I love the set-up for evaluation but the problem with the enterprise edition is that it has already been hacked so anyone cn have free Vista forever.

Where can we get the download of the trial?

Decide either to pony up the cash for ultimate or just spend 3 hours reinstalling the thing??

> Where can we get the download of the trial?

The only trial available right now is for RC1. I presume MS will have a download site for the Vista trial at some point.

In the meantime, I recommend searching your favorite bittorrent tracker sites for the Vista final DVD. I don't see anything wrong with this, since you'll be doing a legitimate trial exactly as Microsoft intended (and is supported within Vista itself).

> Decide either to pony up the cash for ultimate or just spend 3 hours reinstalling the thing??

I don't know if reinstalling will reset the counters. Somehow I doubt it, that seems like an obvious hole. And it wouldn't take 3 hours to reinstall Vista in any case.. less than an hour, tops.

Does the Vista trial need to connect to MS servers at any point? Because with a tool like DBAN I don't see how it could figure out if it was a reinstall or not, unless you needed some sort of psuedo-activation just even use the OS.

The Family Pack would be a sure thing for me, but Vista Home Premium doesn't support Remote Desktop, and I can't think of any of the computers I have at home that I wouldn't want to Remote Desktop into from my laptop.

Havent heard Microsoft say this is officially supported, maybe someone just plain forgot to remove it in RTM.

120 days is a pretty long time, computer enthusiasts rarerly have a system installed for that long so if you can handle the bother of reinstalling it after four months you could run Vista for free forever.

If this was really intended I wonder what Microsoft plans to offer to those that actually buy it, like offering extras for those that activate it with a proper key.

One question about the OEM license though,
If I install it one pc, uninstall it later and install it on an other pc, will it continue to work ?
So, can you use an OEM-license (not simultaneously) on different PC's ?

NO, that is the whole point with OEM, it's tied to one machine (actually motherboard).

However, I know people that switched motherboard and called MS when activating and told them the motherboard broke and they were allowed to activate, so I guess it depends on how devious you are ;)

Well, that depends on another important factor: Updates. Does the "trial" allow for full updates through the Windows Update feature, that'll have security fixes, enhancements, etc? Because with any Windows version you can find a way to get it "Free forever", but at what expense? Mostly they don't have access to the updates. You could give me a free Windows XP SP1, but I wouldn't use it. likewise you could probably use a "trial" Vista, but would it really be worth it after a certain point in time?

Completely OT, but when did you change your title from ".Net and Human Factors" to "Programming and Human Factors"

I finally found a link to the official word on the Windows Family Discount.

http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2007/01/17/multiple-announcments-today.aspx

* Buy a retail copy of Windows Vista Ultimate (full or upgrade version)
* Between 30 January – 30 June, order up to two copies of Windows Vista Home Premium online
* Pay only $49.99 for each copy of Windows Vista Home Premium
* Valid in North America (US and Canada)
* On 30 January, go here for details http://www.windowsvista.com/FamilyOffer

> Because with any Windows version you can find a way to get it "Free forever", but at what expense?

First of all, even pirated XP clients get critical updates. And obviously Vista, during the eval period, gets all available updates.

Unlike Windows XP, WGA (now WSPP) is built into Vista from day one. And the consequences of remaining "non-geniune" are far more dire than in XP. Vista shifts to "you can't do anything but open a web browser to buy a valid license" mode if it remains unvalidated long enough.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=148

--
Reduced functionality mode in Windows Vista will allow the user to use the browser after the reduced functionality mode has begun. Reduced functionality mode can occur as a result of failed product activation or of that copy being identified as counterfeit or non-genuine.

By choosing "Access your computer with reduced functionality," the default Web browser will be started and the user will be presented with an option to purchase a new product key. There is no start menu, no desktop icons, and the desktop background is changed to black. The Web browser will fully function and Internet connectivity will not be blocked. After one hour, the system will log the user out without warning. It will not shut down the machine, and the user can log back in. Note: This is different from the Windows XP RFM experience, which limits screen resolution, colors, sounds and other features.
---

Nice to see some of the final prices. Now I just have to decide if that price + the $689 to upgrade hardware/software that will not work under Vista is worth the few worthwhile items that I don't already have.

Why are all the discounts always only for the US and Canada ? I have never seen a single discount from MS in Sweden where I live. Sure, if you buy a computer with XP a month before release you get Vista for free but that's it.

We want these discounts as well :(

>"Why are all the discounts always only for the US and Canada ? I have never seen a single discount from MS in Sweden where I live. Sure, if you buy a computer with XP a month before release you get Vista for free but that's it.

We want these discounts as well :("

Competition issues. Many nations put restrictions on the promotions that foreign companies can do to help local businesses stay competitive.

There are rules as to how much "value" you can give away free with your product in many places, as well as rules about how much money could be won in a sweepstakes.

