14 DAY TRIAL // The Initial Grace period of Windows Vista can be prolonged up to 120 days by simply entering the slmgr.vbs -rearm command in the command prompt window. In this manner, users will be able to extend the initial 30 days Windows Vista testing time frame up to three times. But at the end of 120 days of prolonged initial grace, users will have to activate the operating system as Windows Vista will automatically move into reduced functionality mode.
Microsoft considers this move perfectly legal and in accordance with the Windows Vista end user agreement. Furthermore, the Redmond Company also provides documentation on this option on the Vista Volume Activation 2.0 support website.
However, Microsoft has taken the flexibility it allows for the Windows Vista activation process one step further. In this respect, one overlooked command, also documented by Microsoft, is SkipRearm.
"SkipRearm specifies whether to run the Windows Software Licensing Rearm program. Rearming a computer restores the Windows system to the original licensing state. All licensing and registry data related to activation is either removed or reset. Any grace period timers are reset as well," revealed Microsoft.
Rearming is a procedure that is supported by all the editions of the Windows Vista operating system, according to Microsoft. Let's read between the lines for a minute. Via these two workarounds, users could postpone the activation of Windows Vista indefinitely. The combination of slmgr.vbs -rearm and SkipRearm will continually prolong the Windows Vista initial grace period by 30 days and also perpetually restore the operating system to the original testing licensing state.
The key to this is the following registry key: "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows NT CurrentVersion SL" You will be able to find it by entering "regedit" in the Start Menu Search Box and in the Registry Editor navigate your way to the key mentioned above.
Here, if you right-click the Registry Key named SkipRearm and the select Edit, you will be able to access the Dword value that will have a certain hex value. Here are the values information provided by Microsoft:
0 - Specifies that the computer will be rearmed, restoring the computer to the original, out-of-box state. All activation-related licensing and registry data is removed or reset, and any grace period timers are also reset. This is the default value. 1 - Specifies that the computer will not be rearmed and the computer will not be restored to its original, out-of-box state. All activation-related licensing and registry data will remain and will not be reset. Similarly, any grace period timers will not be reset.
I think you can take it from here. It's as intuitive as it gets. If you can't, then this is not for you, don't even bother.