How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications
This wikiHow teaches you how to remove the Windows validation notifications that you see when using an unregistered copy of Windows. The easiest (and most legal) way of doing this involves activating your copy of Windows from within...
Method 1 of 3:
Activating Windows
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 1
Make sure that you're connected to the Internet. In order to activate your copy of Windows, you'll need to be connected to the Internet so that Microsoft can validate your key. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 2
Open StartHow to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 3
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 4
Open SettingsHow to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 5
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 6
ClickHow to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 7
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 8
Click the Activation tab. You'll find it on the left side of the window. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 9
Click Change product key. It's a link in the middle of the Activation page. Doing so opens a new window. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 10
Enter your Windows 10 product key. Type the activation key that came with your copy of Windows 10 into the text box.- You can usually find the product key on the CD box if you bought a hard copy, or in a confirmation email from Microsoft if you bought a Windows 10 product key online.
- If you bought a key for Windows 7, 8, or 8.1, you can use that key to register Windows 10.[1]
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 11
Click Next. It's in the lower-right corner of the window. This will prompt Microsoft to attempt to verify your copy of Windows. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 12
Follow any on-screen instructions. If your copy of Windows is legitimate, you should receive a notification that it has been accepted, though you may need to enter additional information if prompted.
Method 2 of 3:
Removing the Activation Watermark from Windows 10
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 13
Make sure that you're on an administrator account. You'll need to be on an account that has administrator privileges in order to make changes to your computer's registry. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 14
Open StartHow to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 15
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 16
Type in regedit. This will search your computer for the Registry Editor command. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 17
Click regedit. It's a teal collection of blocks at the top of the Start window. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 18
Click Yes when prompted. Doing so will open the Registry Editor window. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 19
Go to the "Activation" key. To do so:- Expand the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE folder by double-clicking it.
- Expand SOFTWARE
- Scroll down and expand Microsoft
- Scroll down and expand Windows NT
- Expand CurrentVersion
- Expand Software Protection Platform
- Click Activation
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 20
Right-click Manual. It's a blue-and-white icon on the right side of the window. A drop-down menu will appear.- If your mouse doesn't have a right-click button, click the right side of the mouse, or use two fingers to click the mouse.
- If your computer uses a trackpad instead of a mouse, use two fingers to tap the trackpad or press the bottom-right side of the trackpad.
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 21
Click Modify. It's at the top of the drop-down menu. A window will appear. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 22
Change the value data. In the "Value data" text box, replace the "0" with a "1", then click OK.- You may be prompted to confirm this choice. If so, click Yes or OK before proceeding.
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 23
Right-click NotificationDisabled. This item is also on the right side of the page. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 24
Click Modify. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 25
Change the value data to 1. This will prevent the activation notification from appearing on your desktop. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 26
Restart your computer. Click StartHow to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 27
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 28
- Repeat this process if the notification reappears. While removing the watermark notification will work temporarily, you may need to disable it again in the future.
Method 3 of 3:
Disabling Genuine Advantage in Windows 7
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 29
Open StartHow to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 30
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 31
Click the search bar. It's at the bottom of the Start window. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 32
Type in task manager. This will search your computer for the Task Manager application. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 33
Click Task Manager. It's at the top of the Start window. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 34
Open the Run window. Press ⊞ Win+R at the same time to do so.- If this doesn't work, re-open Start, type in run, and click Run.
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 35
Type in system32. System32 is a folder that contains many of your computer's sensitive files. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 36
Click OK. It's at the bottom of the Run window. This will open the system32 folder. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 37
Enable viewing for hidden files and file extensions. To do so:- Click the View tab.
- Check the "Hidden items" box.
- Check the "File name extensions" box.
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 38
Find the "WgaLogon.dll" file. The easiest way to do this is by typing wga into the search bar that's in the upper-right side of the window and then waiting for the "WgaLogon.dll" file to appear. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 39
Rename the "WgaLogon.dll" file. Right-click the file, click Rename, and type .bak at the end of the file name and extension, then press ↵ Enter.- The file should now read "WgaLogon.dll.bak" instead.
- You may be prompted to confirm this choice. If so, click Yes or OK.
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 40
Create an empty copy of the "WgaLogon.dll" file. To do so:- Right click on a blank space in the system32 window.
- Select New
- Click Text Document
- Type in WgaLogon as the file's name.
- Replace the .txt with .dll
- Press ↵ Enter, then click Yes if prompted.
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 41
Find the "WgaTray.exe" file in both system32 and Task Manager. Since you'll need to delete both entries within 5 seconds of each other, you'll want to find them now. To do so:- system32 - You should see "WgaTray.exe" in the window if "wga" is still typed into the search bar.
- Task Manager - Click the Processes tab, scroll down until you find the "WgaTray.exe" option, and click it.
-
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 42
Delete both "WgaTray.exe" files. Select the system32 "WgaTray.exe" file and press the Del key, then switch to Task Manager and click End process or End task in the lower-right corner of the window. -
How to Remove Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Picture 43
Restart your computer when finished. Once your computer finishes rebooting, your Genuine Advantage notifications should be gone.- You may have to repeat this process at some point, since Genuine Advantage notifications often return with critical updates.
3.5 ★ | 2 Vote
You should read it
- How to Delete a Locked File
- How to Change File Properties
- How to add 'Open command window here as administrator' to the right-click menu on Windows 10
- How to add 'Open PowerShell window here as administrator' to the right-click menu on Windows 10
- How to Find a File's Path on Windows
- How to Make an Exe File
- Some operations with the MS Word window
- Please download more than 90 beautiful windows wallpapers for your computer
- How to Convert WMV to MP4
- How to Minimize All Open Windows Without Having a Windows Button
- How to Transform Mac Into Windows PC
- How to Delete Zip Files on PC or Mac