JSI Tip 4605. The evaluation period for this copy of Windows (XP) has ended?

You receive the following message when you start your Windows XP computer:

The evaluation period for this copy of Windows has ended.Windows cannot continue loading.

When you press OK, your computer shuts down?

You have an evaluation or beta copy of Windows XP installed on your computer. The above message indicates that the 180 day evaluation period has expired.

The evaluation copy of Windows XP displays information on your desktop similar to:

Windows XP Professional
Evaluation Copy. Build nnnn

NOTE: If you installed a retail version of Windows XP, and wish to display:

Windows XP Professional             Build 2600

in the lower right hand corner of your desktop, see tip 2188.

You can also run Winver.exe to display the version of Windows XP you are running, and if it is an evaluation version, it will also display the expiration date.

If you installed this version yourself, setup displayed the following warning:

Setup has detected that you are about to install an Evaluation version of Microsoft Windows XP operating system which contains a time limited expiration for evaluation purposes only.

You can upgrade the evaluation version to the full retail version by performing an in-place upgrade with thefull retail CD-ROM. If your evaluation period has expired, you can boot to Safe mode, log on as Administrator and begin the upgrade.