Trial and beta software is a great way for you to look at a product. The trials are normally fully functional and let you get a real feel for how the products perform. Just don’t install trial version software as a production server, that is never a good idea.

The problem with trial software is its time limit. For Windows 7 and Vista it is 30 days and for Windows Server 2008 60 days. 60 days is long enough if all you are doing is having a look. What if you need to run through a complex scenario of integration with existing systems?

What if you want to set up a testing and training lab on virtual infrastructure? Obviously you do not want to buy software to do this. You could always get a MSDN subscription, but if you do not have a continuing requirement to test new products and updates it might not be warranted.

Here is what you can do.

Have you used a utility built into Vista and Windows Server 2008 called Windows Software Licensing Management Tool (slmgr.vbs). This script is used to manage the licensing state of the machines. The options are:

Global Options:

-ipk <Product Key>
Install product key (replaces existing key)
-ato
Activate Windows
-dli [Activation ID|All]
Display license information (default: current license)
-dlv [Activation ID|All]
Display detailed license information (default: current license)
-xpr
Expiration date for current license state

Advanced Options:

-cpky
Clear product key from the registry (prevents disclosure attacks)
-ilc <license file>
Install license
-rilc
Re-install system license files
-rearm
Reset the licensing status of the machine
-upk
Uninstall product key
-dti
Display Installation ID for offline activation
-atp <confirmation ID>
Activate product with user-provided Confirmation ID

Volume Licensing: Key Management Service (KMS) Options:
-sprt <Port>
Set TCP port KMS will use to communicate with clients
-sai <Activation Interval>
Set Interval (minutes) for unactivated clients to attempt KMS connection.
-sri <Renewal Interval>
Set renewal interval (minutes) for activated clients to attempt KMS connection.
-sdns
Enable DNS publishing by KMS (default)
-cdns
Disable DNS publishing by KMS
-spri
Set KMS priority to normal (default)
-cpri
Set KMS priority to low

The most interesting option available to us is -rearm. When using trial software you can use this option to reset the expiry period. You can use this 3 times.

Instead of having 60 days to trial Windows Server 2008 R2 you can now have 240 days. More than enough time to determine if you want to buy the software.

Hope this helps you.