Run Windows Vista for 120 days free and legally

You are able to run Windows Vista for 120 days without entering a product key legally. This process is called “rearming” windows and is supported by Microsoft with a tool supplied within Windows Vista called slmgr.vbs which is located in your c:\windows\system32 directory.

To do this you will need to open up an elevated  command prompt window by clicking on “Start -> All Programs -> Accessories”, Right Clicking “Command Prompt” and selecting “Run as administrator” then click Continue to the User Account Control dialogue. This is very important as the below command will not work in a normal command prompt as you need administrator rights for the tool.

In the “Administrator: Command Prompt” window type cscript slmgr.vbs -rearm as shown below.

After a little while (5 secs to up to a min) the below text will appear stating that the command completed successfully and that you need to restart your computer.

That’s it restart your computer and you will have another 30 days. This process can only be done up to 3 times legally giving a total of 120 days depending on when you rearm.  After which you will need to enter a valid product key or reinstall windows from scratch.

It is very important that you rearm your system before any of the 30 day periods expire because if it does expire then rearming will not work. I suggest waiting till there is 1-2 days left if you use your computer everyday.

To check how many days you have left to activate click on Start and Right Click “Computer” and select Properties.