March 2007

If XP is installed in the Clinic, I usually suggest that the activation of XP be delayed by about two weeks to allow the "settling-in" of the install and to allow for a reload if things go poorly.

In the case of Vista, there is a 30-day feature that Microsoft calls a hack, that will induce an initial 30-day delay. That delay can be induced for up to 360 days. Read on about how this is accomplished by utilizing SkipRearm.

From a Livingston letter:
SkipRearm - and run Windows Vista without activation for at least a year (or until Microsoft pulls the plug on the feature).
It seems that Microsoft has been sloppy again and built a way into Windows Vista that allows activation to be postponed for at least a year.
By changing the SkipRearm key's value from the default "0" to "1," said consumer advocate Brian Livingston, the earlier-revealed "slmgr -rearm" command can be used over and over.
Brian Livingston calls this a documented feature, but Microsoft calls it a hack.

It's also only present in Ultimate, Business and Enterprise:
In tests with several editions of Vista purchased at different times, Livingston found that copies of Vista Ultimate and Vista Home Premium obtained at the end of January would accept the SkipRearm change only eight times. Together with the three postponements made possible with slmgr -rearm and the opening 30-day grace period, that would give users nearly a year (360 days) of activation-free use. A copy of Vista Home Basic bought March 14, however, ignored the SkipRearm registry change.
"Microsoft has slipstreamed something into Home Basic and Home Premium," Livingston said. "But from my reading of the support documents, Microsoft needs to keep this feature in its business editions, Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate. It seems that Microsoft is sympathetic to enterprises' difficulty in rolling out Vista within the activation deadlines."
Bottom line is that it doesn't matter. Microsoft holds the upper-hand. It's trivial to push a WGA update along the Windows Update pipe that spots systems that make use of this and, well, slam on the brakes.

In the meantime, here's how to use this hack:
1. First off, use the slmgr -rearm method. When you have a day or so left to activate, click on the Start button and type cmd in the Search bar. Make sure to hit Ctrl + Alt + Enter to start Command Prompt with Administrative privileges.
2. Then type slmgr -rearm and hit Enter. After a few seconds you will be prompted to restart your computer. After doing this you have reset the activation timer to 30 days. This will only work three times, giving you 120 days.

Here's how to make use of this new hack.
1. Open the registry editor by clicking the Start button and typing regedit in the Search bar.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SL
3. Right click SkipRearm and select Modify and change the value to 1. Click OK and close Registry Editor.
4. Click on the Start button again and type cmd in the Search bar to access the command Prompt. Again make sure to hit Ctrl + Alt + Enter to start Command Prompt with Administrative privileges.
5. Once in Command Prompt, type slmgr -rearm. Now you can use this eight more times, giving you a total of 360 days of free Vista usage.

[Editor's Note: For more info about delaying registration of Microsoft Vista, see Brian Livingston's article at http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1. For other articles by Brian Livingston, go to /. - jb]