Microsoft Office Genuine Advantage (OGA)

Microsoft moved to the next stage of anti-piracy in its release of the Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) update. It was released last week as an Important update and checks Office XP, Office 2003 and Office 2007 installations.

"Office Genuine Advantage Notifications (KB949810) Download size: 712 KB Update type: Important Office Genuine Advantage Notifications is part of Microsoft’s effort to reduce software piracy. Installing this software will help confirm that the copy of Office install on this computer is genuine and properly licensed. If the copy of Office installed on the computer is not genuine, the software will provide periodic reminders to help you take appropriate action and protect yourself from security threats posed by counterfeit software."

Regardless of whether you have Automatic Updates set to automatically download and install, it is necessary to approve the license agreement before the OGA installation will continue. Note that OGA cannot be removed after installation nor can the messages be stopped if your Office installation fails the anti-piracy test.

Accept the license terms and click Finish to install

In the event you receive a "This copy of Microsoft Office is not genuine" message after installing OGA, please visit Genuine Microsoft Software and click on Validate Office, then restart your computer.

Be careful to avoid the pitfalls described in the predictions described by Tom Kelchner of Sunbelt Software.

"-- A news story in the next few weeks about somebody’s discovery of a mechanism to defeat or sidestep OGA security.

-- The availability of patches, or entire reverse engineered Windows operating systems and Office versions that suppress or evade the OGA nag screens. The pirated apps will probably attempt to evade updates. The net result will be that they also will avoid patches for newly discovered vulnerabilities.

-- Trojanized Windows Office versions that are distributed as apps that evade the Windows Genuine Advantage mechanisms.

-- Malicious spam advertising the above.

-- Yet more bot-riddled machines in China."

Only get Microsoft updates from Microsoft Update or Automatic Update, not third parties. Remember, Microsoft updates are never sent via e-mail nor are they advertised or available on non-Microsoft websites.

For additional information on OGA Notifications, please visit Genuine Office Support.

References:

• Microsoft Genuine: Genuine Microsoft Software
• Microsoft KB 949810: Description of the Office Genuine Advantage Notifications application
• Press Pass: Safety First: Beefing Up Anti-Piracy Features in Microsoft Office
  
  
  • "As the piracy trade becomes more sophisticated, the Microsoft Office Genuine Advantage program adopts an end-to-end approach to protect Office customers from the risks of counterfeit software."

• Security Fix: Microsoft Expands Office Anti-Piracy Program
• Sunbelt Blog: Microsoft rolls out next phase of Office Genuine Advantage

Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse, How-to, security, update, Office

Remember - "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
May the wind sing to you and the sun rise in your heart...

Power IT Down Day!

Join Microsoft, Citrix, Intel and HP to support Power IT Down Day on August 27. As explained in the Microsoft FutureFed blog:

"According to the Environment Protection Agency, IT accounts for 2% of all power consumption in the nation, and the government is the largest energy consumer in the country spending $293 million annually just to power its PCs. As federal agencies work to reduce energy consumption for cost-savings and environmental benefits, Power IT Down Day focuses on the little things that we as individuals can do to support energy efficiency. To join the cause, you just have to pledge to turn your computers, printers, monitors and other IT devices off at the end of the day on August 27. When just one person leaves this type of equipment turned on overnight, he or she wastes approximately 13 kilowatt hours. Last year, 2,800 people participated, saving more than 37,000 kilowatt hours in one night."

Sign up here: Power IT Down Day August 27th


The confirmation e-mail will include that your commitment to save energy will be added to the total savings calculation. A portion of the cost savings will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project.



Remember - "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
May the wind sing to you and the sun rise in your heart...

Windows Live Movie Maker: “It’s So Easy”

A family member has a special birthday coming up and I had thought to create a collage of pictures from old photograph albums created prior to the digital era. Then, last week, I followed a Twitter link announcing the release from Beta of the new Windows Live Movie Maker. After I read about the new Windows Live Movie Maker and watched the brief video “Introduction & Walk-through”, I thought it might be fun to give it a try.

Please understand that I have tried programs like this before, only to give up because they did not work as described or were much too complicated for my purposes. But the Windows Live Movie Maker sounded simple enough and I soon discovered how simple it is to use. In fact, the only time-consuming part of the project was selecting the photographs to include in the movie. (I don’t think that I should mention the time spent with at least a half-dozen family albums spread around me as I relived the memories invoked by all those pictures.) After scanning the pictures with my Kodak EASYSHARE Printer, I used Windows Live Photo Gallery to easily adjust and crop the the pictures.

Since the special birthday has not arrived yet, I cannot share that movie with you. Instead, allow me to illustrate how easy it is to create a simple project – so easy that I know you can do it too!

After installing Windows Live Movie Maker, you can find it under All Programs > Windows Live. Click to launch the program and you will see the window shown to the right for your new movie. (Note the Windows 7 style ribbon.)

Now all you need to do is navigate to where your stored images (or videos) are stored on your computer. Select the images you want to include in the movie and drag them to the Movie Maker window.

Windows Live Movie Maker will format the images for your movie.

Want to add some music to accompany the show? Merely click “Add music” on the ribbon and navigate to the file where your music is stored. One more step and the project is done. Click on “AutoMovie” and respond to the prompt:

Add a Title, caption images as desired and complete the credits. The options are also available as easy picks from the ribbon: and that is all there is to it! You have a finished product: "It's So Easy".

For simple instructions on how to publish your finished product to YouTube as well as other helpful information, check out the videos the Windows Live Team created:

• Getting started with Windows Live Movie Maker
• Using AutoMovie
• Easily create beautiful videos using AutoMovie
• Three ways to share your video creation (YouTube, burn to DVD, save as HD)
• Add photos and videos to Movie Maker to get started
• Add transitions or visual effects
• Edit video clips to include the best footage in your movie
• Add and edit music
• Why we like the storyboard
• Add a title, captions and credits
• Publish to YouTube

References:

• Download Link: http://download.live.com/
  
• The new Windows Live Movie Maker
• Hands on with Windows Live Movie Maker
• Podcast: Windows Live Movie Maker

Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse, challenge-movie, Movie Maker, Picture Gallery, family, How-to, Story

Remember - "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
May the wind sing to you and the sun rise in your heart...