13. The next step is to delete other WGA files returned in your search. Note: It's not absolutely essential for you to remove every last trace of WGA, especially when this can get you into trouble. For example, wgaapi.dll isn't part of Microsoft WGA, it's part of a wireless networking driver. Only delete things you know are part of WGA. Any file you find with "wganotify" in it is part of WGA and may be deleted.

On several of my computers I didn't find WGA installed, but I did find an installer for it that seemed poised to run the installation. Presumably that's because the computers were using the Automatic Updates setting that downloads -- but does not install -- updates without your permission. I haven't made a study of this, but you can delete these installers as well. They're usually located in a gobbledy-gook (hash of alphanumeric characters) folder. The best thing is just to delete the folder itself. You may find that the operating system blocks you from doing so. If so, you can either reset the file object permissions (assumes you have the NTFS file system and you're running with Simple File Sharing turned off) or you can boot into Safe Mode and try deleting them there. If you're not sure how to do these things, leave it be or get help from someone knowledgeable about these things. This installer is not going to cause problems if you follow the steps in the next section.

Prevent reccurrences

So long as Microsoft continues to make WGA optional, the following steps should help you avoid the reinstallation of the anti-piracy measure.

1. Change the Automatic Updates Control Panel setting to "Notify me but don't automatically download or install them." From now on, you will need to closely monitor every update that Microsoft wants to install on your computer.