By default, a standard installation of Windows 7 without any serial number entered will enter into a 30 day grace period.
During this time Windows 7 will be fully functional, however after the 30 day period Windows will start prompting for activation.
To extend this time for another 30 days you can run the following command. This process can be repeated three times, giving you a total of 120 days before the system needs to be activated.
- From the Start menu, select ‘All Programs’ then ‘Accessories’
- Right click on ‘Command Prompt’ and select ‘Run as Administrator’
- Enter the following command and press enter on the keyboard
slmgr.vbs -rearm
After about 10 seconds you will be prompted to restart your system
** note: If you do not see the message above after about 10 seconds you may need to run it twice, or restart then try again. **