OT Windows licence expire soon .. ?

From a practical standpoint, probably none until it stops working because it's not activated. IDK how long it will go before that happens. From a legal standpoint? If it's a legal copy, none. It's a counterfeit copy of Windows, I guess technically MSFT and/or the govt could come after you.

I found a solution here - but it installed something - hopfully not malware ... time will tell ..

Firefox detects that site for malware, be careful.

... thanks - but it's probably too late now. John T.

Thank God for Windows 98. It never needs to be activated !!!!

Just like that mysterious skin rash .. It's Back ! :-(

re-cap : Lenovo T500 laptop purchased used - private sale; running Win 8.1 ; sticker is Vista Business ; " Windows license will expire soon" alert message comes back every year.

" slarm " not recognized as a command nor batch file

I wonder if my ~ annual expiration stems from the original Vista ---> Win8 upgrade ? : " Windows system activated from an organization?s KMS server" as stated in this web article :

Here we go again ... hope I haven't exceeded the reset limit .. Any helpful advice is appreciated. John T.

I wouldn't know what to do if I found the license .. ? The online re-activation doesn't work - probably trying to communicate with the original KMS server ? The offline activation requires a long product key - which I don't have .. I have run the SLMGR.VBS /DLI , /DLV , /XPR DOS commands to get a bunch of info. as per my link, above. The question remains - will these annual re-sets continue indefinitely ? or will I have a limit of 3 or 4 - then be out-of-luck ? I'd like to find a permanent fix if possible. John T.

Does win8 have anything you really need? Go back to Vista. You have that license key. It's a decent system after you get all the service packs installed. I have no experience with Vista business. May have a hard time finding an install disk for that. Standard install disk may not work with your key. Asking in a proper computer newsgroup may provide that answer.

This is absolutely the wrong place to be asking about this. You're far more likely to find an answer in a hacker/cracker group. Looks like you bought a pirated system. There likely is NO possible free permanent license-compliant fix for this. Pirate solutions may be available in pirate newsgroups.

Thanks for the comments - I suspect you're right. I'm not married to Win8 but I haven't installed or re-installed an operating system since Win98 ... my learning curve flat-lined a long time ago .. John T.

Thanks for the input. Not sure that I'd pay many after-tax dollars to fix a $ 140. laptop, though. I bought the laptop used, private sale, running Win8 but with a Vista Business sticker. It seems that the Win8 is activated via Key Management Service - by the previous owner. This license activation apparently requires annual re-set < or renewal ?>. I have a "hack" that worked last year - but 'm not sure if I can do that indefinitely or whether there is a limit ? John T.

I tried the experiment. Booted the final 2014 release of Vista install DVD. Entered the Vista business key. It recognized it as vista business and proceeded to install. I didn't go further. I assume it will work fine, but you never can tell for sure until you try it.

Problem is getting the DVD. Digital River no longer sources it. You can find them on ebay cheap, but the DVD you get may not be the universal one and may be restricted to a particular version that won't work with your key.

Maybe someone in one of the OS newsgroups can tell you how to get the ones and zeros you need to install. I believe that your license is tied to the license key. Where you get the bits on the DVD is irrelevant. There's always the risk that anything you get from an unknown source may be full of malware.

Again, this is absolutely the WRONG newsgroup for this kind of help. I've done all I can.

Thanks, Mike. Much appreciate your input. John T.