Windows server evaluation auto shutdown

Microsoft provide a evaluation version of their Windows servers for 90 days. After the trial period expires, it cannot renewed even you  have a genuine licence, or downgrade or upgraded to another edition. So what will happend to the server you install? Well, it still works but it will automagicly shutdown. This is by design for microsoft evaluation version of windows.

You will need to reinstall it and move your data to the new server. This is not an issue if you have the license and the evaluation version install only for testing. But there is a solution if you still want to use the machine  install.

Actually the automatic shutdown is done by a process inside the windows server using a scheduled services that run and check for the license when you logged in to the server. THe service are "Windows License Monitoring Service" (WLMS).

What it do was basically monitor the license state of the machine you install and if it has expired, the automagic shutdown will be triggered every 1 hours of usage/ login. You can try to end the process of WLMS in task manager, and you will get a famous BSOD.

Of course this is not what you want. You want to still able to use the windows installation in evaluation version. Here i will show you the way to be able to extend the evaluation time, but please not to pirate it. Microsoft still will able to detect your server license is illegal.

Here how to do it step by step.

1. Download Windows PSTools. This tool is from Microsoft to maintaining process and services through comand line. Download Here. 
2. Extract it to c:\ps or any folder you like on your hard drive
3. As administrator, open Task Manager - File - New Task.
   Check the "create this task with administrator privileges"
   Type cmd then enter.
4. You will get a new command prompt. Go to the PS folder where you extract the files.
5. type psexec -i -d -s cmd
6. Click Agree on the license agreement.
7. Then you will have a command prompt run under "nt autohrity\system"
8. To make sure it run under "nt authority\system" do type whoami on the command prompt.
   You should see nt authority\system.
9. Next step type sc delete WLMS  , then enter.
10. Next open regedit. Type regedit 
11. Registry editor will open.
    Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
12. Local WLMS
13. Then right click the WLMS key and delete.
14. After this you can restart your computer.

Now you will have the windows installation running without automagicly restart every 1 hours after you login. This seems apply to all windows evaluation versions available to download.

Posted in: Windows