How to remove WGA Tool from UP 2.0.4?

hakab · Post by **hakab** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:59 pm

I don't need it.

Can you explain what to remove from what (which files, entries in appropriate files etc) and how to recreate whole .cab?

Ryan, which command do you use to create your RVMUpdatePackX.X.X.cab from all these files inside?

Thanks for any help!

hakab · Post by **hakab** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 8:09 am

no one knows

?

Kelsenellenelvian · Post by **Kelsenellenelvian** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 8:59 am

Why do you want to remove WGA?

hakab · Post by **hakab** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:09 pm

> Why do you want to remove WGA?

see above: "I don't need it." That's it.

ViVa · Post by **ViVa** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:19 pm

@hakbar, yeah, you would save about 550 kb on your ISO-disc, that is definately worth the trouble...

bry · Post by **bry** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 6:03 am

I'd like to know how to update wga if possible in between releases of wga. As it seems every few weeksa new wga is bought out as people keep hacking it .

Fencer128 · Post by **Fencer128** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 9:37 am

The best way to deal with the problem of having to remove WGA or update WGA frequently to circumvent it's correct operation is to purchase a legitimate copy of Windows XP.

Andy

Denney · Post by **Denney** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 9:42 am

Funny you should say that Fencer as I have to work with 200 Windows XP Professional Corporate computers and NONE of them pass WGA.

They all come back saying that their keys were never released by Microsoft. An official at Microsoft has told me to either circumvent WGA (not in those words ofcourse) or use my server (W2k3) to download the required updates....

Just goes to show they still have quite a few bugs to remove.

WGA has been nothing but a pain to me since day one. What the strangest thing is, is that all the computer used to verify using the BETA WGA!! Once they released it though, none of them work.

Fencer128 · Post by **Fencer128** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:34 am

@RaveRod

Hi,

That's interesting and worrying - surely if you have 200 PCs you should be able to negotitate a VLP deal? That would solve your activation worries for good (well, we've got 2000 machines here with WGA and we don't have a problem anyhow).

Cheers,

Andy

GK · Post by GK » Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:58 am

He has more of the rights not to have WGA on his computer then you have the right to hack windows files (SFC for example). An in America were innocent till proven guilty so let assume he has a legit copy and he does not want WGA on his computer regardless if it works on every computer but his. And if you think about it Ryan and others update packs are circumventing the whole point of WGA which does not alow illegal copies to get fully updated, and if you use Ryans pack why go to windowsupdate.com thats the only place were the WGA is used.

Fencer128 · Post by **Fencer128** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 11:26 am

GK wrote:He has more of the rights not to have WGA on his computer then you have the right to hack windows files (SFC for example). An in America were innocent till proven guilty so let assume he has a legit copy and he does not want WGA on his computer regardless if it works on every computer but his. And if you think about it Ryan and others update packs are circumventing the whole point of WGA which does not alow illegal copies to get fully updated, and if you use Ryans pack why go to windowsupdate.com thats the only place were the WGA is used.

This is somewhat true - it's just that these kind of questions get asked a lot here - and I've not seen any recently that didn't have the motive of using pirated software.

I don't think that Ryan's pack is "circumventing the whole point of WGA". The point of WGA is to curb mass piracy. The *only* tenuous link between people who pirate software and the Update pack is that both use files that can be sourced from the same website. windowsupdate.com isn't the "only place that WGA is used", so that arguement isn't accurate.

Cheers,

Andy

GK · Post by GK » Tue Mar 21, 2006 11:48 am

WGA was not made to curb piracy cause it does not stop you from downloading, installing, and or using an illegal copy for as long as you want cause it was to late for that it was made so that illegal copies cant get "fully" updated end of sentence. And im pretty sure Pirates don't care if they can't download Windows Defender (Beta 2), Microsoft Color Control Panel, Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer , cause they can't pass the validation they would care that when they go to windowsupdate.com
they cant download anything but like i said Update packs make WGA and windowsupdate.com useless.

Denney · Post by **Denney** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 12:10 pm

@Fencer: We do have a VLP deal. Some computers (around 20 or so) are personal computers for the users so they have their own personalized copies. It's a bit of a pain in the arse setup but it's company policy.

I've rung Microsoft and spoken to my contact about this and they have the keys in their system, it's just that WGA doesn't pick it up for some reason.

Edit: All of these computers activate (a real pain in the arse that one) properly, they just won't pass WGA.

Denney · Post by **Denney** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 12:14 pm

I have to agree with GK. WGA causes more hassles for legit users than it does for illegit users. Just take a look around the net. Most of the updates this WGA "protects" are available to download elsewhere.

A user with an illegal copy would obviously be able to find those updates somewhere else anyway.

hakab · Post by **hakab** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 4:12 pm

I don't understand why WGA Tool wasn't left as an addon instead of being intergrated in the pack. Why not leave the choice to the user whether he/she wants/need it or not.

And I have a legit copy, don't worry - WGA Tools just not needed with monthy packs coming out. And I don't like unnecessary clutter in IE add-ons (usually have nearly all add-ons disabled). This one can't be disabled now - I've heard that (not verified myself). So why leave enabled (and running) something I'll never use? That's why I want to remove it from the pack.