There are no such laws here, maybe in North Korea.

This is a matter of a US company still only catering to their home market and letting the rest of the world pay for it.

As far as I understand it you can't even buy a Vista license online from outside the US, one of the most talked about features with the Vista launch.

PL, Microsoft gives discounted software away like their life depended on it. Does any of this software make it to the US market? No. Please don't say that no other country sees discounts because the fact is that the US does not see the discount that other countries see. Come on, Microsoft is building cheaper machines to only sell overseas. Where is this courtesy for poor families in the US? No discounts in other countries, GIVE ME A BREAK.

As a gamer XP and Vista is the way to go for me at my home computer. However until performance gets better in games I'll wait. If Microsoft or NVIDIA is to blame for these poor results I don't know.

http://techgage.com/article/windows_vista_gaming_performance_reports

It's all video drivers. They're still immature, which is very annoying. I expect both companies to release new drivers on launch day, though.

The only other thing that might affect background performance is that indexing, Windows Defender, and superfetch are now on by default in the background. These services are "in the box" for Vista.

> If Microsoft or NVIDIA is to blame for these poor results I don't know.

regarding the game performance, It's likely a driver issue, which would put the blame on nvidia, and not microsoft. As the drivers get better, the performance will improve.

Additionally, in the report which you cited, an nvidia graphics card was tested. Other tests tend to show that ati's drivers work better:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01/17/gameplay-only-gets-worse-with-vista/

(both companies drivers have a lot of room for improvement).

So, if you trial Vista and decide not to buy it, does Vista politely roll your system back to its previous state? If so, is it an "image"-based rollback, meaning you lose everything you've done since the Vista install, or might it actually allow you to keep things like new documents or bookmarks?

>> So, if you trial Vista and decide not to buy it, does Vista politely roll your system back to its previous state? <<

I doubt it - I'm sure Microsoft's thinking in this regard is: Who would ever want to rollback to a pre-Vista system? Not gonna happen, so we don't need to code for it.

I do find this quite extraordinary, perhaps a new attack vector? However, it's certainly useful for me as I often will have systems up for a few months and then rebuild. Saves me the trouble of putting in an MSDN or other key.

xp2400+ 1gb 80GB -> RC1+ installs in 20 mins

Its not all 'video drivers'. Vista is bloatware, it requires a bare minimum of about 300MB free ram just to get you to the desktop. This doesnt include aero or any of the security crap that comes with it. Add all of that and you are at about 500MB+ used. This is before launching any of your own apps. Run a few new apps that are dx10 enhanced and you need a bare minimum of 2GB of ram to function.

Fist off i do not see anything wrong with the system req. for vista. Systems are cheap and why spend millions of dollars on making a system for old hardware. I have 2 gigs of ram and a dual core cpu and it runs great.. Also i dont remember exactly how i did it but when your evalution runs out and all they give you is a webpage to buy the product simply type c: in your address bar and you get your c drive. then in the address bar type explorer. Your desktop should appear in a few seconds...

Re: Vista is bloatware: come on, this has been covered before, even on this blog - Vista aggressively caches data, including stuff it suspects is likely to be needed in the near future (based on past usage). Vista does NOT require 500MB of memory to idle!

To learn how memory managers work, get a copy of Windows Internals, 4th Ed.

"There is no start menu, no desktop icons, and the desktop background is changed to black. The Web browser will fully function and Internet connectivity will not be blocked."

True, but you can still access your desktop and files by typing C:/Windows.....etc in the internet explorer address bar.

Has anyone figured out how many times one can re-install Vista *after* activation??

Thank you, Tom

Does anyone know if this also works for technet copies?

if you change date for 2099 year and then write a command you'll be able to use system without activating it before 2099 :)

Somewhere on the nets there is even a way to freeze that clock so it never times out. I personally would not do it.

I am waiting for dell to ship out my free upgrade to Vista Home Premium but annot be bothered to wait as i want it now :) I have through MS Direct Access, a Vista Business Edition DVD. Question is could i install using this disc and not enter a key using the trail mode and when my pack comes through from Dell enter that key and continue working?

Many thanks
Bob

Bob, the answer is yes.

you can install any version of Vista (in 30/120 day eval mode) from any Vista DVD. Just leave the key blank. Then when you get the key, enter it via Control Panel | System and Maintenance | System -- there's a link at the bottom for "Change Product Key".

The only thing you have to be careful about is installing the correct edition of Vista.

Many thanks for your quick reply Jeff, i will double check on available drivers then take the plunge! :)

Cheers

I type in smlgr -rearm, get the message- "ERROR: 0XC004F025 Access Denied: the requested action requires elevated priviledges". I look in accounts and I am listed as Administrator. What am I doing wrong Jeff? Thanks in advance. James

You have to right click on command prompt and "open as administrator"

if u have 25 days left and rearm will u have 55 days or will it go back to 30 days?

if u have 25 days left and rearm will u have 55 days or will it go back to 30 days?

