Last month, while John was upstairs at his place baking a lovely fruitcake, I stole a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate from his basement. When I went to install it on my friend’s computer, everything was working great. Then after awhile, WGA kicked in and sort of tried to break Vista. Then it dawned on me that Johnnypants had already used the serial number that came with the box.
Turns out this is but a minor inconvenience. Vista can go up to a year without being activated thanks to a single registry edit. Windows expert Brian Livingston says that with more research, one could discover a way to postpone activation forever. This comes as a relief to me. Never in my lifetime, since Windows 3.0 (yes, 3.0, not 3.1), have I had to pay for Microsoft Windows and to be honest, I didn’t plan on starting anytime soon. WGA is a joke!
Vista Can Run Without Activation for a Year [Slashdot]