ViVa · Post by **ViVa** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 4:46 pm

Like I said, who cares about those 550kb?

hakab · Post by **hakab** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:28 pm

I've asked about WGA but my Q applies to any KBxxxxxx really: that is - what is the methodology of removing ~any~ unwanted KBxxxxxx from the pack? Could somebody write up a short tutorial on this, please?

iBoRDarU · Post by **iBoRDarU** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:41 pm

@hakab -> kb article: 892130

<i>Why don't you use a workaround (hacked WGA) for the time being if Microsoft is't helping enough?</i>

I could help out if you want, created for myself a hacked WGA cab file (got the same stupid problem). I could share it if you want.

Ok, I extracted the latest update pack from RyanVM and as well the latest WGA windows update pack (windowsxp-kb892130-enu-x86_7e1189ce89fb0c693cad6432a4c2f982dcea49a0.exe) to see which dlls are in use for WGA. Two files: legitcheckcontrol.dll and spmsg.dll. In other words in the extracted update pack the files should be: legitcheckcontrol.dl_ and spmsg.dl_. Found spmsg.dl_ in the root folder of the update pack, but not legitcheckcontrol.dl_. So @ RyanVM: LgtCkCtl.dl_ == legitcheckcontrol.dll? .... update .... Found the answer myself in the Entries.ini file --> LgtCkCtl.dll = 100,,,,,,,2,0,0,legitcheckcontrol.dll (line 198) and d1,LgtCkCtl.dll (line 59)

If so look in Entries.ini and delete all references to both mentioned dl_ files, save ini file, removes both dl_ files from the extracted update pack and re-cab the extracted update pack. Am I correct RyanVM?

@hakab
If my assumptions are correct than I could make a recabbed update pack for you. Let me know.

RunBoris · Post by **RunBoris** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:21 pm

I had a problem with integrating the WGA tool a while back as well. I'm sure with all the updates to the addons and such, that the problem is fixed; but I still remove WGA just incase. So, here's how I do it and it works fine (although it may not be the same method as others).

1) Extract the *.cab to a new folder; I use WinRAR (C:\RVMUpdatePackX.X.X we'll call it)
2) Remove whatever files you need to (WGA is LgtCkCtl.dl_ I believe)
3) Open "entries.ini" and remove any reference to the files you just deleted. Remember LgtCkCtl.dl_ will be referred to as LgtCkCtl.dll, *.sy_ as *.sys, etc.
4) Open a command prompt in C:\RVMUpdatePackX.X.X, or whatever you named the folder
5) Type this command--> cabarc -r -p -m LZX:19 n C:\RVMNoWGA.cab *.*
**if you just type cabarc, it will list all the options and what they mean.

Like I said, other people might do it a different way, but this is what I researched and tested myself a while back. Hope this helps!

EDIT: Apparently the post above me was edited while I was typing. I looked up "spmsg.dll" and here is what I found: "spmsg.dll is a library which is used by service packs to display messages". I'd say that should be left alone until someone can find out more on its function.

Post by **RyanVM** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:24 pm

spmsg.dll is entirely unrelated to WGA - it's a generic DLL for all hotfixes.

And lest you forget, posting hacked WGA DLLs is not allowed on this forum, so don't do it

iBoRDarU · Post by **iBoRDarU** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:24 pm

@RunBoris
Same thoughts, only you were a little bit faster than me.

@RyanVM
Thanks for replying so quickly. Good to know about spmsg.dll. Was wondering it myself too. And ehh regarding hacked WGA:

And lest you forget, posting hacked WGA DLLs is not allowed on this forum, so don't do it

I know it and I won't do it! I agree with your policy

Mavericks choice · Post by **Mavericks choice** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 7:00 am

Well way I see it ya choose an OS & accept there conditions upon purchasing & using their products ya must also abide by their rules.
We all hack the hell outta the product to get to our liking (Legally that is)
Everyone is in the same boat so there shouldn't be a problem.
We should all appreciate the hard work Ryans doing round here & testers to produce a very reliable update package at a very reasonable cost...FREE.

Cheers Guys

MC.

hakab · Post by **hakab** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 8:16 am

thanks for instructions, iBoRDarU & RunBoris.

BTW I don't have cabarc. Where can I get it?

Ryan, what command (and switches) do you use to create your RVMUpdatePackx.x.x.cab?

So you say editing entries.ini and deleting LgtCkCtl.dl_ should be enough, right? What about file called RVMUpPck.in_ (packed .inf)? Should it be left alone or also modified? Any other (packed) .ini and .inf files to edit?

Post by **RyanVM** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 10:55 am

I use jdoe's CAB Tool utility to build the final CAB file. You'll probably want to edit out the references to LegitCheckControl.dll in RVMUpPck.inf as well.

iBoRDarU · Post by **iBoRDarU** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 2:11 pm

@hakab

See JDoe's webpage: http://www3.sympatico.ca/lazimute/index.html#jdoe_tools or download straight away CAB Tool v1.8. CAB Tool can be accessed via the 'Send to' context menu.

TIP:
e.g. file.ini -> send to menu -> CAB Tool ==> file.in_ is created
e.g. folder -> send to menu -> CAB Tool ==> folder.cab is created (files inside the folder are not compressed so not for example file.in_) and vice versa.

Sorry, both links to compression bin don't exists anymore.
You can also use Compression Bin v1.2 Build 4238 to create compressed archives (file.**_). See http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=25442# or download Compression Bin v1.2.4238 (zip).

IMPORTANT: modifype.exe and makecab.exe MUST be in your path (preferably \windows\system32).

Ok, created a rar file with all the needed tools to create/extract cab and compressed files mentioned in this reply. See http://rapidshare.de/files/17840197/CAB_Utils.rar.html.

PS. If this is not allowed I shall delete the rapidshare file. Give a reply or a PM.