I may be away from home, but Microsoft never sleeps, and since I bumped into some new Windows 7 updates after powering up my laptop, I decided to investigate… and the results may not be encouraging for those who are used to update their operating system blindfolded. Why? Oh, well, even if you’re not using a pirated Windows 7, you should be careful with one of the latest updates labeled as “important” by the Redmond giant, namely KB971033.
If you avoid reading update descriptions, you should read this: “This update for Windows Activation Technologies helps detect validation errors and activation exploits. This update also detects any tampering attempts made to important Windows 7 system files. Be aware that some counterfeit copies of Windows include malware.
When this update is installed, it performs a validation process for the copy of Windows that is running on your computer. However, this validation process does not affect the functionality of Windows. The update process exits silently if it detects no validation errors, activation exploits, or tampered files.”
While I have nothing against the validation process itself, I am thinking about users who patched their Windows 7 to use custom interface themes. Obviously, this update will try to restore those “tampered files,” considering that the operating system was hacked. This one doesn’t sound well at all, so I think I’ll pass. After all, I know that my Windows 7 is genuine, since I didn’t pay 5 bucks for it, and as long as you have no doubts about the authenticity of your OS, I strongly advise you to avoid the KB971033 update. Sure, it won’t hurt systems using genuine Windows 7 without any special patch like the one I mentioned above, but it’s not really needed, either!
If you have any thoughts regarding this update, please go ahead and drop your comments below. Some people are even afraid of being watched by Microsoft and others with the help of this update… and I am sure there are also other stories I didn’t hear yet, so don’t be shy and drop those comments right here, will you? 
While I have nothing against the validation process itself, I am thinking about users who patched their Windows 7 to use custom interface themes. Obviously, this update will try to restore those “tampered files,” considering that the operating system was hacked. This one doesn’t sound well at all, so I think I’ll pass. After all, I know that my Windows 7 is genuine, since I didn’t pay 5 bucks for it, and as long as you have no doubts about the authenticity of your OS, I strongly advise you to avoid the KB971033 update. Sure, it won’t hurt systems using genuine Windows 7 without any special patch like the one I mentioned above, but it’s not really needed, either!
+1
Hi everyone If you are running a pirated copy of Win, 7 DO NOT INSTALL THESE UPDATES! :
KB971033 Windows Activation Technologies
KB949810 Office Genuine Advantage Notifications application
KB2524375 Fraudulent Digital Certificates Checker
KB892130 Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA)
KB976932 Win7 Service pack 1 includes KB971033
KB976902 About the same as KB971033
Trust me they’re no good!
I suggest you to buy OS. Always ! Just imagine something goes wrong and you’ll lose your data. It’s a nightmare.
Thanx John – for the list !!
I have only one concern in Jhon’s list:
KB2524375 Fraudulent Digital Certificates Checker
This is the info for the update, which sounds pretty logical to me.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/2524375.mspx
Someone cares to elaborate?
Cheers,
I just installed Win7 SP1 fresh on my machine.
How does one REMOVE these if they were inbuilt as part of SP1? There’s gotta be a way to remove it?
I guess the only way to remove them would be to mess with the Windows 7 setup image – using BartPE or something similar. Try this and see if it helps – http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744264(WS.10).aspx