Slmgr vbs rearm what a team. How to change, remove or renew your Windows license. View the license expiration date

- a fairly simple and understandable procedure (well, at least more or less) than what we are going to consider later in this article. What if you want to do something more advanced and complex with the license, for example, things like how to remove/change a product key, perform online activation or extend the activation time. It's not as simple as a simple activation that is done standard means OS with convenient graphical interface, but not that difficult either. In this article I will give you information on how and with what help this can be done.

There is a command line tool called Slmgr.vbs that comes with Windows that provides capabilities not available in the standard activation interface, which is found in the Update & Security window, accessible by opening the Start menu and selecting Settings.

First: Open a command prompt with administrator rights

This is required to use Slmgr.vbs. In Windows 10 or 8, right-click the Start button (or Win + X) and select Command Prompt (Admin). In Windows 7, find Command Prompt in the Start menu, under All Programs > System Tools. Right-click on it and select “Run as administrator.”

View activation/license information

To display basic license and activation information, run the command below, which will tell you what version of Windows you have, part of the product key for you to identify, and will show you whether the system is activated.

To get more detailed information about the license, including activation ID, installation ID, and other detailed information, enter the following command:

View the license expiration date

To find out the current system activation period, use the command below. Since retail licenses for, say, home computers are activated on a perpetual basis, which will never expire, the command will be useful for commercial KMS organizations and servers. However, you can check the expiration date of your license to make sure it is permanent.

How to remove a product key

With Slmgr.vbs you can also remove the product key of your current Windows system. After running the command below, restart your computer and your operating system will not have a product key, which means Windows will become inactive - without a license.

This allows you to transfer the license to another computer if necessary. For example, if you want to give old computer friend, but want to keep the license for yourself. However, as is known, Windows activation will be “tied” to the hardware of the computer on which it is installed, so it won’t be possible to just transfer it, but it is still possible, but that’s not about that now (that will be in the next articles).

To remove a license key, enter the following command at the command prompt:

However, the command does not remove the activation completely. Windows also stores the product key in the registry because this is sometimes necessary when setting up your computer and to prevent the key from being stolen malware that can access the registry. In addition, the future owner of the computer (if he is more or less computer savvy) can easily remove the key from the registry, so you must also be sure to remove it from the registry with the following command:

How to set or change your product key

Using slmgr.vbs you can enter a new product key. If the Windows system is already activated, using the command below you can replace the old key with a new valid one (instead of #####-#####-#####-#####-##### enter the new one key). After this, it is recommended to restart your computer.

This can also be done in the Activation Settings screen in Computer Settings, but the following command allows you to do this from the command line:

slmgr.vbs /ipk #####-#####-#####-#####-#####

Windows activation

Activate Windows online

Using the following command, you can try to activate Windows via the Internet.

Activate Windows offline

To get the installation identifier (ID) for offline activation, run the following command:

Now you need to receive a system activation confirmation code by phone. Go to the official Microsoft Windows Activation Help page. Following the instructions given, call the Microsoft Product Activation Center (there is nothing wrong with that, you will follow the instructions of the robot) and provide the installation ID received above and you will receive an activation code (if everything is confirmed successfully). This may help you activate Windows without an Internet connection.

Instead of ACTIVATIONID, enter the activation ID. which you received:

slmgr.vbs /atp ACTIVATIONID

After that, to make sure that your OS is activated, you can use the following commands:

slmgr.vbs /dli or slmgr.vbs /dlv

How to extend activation

Take Windows 7 for example, which has a 30-day trial period before it starts asking you for a product key. You can extend the trial period, i.e. reset this trial period back to 30 days by running the command below.

slmgr.vbs/Rearm

However, you will not be able to extend the trial period over and over again and indefinitely - the command can only be used a few times. If you want to know how many times, enter the command slmgr.vbs /dlv. I don’t remember exactly, but for each version, it seems, there is a different “number of times”. In Windows 7, if I'm not mistaken, 3 times, and 5 times on Windows Server 2008 R2. Behind except Windows Option 10 works in all earlier versions.

Using Slmgr.vbs for remote computers

Slmgr typically runs on the current computer, but you have the ability to remotely administer computers on your network if you have access to them. For example, the first command below applies to the current computer, and the second one applies to remote computer. You just need to know the Computer name, username and password.

slmgr.vbs /option

slmgr.vbs computername username password /option

With the Slmgr.vbs command, you can use other commands related to system activation. See Slmgr.vbs Parameters for more details.

