Meatball wrote on 2022-03-03, 14:09:

Good technique and helpful information. I always wondered if Windows Vista/7 could be livable without activation. I may try this out in the future.

The activation cut-off for Windows Vista/7 is 30 days, after that point you will be prompted to activate Windows. You can choose to activate later and continue using it, but it will be restricted (i.e. your desktop background will be black and you can't change it) and the computer will throw an "END_OF_NT_EVALUATION_PERIOD" BSOD after an hour of uptime.

On a related note, I had some trouble activating Windows 7 Professional on an HP z600 with an official COA. I was using a Retail disc to install it, and it wouldn't activate online because it claimed the license was invalid. I ended up having to activate it through the phone to get it to work. I guess if you're using an OEM product key with a Retail disc, you have to activate via phone activation.

KCompRoom2000 wrote on 2022-03-04, 22:16:

The activation cut-off for Windows Vista/7 is 30 days, after that point you will be prompted to activate Windows. You can choose to activate later and continue using it, but it will be restricted (i.e. your desktop background will be black and you can't change it) and the computer will throw an "END_OF_NT_EVALUATION_PERIOD" BSOD after an hour of uptime.

I think the BSOD may be only for release candidate / test builds. I've seen quite a few pirated Vista/7 system with failed activation (black desktop background), and not one of them would BSOD with END_OF_NT_EVALUATION_PERIOD.

your desktop background will be black and you can't change it

Actually no. You can change it with programs like XnView and Windows can't do a damn thing about it.

and it wouldn't activate online because it claimed the license was invalid. I ended up having to activate it through the phone to get it to work. I guess if you're using an OEM product key with a Retail disc, you have to activate via phone activation.

No, that just means that it wasn't properly deactivated. I think, starting from Vista all disk distributions are universal, i.e. there are no real distinctions like it was with Windows XP, where volume license, retail and OEM had separate incompatible installers.