Windows 7 "Genuine (Dis)Advantage"

[Sysman]

I recently logged on to a Windows 7 system which had had the cable accidentally disconnected for a couple of weeks or so and found that it was bleating about activation.

I didn't bother doing the activation at the time, got o with my work and left it for a couple of days.

Hey presto! The next time I logged in it switched the desktop to a black background, told me that I might have been fogged a counterfeit copy, and pointed me at a web page where presumably could buy another copy.

I managed to find and run the activation thingy - my first attempt was via a web interface which didn't work, possibly because my default browser was set to Firefox.

This raises a couple of questions:

• is it possible to run Windows 7 without an internet connection?
• is there a way to disable the "Genuine (Dis)Advantage" feature, and has anyone had success with it?

[Clippy]

• Is it possible to run Windows 7 without an internet connection?
  
  Yes - I believe, Microsoft also offer a telephone number you can call to obtain an activation key.
  
  
  
• Is there a way to disable the "Genuine (Dis)Advantage" feature, and has anyone had success with it?
  
  I don't think so - not officially (legally) anyhow.
  

[PAH]

The only way I know of legitimately extending the period before you have to activate is to do what M$ call the 'rearm' technique. This gives you another 30 days and can be done 3 times to give a total of 120 days evaluation time or free product usage.

This also works for Windows Server. Handy for extended evaluation, or for temporary use in virtual machines.

[Sysman]

The only way I know of legitimately extending the period before you have to activate is to do what M$ call the 'rearm' technique. This gives you another 30 days and can be done 3 times to give a total of 120 days evaluation time or free product usage.

Yes, I know about rearm, but I'd definitely done the activation thing, as you now have to do that for Security Essentials, not to mention Virtual PC and XP Mode. What actually happened was that when the activation disabled itself, what was left of the original 30 days kicked back in. Security Essentials also disabled itself during this process - it appears that it really wants the activation stuff to be done.

This also works for Windows Server. Handy for extended evaluation, or for temporary use in virtual machines.

Although my Windows Server 2008 evaluation pack says 4 chunks of 30 days, MS changed this to 60 days at some point, so you have a maximum of 240 days.

More appropriate for the glacial pace things move in a corporate environment