Windows XP

How do I disable Windows Genuine Advantage?

Problem: In 2005 Microsoft introduced Windows Genuine Advantage validation. It checks to make sure you have a legit copy of XP before letting you download patches. This seems kind of stupid to me. I want other people to have the latest patches regardless of whether their Windows is paid for or not because that way they'll be less likely to catch something that could infect my machine or interfere with my use of the internet.

Solution: So, here's how you get around it. Internet Explorer uses an add-on to run the validation tool. All you have to do is disable the add-on and you get around the validation and can use the Windows Update site like normal. From IE go to the menu Tools > Manage Add-ons, find Windows Genuine Validation listed there, and select Disable. There you go...now it won't check and you can grab all your updates without hassle.