Enable or Disable Auto Activation Feature in Windows7/ Vista

Enable or Disable Auto Activation Feature in Windows7/ Vista

 

Some software are available for download in their “trial version”. These trial versions are freewares that are mainly used to give a trial or to test a software. Users satisfied with the software may try the “full version” of it in the future. However, once these promotional versions are installed, a message to activate the software by entering the product key appears. This message appears every time a user logs on to his system.  This is the Auto-Activation feature of Windows.

For example, a user using a 30-day trial version of Windows 7 gets a message to activate his O.S. every time he turns on his computer. This might be a little irritating feature to some users.

We, here, at Tech-Tips-Geek plow on the processes to disable or enable (in case the user wants to activate the software after a period of time) this auto-activation feature in Windows Vista and in Windows 7. You might also like to read How to Stop Windows 7 Genuine Advantage Notification Messages.

Enabling or Disabling Auto-Activation :

Auto-Activation in Windows is a feature that is provided with an option to the user to either enable or disable it during installation of the O.S. In case the user hadn’t opted either or wants to change his choice, the Windows Registry is the place to work upon. The Auto-Activation feature can be disabled or enabled by simply changing a value in the registry. However, even the simplest of tasks may go wrong. Hence we strongly recommend that the user creates a backup of his Windows Registry prior indulging in any of the steps below.

Working in Windows Vista :

Follow the steps mentioned below to enable or disable the auto-activation feature in Windows Vista.

1. Press “Windows key+R” to open the “run” box. Type in “regedit” and press ENTER. You can also click on “Start” and type in “regedit” in the search box and press ENTER.

2. The Windows Registry Editor opens up. Navigate to the location

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SL\Activation.

3. On the right-hand-side of the Registry Editor locate the REG_DWORD value “Manual”. Right click on Manual and select “Modify”.

4. In the Value Data box that appears change the DWORD value to either 0 (to enable the auto-activation feature) or to 1 (to disable the auto-activation feature). Press ENTER.

5. Close the Registry Editor and reboot your system.

Auto-Activation feature is now enabled or disabled for Windows Vista.

Working in Windows 7 :

Follow the following steps to toggle the Auto-Activation feature for Windows 7:

1. Open the Windows Registry Editor in the process described for Windows Vista. Click on “Yes” to confirm the User Control Account message that appears to continue.

2. The Registry Editor appears. Navigate to the location

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtection Platform\Activation.

3. Proceed in the steps 3-5 as mentioned for Windows Vista.

Auto-Activation feature is now enabled or disabled for Windows 7.

The Windows Auto-Activation feature is a policy provided to the users to activate the softwares satisfying them. Disabling this feature, by no means activates the software to its full version. It only stops the notification messages that appear regularly to the user.