My home desktop PC still has Windows XP SP3 installed and used as primary. I installed Windows Server 2008 R2 – 180 days trial version as a secondary OS in a partition in Nov. 2011 for a test purpose, and actually could not keep using it since Jan. 2012. Definitely, the trial period was expired.
Today, I was trying to install Windows Server 2012 virtual labs to follow “Windows Server 2012 Hyper-v courses from MVA, but I could not install the virtual labs due to Windows XP is not supported and not a best OS for keep going.
Therefore, I decided to extend the evaluation period and reactive the Windows Server 2008 R2 for another 180 days as following steps.
1) Open Command Prompt
2) Type slmgr.vbs -dli, and then press ENTER to check the current status of your evaluation period.
3) License Status shows it is expired
4) To reset the license period, type slmgr.vbs –rearm, and then press ENTER.
5) Restart the computer
6) After rebooting, activate the license. It will be activated again and valid for another 180 days as below image.
7) To verify the license status again, Open Command Prompt, Type slmgr.vbs -dli, and press ENTER. It will display expiration date as below.
Microsoft Systems Engineer 