Windows 7 Will Run 120 Days for Free

Folks,

You can try out Windows 7 for 120 days free!

Here is how:

Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
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Aug 20, 2009 9:09 am


Like its predecessor, Windows 7 can be used for up to 120 days without providing a product activation key, Microsoft confirmed today.
Although Microsoft generally touts a 30-day time limit for users to activate their copies of the company's operating system, a little-known command designed for corporate administrators can be used by anyone to "reset" the countdown up to three times.
Late yesterday, the Windows Secrets newsletter published step-by-step instructions on using a single-line command to add an additional 90 days to the stock 30-day grace period.
Microsoft allows users to install and run any version of Windows 7 for up to 30 days without requiring a product activation key, a 25-character alphanumeric string that proves the copy is legitimate. During the 30-day grace period, Windows 7 operates as if it has been activated. As the grace period shrinks, however, increasingly-frequent messages appear on the screen. For example, on days four through 27, a pop-up asks the user to activate once each day. During days 28 and 29, the pop-up displays every four hours, while on Day 30, it appears hourly.
But by invoking the "slmgr -rearm" command at a Windows 7 command prompt, users can reset the time-until-activation to 30 days, said Woody Leonard, a contributing editor to Windows Secrets and the author of several computer books, including Windows Vista All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies.
"You can run the -rearm trick a total of three times," said Leonard. "If you perform a -rearm at the end of each 30-day period, you end up with 120 days of full, unfettered Windows 7 use, without having to supply an activation key."
Leonard tested the command on Windows 7 RTM (release to manufacturing), the final build of the operating system that Microsoft has already shipped to computer makers and distributed to IT professionals and developers who subscribe to the TechNet and MSDN services.
Microsoft confirmed that "-rearm" can be used as many as three times by Windows 7 users to avoid activation. "This means [that] a total of 120 days total time is available as a grace period to customers that take advantage of -rearm," said a company spokeswoman.
Nor is extending the grace period a violation of the Windows 7 End User License Agreement (EULA), the spokeswoman said.
Windows Secrets and others published information about the same grace period extension two years ago, shortly after Microsoft launched Vista. "Rearm is the same in Windows 7 as in Vista," noted Brian Livingston, the editor of Windows Secrets, in an interview yesterday.
Microsoft introduced product activation in 2001's Office XP and also used it in that year's Windows XP. The feature was toughened up for Vista, however; after the grace period, non-activated PCs running Vista dropped into what Microsoft called "reduced functionality" mode. In reduced mode, users could only browse the Web with Internet Explorer, and then only for an hour before being forced to again log on.
In early 2008, however, Microsoft revamped that process, which some had dubbed a "kill switch," in favor of a black background and constant nagging reminders. Later in 2008, Microsoft introduced the same procedures to Windows XP when it rolled out Service Pack 3 (SP3).
In February 2009, Microsoft said Windows 7 would use the same reminders, a black screen and persistent notices.
"We knew that -rearm worked on the beta and RC [of Windows 7], but until it was finished, there was no way to be sure it would work in the final," said Livingston.
Although Windows 7 won't go on sale until Oct. 22, the RTM build has leaked to file-sharing sites. In fact, the build that Microsoft later identified as RTM hit BitTorrent almost a week before the company officially announced the milestone.
The -rearm command isn't the only way users can run Windows 7 without paying. Until about 11 a.m. ET Thursday, users can download a free copy of Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC), the last public preview issued before Microsoft wrapped up work on the OS.

See more like this:
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How Windows Vista Shuts down Your System, Or Puts It To Sleep

OK, we all know that Windows 7 is coming soon, however, be it W 7 or W Vista, the method of shutting down your computer will be the same on both.

In older versions of Windows, (i.e. XP and prior versions), to exit Windows and shut down your computer you would "Start>Shut Down". In W Vista, to completely shut down your system, you click the start button and then click the right arrow, (next to the power button), and select "Shut Down". Windows then automatically closes all open applications and processes and asks you to save all open documents. Device drivers and program files may be damaged if they are not closed in this proper fashion, this being the reason why you should never turn off your computer by clicking the main power button on the system unit.

W Vista however also offers a new "Sleep Mode" in addition to the full system shut down:

When you click the power button on the start menu, (the one on the bottom left that looks like a big O with a vertical dash on top), Vista saves all open documents, applications and data to both your hard drive and computer memory; shuts down your PC hard drive and monitor; and then enters a special power saving mode. It does not turn off your computer, it simply puts it to sleep.

