WGA Notifications, which was updated last month, cannot be permanently removed from the Windows Update list as a potential download, said David Lazar, director of Microsoft's Genuine Windows program, in an e-mail interview. That's true, even if Automatic Updates (AU) is set to the most restrictive posture of checking for updates but letting the user choose whether to download and install them -- and the Hide update option is selected.

"When there is a new release, such as there was Feb. 21, the update will be offered," said Lazar. "If you refuse the installation, and tell AU not to notify again, it will not be offered again until the next new release, generally 90-120 days. This is a standard approach with AU, not a new policy."

Some users must have missed the memo; several have posted messages on official Microsoft newsgroups commenting on the reappearance of WGA Notifications.

WGA Notifications flags counterfeit copies and displays on-screen messages to that effect at log-on and while the system is running. In Windows XP, it's a separate download -- another piece actually conducts the validation process -- but in Vista, it's baked into that operating system's Software Protection Platform and cannot be declined.

Notifications specifically, and the WGA process in general, has drawn fire from users and analysts for a variety of reasons, including a fear that the technology may incorrectly identify a legitimate copy of Windows as bogus. Sometimes, through no fault of the user, the wrong product activation key can be used to unlock a legitimate copy of Windows XP.