Sometimes, for various reasons, Windows activation fails. The licensing status of such a system becomes " Non-genuine." The reasons may be different: installing several new devices, sometimes just virtual ones, installing some programs, drivers, ending the trial period. In this case, Windows turns the desktop wallpaper black and shows a scary message like “Your copy of Windows is not genuine,” “You may be a victim of a counterfeit...” and the like. In this case, you can start the Initial Grace Period trial again. This procedure is called rearm. It is performed using the command slmgr.vbs /rearm issued from the command line in privileged mode (with administrator rights). You can reset the trial period only three times; after each, the special counter is reduced by one. Ultimately, a situation may arise where the rearm count is zero, but the license status is still " Non-genuine" or some kind of error. In this state, it cannot be connected to the KMS server, the activation key cannot be changed, etc.

In this case, the solution to the problem may be to delete the registry hive responsible for licensing. The operating system will recreate it when booting into the Initial Grace Period. The existing key will be lost, but this does not matter.

The problem is that this registry hive is protected from modification/deletion and this can only be done from the Windows recovery when the registry is disabled.

To reset the rearm count, do the following:

Create a file reset-rearm.bat in the root of the system disk with the following contents:

Reg load HKLM\MY_SYSTEM "%~dp0Windows\System32\config\system" reg delete HKLM\MY_SYSTEM\WPA /f reg unload HKLM\MY_SYSTEM Restart your computer and press F8. Select "Troubleshoot computer problems", then select your keyboard layout, enter the local administrator password and you will be taken to the command line screen. The current path will be "X:\Windows\system32". Go to the root of the system drive (for Windows 7 this will be drive D) with the “D:” command, you can check for the presence of the reset-rearm.bat file in the root with the dir command. Run the reset-rearm.bat file. Reboot normally. Windows will tell you that the activation key was not found. To enter the key, open the command line again in administrator mode and run the command slmgr.vbs /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX, where instead of X, enter your activation key or public KMS key for the corresponding operating system: Windows 7 Professional FJ82H -XT6CR-J8D7P-XQJJ2-GPDD4 Windows 7 Enterprise 33PXH-7Y6KF-2VJC9-XBBR8-HVTHH Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard YC6KT-GKW9T-YTKYR-T4X34-R7VHC Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise 489J6-VHDMP-X63PK-3K798-CP X3Y Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter 4YFP-3QFB3-KQT8W-PMXWJ-7M648 After this, the license status of your OS will become "Initial grace period" with the number of counter resets equal to 4.

This article is based on Daniel Mitchell's blog http://www.daniel-mitchell.com/blog/reset-windows-7-rearm-count/

Windows 7 activation failed - No problem! If your Windows 7 activation failed, your trial period has expired, or you simply don’t know how to activate Windows 7, there is a very simple and reliable method, and it’s absolutely free. At the moment, there are enough methods for activating the seven, among which specially written programs, such as the Windows 7 maximum activator, occupy a special place. Using them is quite trivial and the Windows 7 activation process follows an algorithm in several stages. Typically, activating Windows 7 takes no more than five minutes, and when using some activators, even less than a minute. As a rule, most people want everything at once, so many will be most interested in the Windows 7 maximum activator, why do we need stripped-down Windows when the maximum version with all the bells and whistles is freely available. It’s easier to activate Windows 7 Ultimate using the same techniques and use the operating system without restrictions. To download the Windows 7 maximum activator, you need to disable the antivirus, because any activator is essentially a crack, and naturally the Windows developers made sure that their product was sold and not used for free, which is why the most famous Windows 7 activators are included in antivirus blacklists. In order to successfully activate Windows 7 and subsequently not lose activation, you must correctly perform manipulations for each individual activator. Read the descriptions carefully and remember that failure to follow the instructions for installing activators for Windows 7 will not solve the activation issue or may even disrupt the operation of the system, for which all responsibility rests with you.

Windows Loader Activator by Daz

One of those few programs that everyone should have in stock for a rainy day. Windows user 7. Windows Loader allows you to activate almost any edition of the operating system with the click of one button Windows systems 7 - from Starter Edition to extended versions of Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise, including 32 and 64 bit platforms.
Download activator Windows Loader by Daz 2.2.1. detailed instructions.

