Office Genuine Advantage

For the term "Other Government Agency", see OGA.

Office Genuine Advantage

the title bar of Microsoft Word 2010 indicates that product activation has failed
Developer(s)	Microsoft
Stable release	2.0.48.0 / 3rd Aug, 2009
Operating system	Microsoft Windows
Platform	Office XP, Office 2003, Office 2007 and Office 2010
Type	Software validation
License	Proprietary
Website	www.microsoft.com/genuine/

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).^[1]

On April 15, 2008, Microsoft released Office Genuine Advantage Notifications to Windows Server Update Services as KB949810.^[2] 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).^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[3]

References

1. ^ PC World - Business Center: If You Dislike Microsoft's Windows Antipiracy Checks, Look Out
2. ^ Questions Regarding KB949810
3. ^ Ed Bott's Microsoft Report @ ZDnet

External links

• Genuine Microsoft Software FAQ
• Microsoft Bringing 'Genuine Advantage' Authentication to Office
• Description of Microsoft Office 2007 "reduced functionality mode"