Windows 7 can be installed and run on the basic way without any license or any product key. Microsoft gives 30 days grace period for purpose of trial or evaluation. After expiring of trial period Windows 7 will lock into Reduced Functionality Mode. But, there is a way to extend the trial period. To do that you’ll need to run a small command and reboot your computer, at which point you’ll have 30 more days, up to a maximum of 120 days.

The “secret” of extending Windows 7 trial period is a command prompt command: “slmgr –rearm“. With use of this command you can “rearm” trial period counter to start count again from 0 to 30 days – for up to 3 times. With this method you will extend activation time on Windows 7 to max 120 days. Here are the detailed steps:

1. Run Command Prompt in the start menu
2. Right-click on it and choose Run as administrator.
3. Type next command and press ENTER:
   

   slmgr –rearm

4. Reboot computer

You can perform this trick after the 30-day trial expires 3 times.

Tags | Howto, Tips and Tricks, Windows, Windows 7