Video instructions for activation

Please also pay attention to this: In the descriptions of many activators there is often a promise that the system will be verified for authenticity and the activation will not fail. Yes, this is true, but not entirely, the fact is that Microsoft is constantly monitoring new ways to bypass legal activation, and improving its products to detect such facts. Specifically: its “important” security update for Windows KV971033. This is the license authentication (activation) file. So if today your OS easily passes all authentication checks, then tomorrow after the next update KB971033, your Windows 7 activation may well fail. Well, here we come to what needs to be done to ensure that Activation never fails:
To do this, go to the uninstall programs window:
Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features. At the top left, click on “view installed updates”:
In the next window, look for the installed update KV971033, if there is one, click on it with the mouse (select it) and click “delete” at the top.
In principle, that’s it, you can run the activator you selected and downloaded for Windows 7. But in order to ensure that the activation of Windows 7 never fails, you need to do the following (either before activation or after activation, it doesn’t matter):
Option 1: You can disable updates altogether in Windows Update, then activation will certainly NEVER fail. Or at least turn off automatic updates: center Windows updates> customize settings > and select "download updates, but I decide whether to install them." Then, when installing updates, you need to monitor and prevent the installation of KB971033. To prevent the support center from bothering you with messages about disabled updates, check the “do not notify” box.
Option 2: If the system prompts you to install updates (there should be a command in advance “download updates, but the decision to install is made by me”), or go to the update center yourself, start searching for new updates, then select the KV971033 update, right-click on it, select in the context menu "Hide update" option.
All! Update Center will ignore the unfortunate update. You can put the command about automatic installation updates in the update center.

In the next window:

How to check activation.

Computer > System Properties (top). At the bottom of the window there should be an inscription: Windows activation completed:

Activating Windows 7 without activator and entering keys

A very interesting method in which Windows 7 is activated without using an activator and without entering keys. This approach allows you to extend the trial of using the operating system to 120 days, which allows you to gain time for searching and entering license key, a suitable activator or purchasing genuine Windows 7. This method is relevant for activating Windows 7 of any version and is recommended for use on OSes whose 30-day trial period has not expired, otherwise you will still need to enter a license key for Windows 7 or use activators.
It is known that after installation, Windows 7 works in evaluation mode (trial), which lasts for 30 days, so it would be advisable to activate Windows 7 without entering keys at the end of the trial period, for example, on the penultimate day.

Instructions for activating Windows 7 without an activator and entering keys:
We launch the “Start” menu and enter the “cmd” command in the request field, right-click on the icon of the found program and select “Run as administrator”, after which you should start a command line interpreter, i.e. black window.
In the window that opens, you need to enter one of two commands: rundll32 slc.dll,SLReArmWindows or slmgr.vbs /rearm then confirm by pressing the “Enter” key and restart the computer.

If after a reboot you see a reset trial in the properties, then you did everything right. You can repeat this procedure for activating Windows 7 without an activator and entering keys, or rather extend the trial, four times. To obtain a licensed copy of Windows 7, this method will not work, which means that there is a need to use keys or activators, one of the most promising of which is the Windows 7 Loader eXtreme Edition activator, as well as activators from Daz and Khazar.

Lists of keys for Windows 7

If for some reason your computer brand is not on the list, but you know that you have, for example, Windows 7 Ultimate installed, then feel free to use the keys for Windows 7 Ultimate.

Keys for Windows 7 ULTIMATE (OEM-8992662)
FJGCP-4DFJD-GJY49-VJBQ7-HYRR2 – ACER/GATEWAY/PACKARD
VQ3PY-VRX6D-CBG4J-8C6R2-TCVBD – ALIENWARE
2Y4WT-DHTBF-Q6MMK-KYK6X-VKM6G – ASUS
342DG-6YJR8-X92GV-V7DCV-P4K27 – DELL
9CW99-79BBF-D4M3X-9BK9M-4RPH9 – FUJITSU
MHFPT-8C8M2-V9488-FGM44-2C9T3 – HP
6K2KY-BFH24-PJW6W-9GK29-TMPWP – LENOVO/IBM
49PB6-6BJ6Y-KHGCQ-7DDY6-TF7CD – SAMSUNG
YJJYR-666KV-8T4YH-KM9TB-4PY2W – SONY
2WX6M-X2HKM-86X8X-2QD44-F3FGJ – ?????
78FPJ-C8Q77-QV7B8-9MH3V-XXBTK – ?????

