From Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage blog, May 18, 2006:
I’m starting this blog because I would like to share some of the cool things our team is doing and because we want to hear from you. We want to know what you like and don’t like about WGA and our efforts to reduce piracy of Microsoft products while at the same time offering great benefits to users of genuine and licensed Microsoft software. I also want to know what you think we can do to make WGA better.
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BTW, I will enable comments to start with and look forward to a frank and honest exchange of ideas. Also, I won’t be offering any technical support through this blog but I am happy to point people to the numerous support resources we have.
Comment posted to that same entry, July 16, 2006:
[A]fter recieving a flag telling me my Windows XP Professional might not be genuine, I did the right thing and checked up with Microsft through the telephone support network.
After speaking with five different people 2 told me my Windows package was invalid and 3 told me it was genuine, even so they issued me with a new product key “HEY GUESS WHAT” this new product key has really screwed up my computer.
Since being a caring honest type of guy and registering my concerns I have had nothing but no end of trouble with me recently bought computer.
What has Microsft done about it?
Uttered their sympathies and concerns, had me sat at my computer for over 3.5 days listening to foreign engineer having to repeat everything as clarity of instruction was not perfect to say the least. Well four weeks on I still have to register my Windows with the registration team, mind you! somthing different happened today “I cannot register the new programme Microsoft sent me BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN REGISTERED TOO MANY TIMES or is this not a genuine copy sent direct to me from Microsoft.
Well I have had some success after 7 attempts I finally got through to the telephone registration team and after a bout of intense listening and a number of repeating the number sequence I finally got registered, but hey in this energy efficient world we live in I am not going to switch my computer off paying the electricity bill is less stressful than switching on my computer.
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I only want to switch on my computer and start work without having to re-register every time, JUST LIKE IT DID BEFORE MICROSOFT SENT FRIGHTENING POP UPS TELLING ME IT MAY NOT BE GENUINE.
I can’t wait to see the response.
Meanwhile, if you have a WGA horror story, please post it in the comments here.
Ed Bott 
Funny…I had reinstalled XP professional a few times on this computer in the last two years or so. I bought and used a retail copy, not an OEM copy. I had made no hardware changes to this computer.
The last time I did it a few months ago, I got a message saying that I had “reinstalled” Windows XP too many times on the same computer. I had to reactivate Windows by phone. I liked the old way much better. I am now wondering if this was WGA-connected. It certainly was an annoyance.
A friend recently had a bad sector on her hard drive, and she could only login with a “temporary profile”, since the ntuser.dat hadn’t been properly shut down. After hours of working on it, we eventually were able to do a system restore to a couple of days before, and apparently that did the trick, as she could then login normally. But, WGA reported that the copy wasn’t activated, which is strange since it is a SLP OEM version. I assumed it was a BIOS virus that had overwritten her SLP key, but we then did an “undo” of the system restore, but no such luck, but then system restored to a more recent day, and then validation error went away.
I guess it is okay, but strange, and certainly gave my friends a scare when the error told them they had an illegal copy of the software, since it had been pre-installed by IBM, and they weren’t given a recovery method to re-install.
Got the original XP retail CD on I believe, 10/27/2001, the release date.
I’ve installed it on 3 new home built machines. All 3 times required a call to MS with no problem, other than the 10 minute bother of trying to type 55 numbers first.(Active only on each new machine.)
I also have 2 other machines with OEM versions and have had no problem with hardware replacements, even with a Mobo replacement I fessed up to.
I’m still looking for the “other nagware” associated with WGA Brian Livingston referred to in his newsletter. he hasn’t responed and I haven’t seen any.
My experiences with XP are the same. I have 2 Dell Diimenson 8100’s and I have replaced the Hard drive on the original one at least 2 tmes XP too many tmes to mention. Calling Microsoft isn’t all that bad, whatever makes them happy! The thng is in the last 5 years I have a few extra versons that I purchased of Wndows XP………Thats all for now……take care…