Short for Windows Genuine Advantage, WGA is part of Microsoft’s efforts to show its customers the benefits to owning a legitimate copy of Microsoft Windows. Namely, a genuine version needs to be installed on the user’s machine before allowing that computer to download any updates from Microsoft.

Computer abbreviations, Operating system terms, Software piracy

Older versions of Microsoft Windows (e.g., Windows 95, 98, and NT 4.0) do not require any WGA for downloading and installing Windows updates.

  • How to update a Microsoft Windows computer.