Windows 7 ULTIMATE E key (OEM-8992662)
278MV-DKMGJ-F3P9F-TD7Y3-W6G3M – HP/COMPAQ

Keys for Windows 7 PROFESSIONAL (OEM-8992671)
YKHFT-KW986-GK4PY-FDWYH-7TP9F – ACER/GATEWAY/PACKARD
4CFBX-7HQ6R-3JYWF-72GXP-4MV6W – ALIENWARE
2WCJK-R8B4Y-CWRF2-TRJKB-PV9HW – ASUS
6BJ27-DVBFF-VKQC8-7JPQP-TJKYY – DEALIN
32KD2-K9CTF-M3DJT-4J3WC-733WD – DELL
PT9YK-BC2J9-WWYF9-R9DCR-QB9CK – FUJITSU
2QTV2-3CMPP-FQBYK-GRD62-D7XMW – HCL
74T2M-DKDBC-788W3-H689G-6P6GT – HP
32HPJ-4XRDR-424C8-DYQM9-GM768 – KRAFTWAY
237XB-GDJ7B-MV8MH-98QJM-24367 – LENOVO/IBM
2QGXM-V9W9W-6Q7MR-64C4X-R26CV – LG ?
2WGY7-J3JQT-78CF9-J6DHQ-DJTQW – MECER
2W3CX-YD4YJ-DF9B2-V27M6-77GMF – MSI
GMJQF-JC7VC-76HMH-M4RKY-V4HX6 – SAMSUNG
H9M26-6BXJP-XXFCY-7BR4V-24X8J – SONY
7RQGM-4BJBD-GM2YY-R2KTT-43HG8 – STEG
2V8P2-QKJWM-4THM3-74PDB-4P2KH – TOSHIBA
W2PMW-T7DBH-YHKRM-DXXF6-KP4KT – TOSHIBA
6JKVQ-WJTWW-JVPRB-77TGD-2DV7M – WORTMANN
BV4Y4-DVXDT-3FC64-X2QR7-DW82M – ?????
6FWJ7-TDRCV-BYTP3-JWB98-9J64J – ?????
862R9-99CD6-DD6WM-GHDG2-Y8M37 – ?????
7QY32-TQCBJ-G7MC8-Y4PGF-7TGB8 – ?????
36KXM-JVMP6-88WMK-YCCGV-YFDVX – ?????
CRYGF-JG347-QPJKH-BR82M-3MQP3 – ?????
7MB39-TFBVT-9KJKK-6G7H4-66Y7W – ?????

Key for Windows 7 PROFESSIONAL E (OEM-8992671)
P42PH-HYD6B-Y3DHY-B79JH-CT8YK – HP/COMPAQ

Keys for Windows 7 HOME BASIC (OEM-8992752)
MB4HF-2Q8V3-W88WR-K7287-2H4CP – ACER/GATEWAY/PACKARD
89G97-VYHYT-Y6G8H-PJXV6-77GQM – ASUS
6M78P-JJRQP-9C4RX-RPK7G-3VTH3 – DEALIN
36T88-RT7C6-R38TQ-RV8M9-WWTCY – DELL
7WGMV-QFYXX-64DCG-HQFWM-DWGKY – FOUNDER
8W3JQ-BP2HY-F47QX-6CQ94-2BKQB – FUJITSU
2Q4QP-8P4MD-47YBP-7TXX9-FKDRM – HCL
DX8R9-BVCGB-PPKRR-8J7T4-TJHTH – HP
82P6X-KGH24-FCPXC-XQKC9-74KC8 – KSystems
22MFQ-HDH7V-RBV79-QMVK9-PTMXQ – LENOVO/IBM
2TY7W-H4DD4-MB62F-BD9C3-88TM6 – MSI
2P6PB-G7YVY-W46VJ-BXJ36-PGGTG – SAMSUNG
YV7QQ-RCXQ9-KTBHC-YX3FG-FKRW8 – SONY
9DBMT-GXRWM-6Q9Y3-WMYM8-FJCBW – TONGFANG
9H4FH-VD69Y-TGBD2-4PM4K-DRMMH – TOSHIBA

