Windows 2000 Evaluation Copy Expiration Behavior

This article describes the behavior of the Windows 2000 Evaluation version and what happens when the 120-day evaluation period expires.

When the time period has expired on a computer that is running the evaluation copy of Windows 2000, you receive the following message approximately one hour after logging on (this time can vary): After approximately one hour (this time period can vary), Windows 2000 either restarts automatically or generates a stop message as follows: By default, Windows 2000 is configured to restart when a stop message occurs. If this default setting is in place, it may seem that Windows 2000 is restarting itself with no warning or message displayed. To change the default behavior:

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. On the Advanced tab, click Startup and Recovery.
3. Click to clear the Automatically Reboot check box, and then click OK.

"End of evaluation period" messages or restarting can occur if Windows 2000 is installed from a Windows 2000 Evaluation CD-ROM, or from boot disks that were created from a Windows 2000 Evaluation CD-ROM and used to start Setup on a retail Windows 2000 CD-ROM.

Event Viewer records information about evaluation copies expiring. When you receive the initial warning that you have only one hour before shutdown, the following event is recorded in the System event log: When Windows 2000 generates the stop message and restarts, the following event is recorded in the System event log:

Identifying an Evaluation Version

The Windows 2000 Evaluation version places the following information on the desktop: Note that the identifier on the desktop is hidden if Active Desktop is enabled.

When you are installing a copy of the evaluation version of Windows 2000, Text-mode Setup warns you that you are installing an evaluation version with the following message:

Upgrading A Windows 2000 Evaluation Version

You can run Winver.exe to determine which version of Windows 2000 you are running and it reports when the expiration date is for the program. To remove the 120 day timebomb from the Windows 2000 evaluation version, purchase the Windows 2000 full retail version and upgrade your computer.

Note that you must upgrade using the Windows 2000 full product and not the Windows 2000 upgrade-only product. The Windows 2000 upgrade-only product looks for qualifying products in order to upgrade. The evaluation version is not considered a qualifying product.