Use Vista without activating for at least a year
This tweak will allow you to extend the activation deadline of Vista for at least a year in just 7 easy steps. For those who are unfamiliar with the slmgr -rearm techinque, this basically allows you to run a command in command prompt that allows you extend the 30-days grace period indefinetely.
In short, this is how you can use Vista legally for at least a year without activating:
1) First, we will use the well known slmgr -rearm method. When you have 1 day remaining to activiate, Click on the Start Pearl and access command prompt by typing cmd in the Search bar. Make sure to press Ctrl + Alt + Enter to access it in Administratve mode.
2) Then type slmgr -rearm and press Enter. In about 45 seconds, you will be prompted to restart your computer. After that, you have succesfully resetted the activation timer to 30 days. This will only work 3 times, giving you 120 days, but… we’re about to change that.
3) Open the registry editor by clicking the Start Pearl and typing regedit in the Search bar.
4) Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ Currentversion \ SL
5) Right click SkipRearm and modify the value to 1.
6) Click on the Start Pearl and type cmd in the Search bar to access the command Prompt. Make sure you press Ctrl+Alt+Enter to run it in Administrative Mode.
7) Once in Command Prompt, type slmgr -rearm like you would when extending Vista by 30 days. Now you can use Rearm 8 more times, giving you a total of 360 days.
I guess I lied since you’ll be getting 5 days short of a year instead a year without activiating Vista, but with such a nice tip, who can complain.
Tags: basically, cmd, command, days_grace, grace_period, hkey local machine, Microsoft, regedit, search, Software, tweak, Windows, windows vista
