

When you follow the above methods properly, you will not see any errors in the future. You can use your OS forever but without updates.

Remember, Always hackers attack older versions of OS and software on your computer to place malware and to hack your details. I always recommend you use the latest versions of OS and any software. Then only your computer will be free from viruses and your details will be safe. It is best to buy Genuine Windows OS from Microsoft Store.

I hope you like my tutorial about the Easy fix for the error you may be a victim of software counterfeiting. If you like it, do me a favor by sharing it with your friends. If you want to add any other point, You can add through the comment section. You can also follow whatvwant on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe whatvwant channel on YouTube for regular updates.

You may be a victim of software counterfeiting Easy Fix- FAQ

There is no notify folder under my Winlogon folder its just ” AutoLogonChecked and GPExtensions” please help me.

If you don’t see the folder skip that step and follow other steps.

Not valid for Win 7 Pro. But Am guessing its there somewhere.

I am at the Winlogon line and there are no wga logon folder only auto-logon checked & GP extensions

wgalogon will be under the notify folder. you may see the notify folder in the Winlogon folder.

19 thoughts on “You may be a victim of software counterfeiting – Easy Fix”

  1. I followed the steps you recommended , but I don’t find “WGALogon” option under “Notify”. Instead I have “igfxcui” option. What to do?
    Please help. Thank you , Mam.

    Reply
  2. Thank you Jinka,

    I have been trying to solve this problem for months. I have a genuine version of XP and this item started showing up quite a while ago. Every so often, I would do a search for solutions, but most only dealt with Windows 7 and above. When I found your solution, I tried it and it works. Thank you again.

    Paul

    Reply
  3. nice you have the right way to make this blog its nice thank you for helping me about my problem regarding a victim of counterfeiting

    Reply
  4. I did’t have an entry in the registry that matched wgalogin
    I didn’t have a folder in system32 that matched wga
    and I don’t have a dllcashe folder

    Reply

Leave a Comment