Keys for Windows 7 HOME PREMIUM (OEM-8992687)
VQB3X-Q3KP8-WJ2H8-R6B6D-7QJB7 – ACER/GATEWAY/PACKARD
38JTJ-VBPFW-XFQDR-PJ794-8447M – ADVENT
V3Y2W-CMF9W-PGT9C-777KD-32W74 – ALIENWARE
2QDBX-9T8HR-2QWT6-HCQXJ-9YQTR – ASUS
7JQWQ-K6KWQ-BJD6C-K3YVH-DVQJG – ASUS (Eee PC)
8YDX9-B7MMG-82XD9-V88G9-MR92T – DEALIN
6RBBT-F8VPQ-QCPVQ-KHRB8-RMV82 – DELL
83K3W-QH8JT-T7KBY-9FQB6-V9R8H – DELL
C6MHH-TRRPT-74TDC-FHRMV-XB88W – FUJITSU
3743C-T6892-B4PHM-JHFKY-4BB7W – GIGABYTE
39QDH-D7MHH-WDMTD-TM2R9-KM7DB – HCL
4FG99-BC3HD-73CQT-WMF7J-3Q6C9 – HP
27GBM-Y4QQC-JKHXW-D9W83-FJQKD – LENOVO/IBM
38GRR-KMG3D-BTP99-TC9G4-BBDJJ – LG
2P2P9-CM3F8-FTV6P-PC7CX-8TFF7 – MEDION
4G3GR-J6JDJ-D96PV-T9B9D-M8X2Q – MSI
CQBVJ-9J697-PWB9R-4K7W4-2BT4J – SAMSUNG
C3V4C-6Y6WM-DGRM9-QJG82-8K3FP – SHUTTLE
HWDFB-YVFG4-3TJ7F-Q3WMT-7B6PH – SIRAGON
H4JWX-WHKWT-VGV87-C7XPK-CGKHQ – SONY
6B88K-KCCWY-4F8HK-M4P73-W8DQG – TOSHIBA
6GF36-P4HWR-BFF84-6GFC2-BWX77 – TOSHIBA
C23T3-9F2T2-FPWBM-XYMW2-272J9 – VIEWSONIC
2XPWB-Q64BJ-W8CT3-WJTWT-4DQ99 – ?????
TTJQ7-4PFJC-6JFJ8-B22VD-VXW88 – ?????
GFDW7-7T4B9-VB8W7-TTHRM-JG2KB – ?????
CPF7K-XP3YV-JVHHF-YMMRD-Y4Y9K – ?????
7K377-DVP2Q-YGWJG-3M3G7-RBCDP – ?????
BVQFP-FKQGV-J82F3-2JTVV-733D2 – ?????
76QPJ-99DMC-MW43P-8JKHY-6YMRQ – ?????

Key for Windows 7 HOME PREMIUM E (OEM-8992687)
TD77M-HH38J-FBCB8-8QX7Y-P2QH3 – HP/COMPAQ

Keys for Windows 7 STARTER (OEM-8992752) (OEM-8992707)
RDJXR-3M32B-FJT32-QMPGB-GCFF6 – ACER/GATEWAY/PACKARD
6K6WB-X73TD-KG794-FJYHG-YCJVG – ASUS (Eee)
6PB94-MC2C6-4F37H-KTJ32-PF2PT – CASPERERA
BB2KM-PDWW3-99H7J-F7B9R-FXKF6 – COMPAQ/HP
36Q3Y-BBT84-MGJ3H-FT7VD-FG72J – DELL
BHP4B-MXP9G-RG7KQ-T8R84-CW3D3 – ECS
4FRH4-WQDGJ-M9HRY-K73D8-RGT3C – EXPER
BRFCY-XMXRV-28JHQ-F6D9B-BV73C – HANNSPREE
RH98C-M9PW4-6DHR7-X99PJ-3FGDB – HP/COMPAQ
PMXH9-M23P9-QJJMB-2FWRC-7CDKP – FUJITSU
273P4-GQ8V6-97YYM-9YTHF-DC2VP – LENOVO/IBM
22P26-HD8YH-RD96C-28R8J-DCT28 – LENOVO/IBM
2K8WH-JVQDM-C9HVC-YR2XC-8M76G – MEDION
2W4DJ-JFFJV-DMCPP-2C3X8-883DP – MSI
2YKPV-BFXFW-X8GJQ-9KQFF-KCXGD – MSI
2XGHP-9TQK2-8CF28-BM2P2-8FRX8 – NOKIA
344HQ-3YHDT-C7VCT-BDPBV-4KTR3 – OLIDATA
PV9BD-YBRX6-CTMG6-CCMJY-X8XG7 – SAMSUNG
32J2V-TGQCY-9QJXP-Q3FVT-X8BQ7 – SONY
TGBKB-9KBGJ-3Y3J6-K8M2F-J2HJQ – TOSHIBA
6TQ9G-QB2WK-FM2TB-CKBDP-9D6HM – VIEWSONIC
7W842-2HCPJ-BC3MJ-B79K6-TD2HQ – VILIV
6CYKC-TDDYQ-K4B6G-HQD89-CWDP3 – ?????
4HGWK-KHT8C-J2KCF-F3PVF-44PD4 – ?????
32TF3-PT6YV-V6GCK-RR8GM-VM4QG – ?????
6HKDD-HMKWQ-74YC4-2B8C3-MPG6R – ?????

