Remove Microsoft's WGA check from MSI setups
When installing Windows Defender, the MSI setup requires a WGA check from Microsoft. Removing this has the advantage that you do not have to transfer any data to Microsoft and thus protect your privacy.
How to remove the WGA check from the MSI setup file
The MSI file used for installation is a script that calls the setup actions. To prevent the WGA check, change the content of this script so that the relevant calls do not take place. To edit an MSI file you need a special editor - for example Orca. Microsoft offers it as part of a developer kit for free. You can download it here. The setup loads all necessary files from the Internet. Then restart the PC.
- Open "C: \\ Program Files \\ Microsoft Platform SDK \\ Bin" in Windows Explorer. Double click on "Orca.msi" and follow the further instructions.
- Now start Orca via the start menu and open the desired MSI file, for example "WindowsDefender.msi".
- Click "CustomAction" under "Tables" on the left.
- After right-clicking on the "CHECK_WGA" line, select the "Drop Row" context command and confirm with "OK".
- On the left under "Tables" click on the entry "Dialog". Then look for the line on the right with "CheckWGA" and double-click on the "Attributes" column. Change the value from "2" to "0".
- Then save the modified MSI file. If you now run the setup, the annoying WGA check from Microsoft is left out.
Turning off Windows error reporting can also be useful. Instructions can be found here.