In Display Properties, click on the Customize Desktop button on the Desktop tab. On the Web tab, check the Lock desktop items checkbox and click Ok. Should Just Disappear

Just a little heads-up for the next phase – as you correctly point out, Vail is 2008 stripped down to her undies, then dolled up and sent out to work the streets (read Media Centre integration etc..)
The best protection circumvention in 2008, as in Windows7, is linked to SLIC tables in the computer BIOS. (You can even use this for current WHS – a decent alternative to KerrAvon’s method giving you a fully licensed box – have a search on MyDigitalLife forums)
For Windows7 and 2008 you need SLIC2.1 table inserted in your BIOS, and all current versions of 2008 can be installed cleanly, no patch, no hack, no fuss, IF U HAVE A BIOS THAT CAN BE ‘MODDED’ TO INCLUDE THE CORRECT SLIC2.1 TABLE.

Again, a quick search of the MyDigitalLife forum will get you what you need, start here:
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/forums/15-Windows-Server

Using this method is utterly futureproof – The Man cannot risk wrongly disabling legally purchased boxes. It’s also ridiculously easy, far more so than any of the methods used up until now, not a fact to be sniffed at.
It is unlikely in the extreme that Vail will be any different – you will simply have to wait 2 seconds after the RTM reaches China for a OEM SLP key to hit the net (there will probably be leaked keys earlier, but resist the urge to touch them!) and once these are published, it’s game over.

My 2 cents for a happy future: buy popular motherboards, or if you have to buy an OEM box, by the looks of it make it a Dell…
My Windows 7 Ultimate EEEPC and Windows 7 Ultimate workstation built on a popular Asus board, as well as my Lenovo X200 Tablet (now upgraded to 64-Bit Ultimate Windows 7 – it already had the right BIOS) are all legal and licensed ad infinitum, and stand testimony to the folly of the Man.
Happy hunting, and thanks again for working so hard on th current stuff!

Would someone be kind and upload the Windows Home Server ISO file where the files “hivesys.inf” and “install.cmd” is edited. Does not work for me =)

Thank you very much

/ / Joakim

I already tried couple tools like the one you mentioned, and another called “Activator” or something, and am pretty sure that you gonna hit a wall after some time, be it a sudden activation warning msg. out of nowhere, watermark come and go, updating problems, connector doesn’t work..etc

The method outlined here is 100% guaranteed as long as follow the steps exactly as written, and you have to do it just once to have a fully working iso.
I managed to get myself a vlk copy of server2k3 ent. edition (torrents ftw :p) and everything worked pretty well with 0 issues up to this moment..

Thanks abunch KarrAvon and everyone else who worked hard to get this out for all of us.

ps. I’ll probably buy myself a legit copy if things continued as great as it is now, so should do anyone else imo.

Still

Look elsewhere where people know what they talking about.

Here is ALL I did:
1) Download WHS evaluation copy (PP3) from Microsoft website & “Generic Antiwpa-2.3-WinXP-2k3″ (old version).
2) After Installation, use antiwpa, then updates, DONE !!

* Test: forward your system clock to 1 year or whatever !!
** The only thing bothers me is the watermark…that’s why I am here !!

Cheers !!

Sigh.. clueless me on what to do now, anyone wanna spare vlk files and a key? lol

Hope it helps.

The problem now is when i advanced the clock a year ahead, after a restart the system wanted to check the activation status and when i press ok, it opens up the activation window with “already activated” msg, press ok and i get the 1st msg yet again, in a loop it goes..

Any idea whats going on?

Thanks.

It could be (maybe) the version of VmWare “i think so”. I used the 7.0.0 build-203739 version with ISO and DVD burned and is working fine.

Best regards.

If anyone has any ideas why it would be different in the test environment then I’d be interested to know.

I’ve read some posts on this on a forum about VMWare to get around the issue, but nothing seems to work for me. Does anyone have any ideas why this might be a problem?

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/124477;jsessionid=0CB5F5FC6AF8379EFE3BE58F95EC8B53

thanks

Also backups are a huge thing for me on this so I hope the backup algorithm or whatever they use in here doesn’t get screwed up by the additional updates the VLK version picks up.

It was the same case for me only in english version., but after a lot of updates and restarts, i think that is everything is ok, because it was installed all security updates and PP3 (Windows 7 compatible).

In the spanish version it was not the same case. But a few time after, the updates were installed. And is working fine too.

Thanks in advance.

Thanks for your support. At this point is working with W2K3 Std. w/SP2 in Spanish; but I will try with W2K3 R2 Std No Service packs.

Thanks again.

My new ISO is working fine (Windows Home Server VLK)

Thanks to Kerr, Lenny and Chandler for your support. In Special to Kerr for his great “how-to”.

1.- Windows 2003 Std. w/SP1 – VL
2.- SP2 for Windows 2003
3.- Windows Home Server Eval.

My Steps:
1.- Create W2K3 STD w/SP2 – VL Boot Disk
2.- Follow Kerr’s intructions in his blog.
3.- Test in VMware the new ISO
4.- And… ready, it’s working.

I will try with W2K3 R2, No service packs as Lenny says.

Thanks again.