Key for Windows 7 STARTER E (OEM-8993706)
C3HY9-34XKR-6Y9Y9-RB7TR-84KWG – HP/COMPAQ

Sometimes slmgr.vbs and other errors system errors VBS may be related to problems in the Windows registry. Several programs can use the slmgr.vbs file, but when those programs are uninstalled or modified, sometimes "orphaned" (incorrect) VBS registry entries are left behind.

Basically, this means that while the actual path of the file may have changed, its incorrect former location is still recorded in the Windows Registry. When Windows tries to look up these incorrect file references (file locations on your PC), slmgr.vbs errors can occur. Additionally, a malware infection may have corrupted Windows-related registry entries. So, these corrupted VBS registry entries need to be fixed to fix the problem at the root.

Manually editing the Windows registry to remove invalid slmgr.vbs keys is not recommended unless you are PC service professional. Mistakes made when editing the registry can lead to inoperability of your PC and cause irreparable damage to your operating system. In fact, even one comma placed in the wrong place can prevent your computer from booting!

Because of this risk, we highly recommend using a trusted registry cleaner such as WinThruster (Developed by Microsoft Gold Certified Partner) to scan and repair any slmgr.vbs-related registry problems. Using a registry cleaner, you can automate the process of finding corrupt registry entries, missing file references (like the one causing your slmgr.vbs error), and broken links within the registry. Before each scan, a backup copy, which allows you to undo any changes with one click and protects you from possible damage to your computer. The best part is that eliminating registry errors can dramatically improve system speed and performance.

Warning: Unless you are an experienced PC user, we DO NOT recommend manually editing the Windows Registry. Using Registry Editor incorrectly may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall Windows. We do not guarantee that problems resulting from incorrect use of Registry Editor can be corrected. You use Registry Editor at your own risk.

Before manually restoring Windows registry, you need to create a backup by exporting a portion of the registry related to slmgr.vbs (eg. Windows):

1. Click on the button Begin.
2. Enter " command" V search bar... DON'T CLICK YET ENTER!
3. While holding down the keys CTRL-Shift on your keyboard, press ENTER.
4. A dialog box for access will be displayed.
5. Click Yes.
6. The black box opens with a blinking cursor.
7. Enter " regedit" and press ENTER.
8. In the Registry Editor, select the slmgr.vbs-related key (eg. Windows) you want to back up.
9. On the menu File select Export.
10. On the list Save to select the folder where you want to save the Windows key backup.
11. In field File name enter the name of the backup file, for example " Windows backup copy".
12. Make sure the field Export range value selected Selected branch.
13. Click Save.
14. The file will be saved with extension .reg.
15. You now have a backup of your slmgr.vbs-related registry entry.

The following steps for manually editing the registry will not be described in this article, as they are likely to damage your system. If you would like more information about editing the registry manually, please check out the links below.

Like it or not, Windows Server licensing is more important than ever in Windows Server 2008. It is very important to know how to license your Windows 2008 Servers from the command line, see how much time is left until the license expires, and how to uninstall the license. In this article, we will look at how to use a command line tool from Microsoft to do all the above steps – the tool is slmgr.vbs.

What is slmgr.vbs?

Microsoft's command line tool is slmgr.vbs. The name of the instrument is an abbreviation for Windows Software Licensing Management Tool.

This is a visual base script used to configure the licensing of any Windows 2008 Server, be it the full version or the core version. To see what slmgr.vbs can do, simply run the Windows command interpreter ( cmd in the Run line) and enter:

Slmgr.vbs/?