It goes back to 30 days.

What would happen if you install Vista and then create a backup using TrueImage10.0. , then restore this backup in another PC. Will this work?

Another thing for those who are looking for remote assistance. I downloaded a free aplication from Logmein.com . Download the free remote desktop and control as many pc's as you wish for free.

I was just wondering how to find how much longer i have on my license?

OK,

I got the script to run sucessfully. BUT when doing the slmgr.vbs -rearm I eventually get a message "command not recognized" what gives........ any help? Thanks

When i use :slmgr -rearm" i get the following error message:
"Error0xC004F025 Access Denied: the requested action requires elevated privileges."

I have logged in with the administrator account.

Help me out.

True Image 10.0 doesn't reset the days. For some reason it keeps counting down. I tried it with 20 days remaining. After the restore image process was done, it still said 20 days remaining. Everything else restored to it original state. ie. programs etc..

By choosing "Access you computer with reduced functionality" an IE window will apear. Then I type "C:" in the address bar and I get to "My Computer" and then I use search on any of the folders or drives and I get the whole desktop and every other program back. Is it intended? I mean what kind of reduced functionality is that?

To rearm Vista, follow the following steps:

1. Click on the Start button, and type "Command Prompt"
2. Right-click on "Command Prompt", and select "Run as administrator"
3. Click on "Continue" when the prompt appears.
4. Type "slmgr -rearm".
5. Wait for a few seconds. Eventually, a message will appear saying it was successful, and asking you to reboot your computer.

Hope this helps!

Hi, I just came across your posting.

"I set mine up to run monthly for 3 months rather than setting up 3 individual tasks as Ed suggests."
Please share your settings.

Thank you, Regards.

i just bought my son a laptop it came with windows vista free trial now the trial is over. is there any way i can install the windows xp cd that i have or will it mess up the laptop. someone please help. i do not know much about computers and i do not have the money for windows vista. please tell me that i am not stuck with a computer that i can not even use.

I had read this when you first posted it, but didn't have Vista at the time, so I filed it away. Later on I setup a Vista test machine - tested what needed tested, and then filed the machine away. Went to fire it up tonight, and it told me my Vista was not genuine since I had not activated it. I told it to let me use it with limited functionality.

Turns out "limited" means only your web browser, and no explorer. I browsed to this page, then using Firefox's File dialog, I launched cmd.exe via the right-click Open. Used the handy slmgr -rearm and rebooted. System now works as good as Vista ever did. I wasn't sure if I would be able to use it or not since it has been expired for quite some time now.

Thanks!

has this feature been disabled in Vista Home Premium? I have 2 days left to activate, I ran slmgr -rearm and rebooted but it didn;t make a difference. I also followed the WIndows Secrets guiodelines and changed the relevant registry entry, no luck.

i think you have to buy a license... or change to the free sofrware
kiss*

I've noticed a lot of people online who have problems with this fix. When you try to run "slmgr -rearm" and you get a return of "Not enough quota to process..", there's still a way to fix your problem. I had this error message as well. Here's how I got around it.

Run Vista in reduced functionality mode

Which probably will bring up FireFox for you, if you're getting this error.

Navigate to the taskmgr by typing file:///C:/windows/system32/

From the Task Manager hit "File/New Task/" and type "explorer.exe"

From the start menu right click cmd.exe and run it as administrator

then close Firefox and explorer.exe from the task mgr's processes tab

then closed the taskmgr .. the only thing that should be open now is your prompt to activate windows and the cmd line window.

Now you should be able to run your slmgr -rearm command with no problems :)

I had 20 days left of the Activation grace period left, so I tried
the "slmgr -rearm" command as detailed, and rebooted when prompted.

It now says there's only 3 days left. What the heck went wrong?

Computer stopped working and said product key was invalid or inactive.
Computer will not take key it was origonally loaded with.
How would i get an alternate key or universal key without having to buy windows vista all over again?
my email is rightsidexx@aol.com

life

life is crazzy

"..the OEM copies will support full install as well as upgrade install."

How sure are you about this? I hope it's right for my sake.

I have wrongly installed Vista Home Premium OEM on my new PC, and now realise I need/want the RDC, backup, and Fax features supplied with Ultimate. I now want to try installing Vista Ultimate OEM over the top of Home Premium OEM, as an upgrade, in the hope that I wont lose anything or stuff anything up. Has anyone else tried this or heard of it being done successfully?

this seems to be a nice way to extend the vista grace period
http://readerszone.com/tips/how-to-extend-vista-grace-period-to-120-days.html

just find a crack
they're all over the internet