How to: Get Rid of Microsoft’s Annoying Updates (i.e. Windows Genuine Software Warning)

I recently got an update from windows that got a bit annoying. It started saying my office version was not a geniune version. What??? But i got it from a recognized Microsoft store and I even have the real deal plastic box with the shiny registration key label on it. And I’m also not in the country to deal with this issue. So what to do?

Such a pretty but ANNOYING logo

Annoying Updates
But beside the fact regarding my software being real or not, it was annoying that Microsoft, just because they want to make a a few extra bucks on top of their already $150 billion company, decided to give me an “important” software update to my Office 2007. After the update, that annoying star kept popping up messages saying that my software is not geniune. Blah! I don’t need this when I’m traveling abroad.

Genuine is Good
Of course it is very important to have licensed software. But this is ridiculous. It’s like something extra that you didn’t have to worry about dealing with in the first place. Like when you travel and the credit card company stops your “genuine” credit card when you try to pay for dinner, embarrassing you in front of everyone. You call in and they say “sorry sir, you didn’t tell us you would be using your card outside of the country.” ?!@?! So much for Visa / MC / Amex accepted all over the world. Such a hassle, just like this annoying Microsoft update.

Ok, the way i fixed it (easily)
So I searched on google, and apparently a lot of people have this issue with their Windows XP not being real. But anyways, there’s apparently no way to just remove it other than going through their tedious process. But I fixed it with a simple solution, I just used System Restore to the last date I remember the message not popping up. Luckily my system sets a restore point almost every night, so I didn’t lose that much information and voila! problem solved, no more annoying message; no more annoying star. Then when windows asked me to update again, I just selected not to update the office genuine part and no more problem! woohoo!

Prepare for the future
So what does this tell you? Well you may have not experienced this or maybe you have and you didn’t turn on system restore/turn off automatic updates. This is my suggestion to prepare for the future:

-Turn on system restore (you should have this on regardless for fixing a lot of other issues); You access it by going to [Start]->[Programs]->[Accessories]->[System Tools]->[System Restore]

-Turn off automatic updates; Access settings by [Right clicking My Computer]->[Choose Propertie]->[Automatic Updates tab]
I usually select: [Download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them] – this way I can choose which updates I don’t want (like the Office Genuine Advantage update, they made it sound nice, but it’s annoyinggggg!)

So there you have it. I think not updating that one thing for Office 2007 was ok, since I never update it and I use a lot of functions in office and don’t even feel a thing different without the updates. Hope this helped you solve some annoying issues with your Windows software.