Figure 1: Help window for slmgr.vbs

As a result, a help window will open containing all the options available in slmgr.vbs. Here are the different tasks you can perform using slmgr.vbs:

• Licensing management not only on the local server, but also on remote Windows 2008 Servers over the network. This requires a username and password. The default driven machine, unless otherwise specified, is local node(localhost).
• Installing product keys using the ‘ipk.
• Activating Windows 2008 using the ‘ato.
• Displaying licensing information using the 'dli' option.
• Displaying detailed licensing information using the 'dlv.' option.
• View the Windows license expiration date using the 'xpr.' option.
• Clearing current Windows product keys from the system registry for security reasons using the 'cpky.
• Installing a license using the 'ilc.
• Reinstallation system files licenses using the 'rilc.
• Reactivating your Windows evaluation license using the ‘rearm.
• Removing a specific product key using the 'upk.
• Display the installation ID used by Microsoft for telephone activation using the ‘dit.
• Finally, activating the product with a confirmation ID using the ‘ato.

Let's look at examples of how Windows 2008 slmgr.vbs can help us.

How can slmgr.vbs help with an evaluation license?

If you are evaluating Windows Server 2008, you should know that license activation is not required. The evaluation version of Windows Server 2008 will run for 60 days. Although many administrators are unaware, it is possible to renew the evaluation period for an additional 60 days, this can be done three times. So you can evaluate Windows 2008 Server for 240 days, or about 8 months – wow!

Resume assessment Windows version 2008 can be done using slmgr.vbs. To do this you just need to enter:

Slmgr.vbs -rearm

Figure 2: Results after renewing the evaluation copy of Win 2008 for another 60 days

To see how much time you have left before your current evaluation copy expires, simply enter:

Slmgr.vbs -xpr

Figure 3: xpr command results showing the day and time the Win 2008 evaluation version expired

How can I get detailed information about my Windows Server 2008 license?

To get more detailed information than just the license expiration date (which the xpr command provides), you can use dli or dlv options. Here's what the results of using them look like:

Figure 4: Results of using the slmgr.vbs ‘dli command

As you can see from the results of the 'dli command, there is information about the version of the Win 2008 server being used, the license status, the remaining time, everything about the key management server.

Figure 5: Results of the slmgr.vbs ‘dlv command

The 'dlv' command provides even more detailed information about the current state of the license.

How do I activate my license on Windows 2008 Server Core?

As I said while listing the options, slmgr.vbs is used to activate Windows 2008 Server from the command line. And on Windows Server Core, which only has a command interpreter, you are forced to use slmgr.vbs to activate the Core server from the command line. Therefore, it is very important to know how to use slmgr.vbs if you have Windows Server Core. But in my opinion, still, every administrator should know the basics of using this script.

So, let's say you just installed a new Windows Server 2008 Core server and want to activate it. Let's say you entered your product key during installation. To activate your OS, simply enter:

Slmgr.vbs -ato

If your network is not yet configured, or there is another error, you should see a window like:

Figure 6: Error in slmgr license activation

In my case, I received the error because I had not yet configured the IP address on the Win 2008 Core Server. And then I again received an error notification because I did not configure the DNS and default gateway settings. Please note that all these things are necessary to successfully activate Windows 2008!

If you did not enter your product key during installation, you can enter it into slmgr.vbs from the command shell:

Slmgr.vbs -ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

(assuming you have a MAK key and not a KMS)

Here you can try to perform automatic activation again.

Figure 7: Successful activation of Windows 2008 using slmgr.vbs

If everything went well (as it finally did for me), you should see a window indicating successful product activation (Figure 7). Hooray!

How to handle licensing of remote Windows 2008 Server servers using slmgr.vbs?

As I said earlier, you can work not only with licenses local servers, but also remote Win 2008 Servers from the command line using slmgr.vbs. You just need the server hostname (hostname/IP address), as well as the administrator username and password.

To do this, simply place the machine name (machinename), then the username (username), and then the password between the slmgr command and the options like this:

slmgr.vbs server2 administrator MyPassWord1 -xpr

The note: You don't need to use .vbs slmgr command extension. It will work great even if you just type slmgr and command options.

Conclusion

Windows Server licensing is critical to whether Windows 2008 Server functions or not. In this article, we looked at how to use Microsoft's Software Licensing Management Tool ' slmgr.vbs ' to manage the licenses of your Windows Servers from the command line. Although there are several ways to use slmgr.vbs, after reading this article you will know what to do when working with licenses and command line in Win 2008 Core Server.