When ou want to get back to work, all you have to do is drag your mouse back and forth a couple of times; this wakes up W Vista from sleep mode and quickly retrieves the open documents and applications from system memory. This of course IS A LOT FASTER THEN REBOOTING FROM A POWER OFF CONDITION, IN FACT IT IS ALMOST INSTANTANEOUS, MIND YOU.

I have been familiar with this option since I first loaded W Vista in my computers. A couple of days ago I came across a very interesting article addressing this option, in (as usual) my favorite magazine PCWorld, which I am transcribing here:

Why You Should Use Sleep Mode
Jason Cross
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Aug 10, 2009 1:50 pm
Shutting down your PC at the end of the day is so 20th century. What you probably should be doing is putting it into sleep mode. You'll save that interminable wait for your system to boot up, and it won't destroy the Earth or your bank account with a dramatic change in energy usage. Allow me to illustrate.
I have a fairly high-end system at home. It's a Core i7 920 based PC with 6GB of RAM, a high-end GeForce card (sometimes it's a Radeon, I go back and forth), and a reasonably quick Seagate 7200.10 hard drive. I'm running the final release of Windows 7. This is how long it takes me to shut down and boot:
Shutdown: 0:16
Boot: 1:06
Shutting down is pretty fast, but booting up is painfully slow. Bear in mind, this is what I call "true" boot-up time. It the time from when I press the power button to when I'm at a usable desktop (where you can actually click on things and get a response). Like your system probably is, it's not totally clean. I have Dropbox and my antivirus software loading at boot. Here's the numbers to go into sleep mode, and wake from sleep:
Sleep: 0:18
Wake: 0:02
That's right two seconds to get to a truly usable desktop waking from sleep mode. Shutting down takes a couple seconds longer, but waking my computer up is almost instantaneous. Not to mention that I can wake up my PC by tapping the keyboard, instead of reaching down to press a small power button.
But what about power, you ask? Am I running up my power bill? As long as your system BIOS supports the S3 ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) mode, no. The S1 mode leaves the CPU and RAM powered up, the S3 mode powers those down. Our article from a couple years ago on how to check and change your BIOS sleep state is still relevant. My high-end system uses some 120-130 watts just sitting at the desktop (not including monitor), and uses 1 watt when powered off (most computers draw a very small amount of power, even when off, so they can do things like turn on when you press the power button). In sleep mode, my system draws a whopping 5 watts. Five. What does that different of 4 watts mean to you?
My computer is running a lot more than the average person's, so let's just suppose your system is turned off 16 hours a day. That 4W difference works out to a whopping 1.92 killowatt-hours (kWh) per month. According to the Department of Energy, the average price for electricity in the U.S. is 11.59 cents per kWh, so sleep mode costs you 22.2 cents per month. The average home in the U.S. uses 936 kWh per month, so 16 hours of sleep mode a day would be a 0.21% increase in monthly power usage. That's what we call a "rounding error."
Of course, some systems use a little more power in sleep mode, but it's almost always under 10W. We have more on how to change the function of your computer's power button here. You probably don't want hibernate mode, which dumps the contents of your PC's RAM to the hard disk and then power off your PC, so you can resume right where you left off (with programs open and so on). With the large amount of RAM in today's systems, this can be a pretty slow option.

Is Your Printer Stealing From You? Here's How to Tell

Here is a very interesting article transcribed from PC World, (Great computer magazine, always offering the best advice), by one of their professional writers, Ms.Melissa Riofrio:

Whether through exorbitant ink prices or through flimsy construction, your printer may be robbing you of money or time. Here are five ways to tell whether you're being cheated.
Melissa Riofrio, PC World
Jul 29, 2009 11:00 pm :

Don't let that blank, boxy look fool you: Printers can steal your money and your time if you're not careful. Printer manufacturers have come up with a few creative ways to drain your wallet through ink and toner cartridge costs. Other printer models just make you waste precious minutes fooling around with complicated menu systems or stupidly designed hardware.

How do you spot a thieving printer? We've identified some of the leading suspects for each specific crime. But to determine whether your printer is pilfering from you, check its specs and our reviews for these warning signs.

