Extending The Vista Activation Period

Topics Windows Vista on July 26th, 2007

If you have installed a Microsoft Windows operating system in the last few years, you are familiar with the concept of product activation. Product activation helps the vendor, in this case Microsoft, to ensure that the software being installed is a legally licensed copy. After installing the product, you will continue to receive messages and alerts reminding you that the clock is ticking to activate the product. If you do not activate the product in time, it will cease working until you do so. Some users find product activation to be a tremendous nuisance, particularly when you have to re-activate after upgrading components of your computer system (see Transfer Windows XP Activation). According to this article in Network World, Microsoft Windows expert Brian Livingston has discovered that it is possible to extend the activation period beyond the stated 30 days with a single line command. More recently, Livingston announced the discovery of a Registry change which could extend activation for up to a year or possibly even indefinitely. For more details, read How to run Vista legally without activation for a year.