If you attended one of the many Visual Studio 2008 InstallFests we held across the country during December and January, you may be experiencing the “this trial copy is about to expire” message. By now, you should have received your *free*, fully-licensed copy of Visual Studio in the mail. You DO NOT have to uninstall your trial copy and re-install the licensed copy. To apply the key and unlock VS2008, go to the Control Panel and select add/remove programs (or Programs | Program and Features in Vista). Click on the listing for Visual Studio 2008 and choose to Modify/Change the program. This will launch the initial setup screen for Visual Studio where you should be able to enter your license key.
Haven’t received your license key? Did you register your trial copy that you received at the InstallFest? On the back of the disc sleeve that you received at the InstallFest, there was a registration code and website that you needed to visit to register the code and sign up to receive your free copy of Visual Studio. The deadline to claim that registration code is February 25th. If you didn’t claim your registration code and you no longer have the code available, well then… I’m sorry to say, you may be out of luck. In that case, be sure to visit an upcoming Visual Studio launch event near you for a chance at getting a copy of Visual Studio.
March 17, 2008 at 14:30
Awesome! thanks for the tip. What I was told at the installfest was completely wrong :0