1. If the Printer Is Cheap, the Ink or the Toner Isn't

Think you got a great deal on your printer? Think again. It’s a common ploy for printer vendors to sell machines at or below their production cost--and then make their money later on with extremely high ink or toner costs. How can you tell? Do the math: Take the cost of the cartridge and divide it by the page yield—the number of pages the manufacturer says the cartridge can print. (Note that most vendors base their page-yield numbers on industry-standard testing that is designed to represent real-world usage. However, the page yields you obtain may vary, depending on what you actually print.) Some vendors make their page yield information easy to find online (thank you, HP!), while others bury it (we're looking at you, Canon). The cost per page for the printer’s ink or toner does not reflect other printer costs, of course, such as those for an inkjet’s special paper or for a laser’s belts, drums, and other longer-life consumables.

We collected cartridges prices and vendor page yield information for a number of printers. From them, we determined that the following costs per page for black-and-white and four-color pages for inkjet and laser printers are about average.

Inkjet printers:
Plain black text: 4 cents to 5 cents per page
Simple four-color page: 12 cents to 14 cents per page

Monochrome laser/LED printers:
Plain black text: 1 cent to 2.5 cents per page

Color laser/LED printers:
Plain black text: 2 cents to 3 cents per page
Simple four-color page: 12 cents to 15 cents per page


If your printer’s costs fall at or below these averages, that’s good. But if its costs exceed these averages, you should consider looking for a different printer. A person who prints two dozen or fewer pages per week, mostly text with a little color, might tolerate a higher cost per page; but with so many good printers out there, why go with one that's going to soak you?


Here are some printers and multifunction printers (MFPs) we've tested recently that aren't as inexpensive as they look:

LEXMARK C543DN
CANON PIXMAR MX330
DELL 2130CN
EPSON WORKFORCE 40
LEXMARK X543 DN
HP PHOTO SMART C4680


2. Lower-Capacity Inks = Higher Cost Per Page

PC World's research has shown time and again that lower-capacity ink and toner cartridges cost you more in the long run. If you print relatively little, it may not matter much, since the high cost is spread over a longer period of time. But if you print a lot, look for ink cartridges with yields above 250 pages, or toner cartridges with yields above 2000 pages. Some printers offer high-yield consumables that can save you a lot more. Here are the worst and best models for cartridge capacity that we've reviewed recently.

Worst: Printers with standard-size cartridges that are low-capacity and pricey:

EPSON WORKFORCE 40
HP PHOTOSMART D7560
EPSON WORKFORCE 600
DELL 1230 C
DELL 1320 C
HP COLOR LASERJET CM2320 NF
HP PHOTOSMART C4680


Best: Printers that give you lots of ink or toner for a low price:

HP OFFICEJET PRO 8500
DELL 3130 CN
KONICA MINOLTA MAGICOLOR 4695 MF
DELL 3115 CN

3. Plain Paper or Bust

If your inkjet printer requires specially coated paper to produce the best-looking output, you'll end up shelling out a lot for paper over time. Most inkjets can print at least adequately on plain paper, but a few that we've tested recently still can't hack it.

EPSON WORKFORCE 40
DELL P703W
KODAK ESP9
KODAK ESP7

4. The Waiting Game

A slow printer steals your time. But as important as print speed is, you need to take any printer vendor's page-per-minute (ppm) speed claims with a grain of salt: Some vendors quote draft-mode speeds or use other contrivances to make their printers seem faster than they'll actually be in normal everyday use. Here are some particularly slow printers that we've tested recently:

EPSON WORKFORCE 40
DELL P703W
KODAK ESP 9
KODAK ESP 7
RICOH AFICI0 SP 232 SF
DELL 2145 CN

5. Cheapo Paper Trays

One way that some vendors reduce the cost of their cheapest printers is by providing skimpy (low-capacity) or flimsy paper trays. So you save a few bucks at the front end, but then for the life of the printer you have to waste time replacing paper constantly or fighting with a bent plastic extension that rattles annoyingly. Some designs even pile printed pages right on top of blank ones in the same tray. Among the cheesiest models we've seen recently are these suspects:

BROTHER HL-5370 DWT
HP PHOTOSMART C4680
EPSON WORKFORCE 600
XEROX PHASER 6128 MFP
RICOH AFICI0 SP 3300 DN
DELL 1230 C
XEROX PHASER 3250 DN

Well, when you guys go buy a printer, keep the above information in mind.

George