orev

Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for!

Does anyone know where the activation key is saved after you load it using slmgr.vbs? Is there a registry entry or something? Background here is I'd like to do a clean install on my laptop, but it only comes with recovery DVDs. I can use the Anytime Upgrade DVD to run the clean install, but would like to "back up" my activation from the original installation first, then use that to activate the clean install (trying to avoid any interaction with MS). I'm aware that I can obtain the oem xrm-ms file from other sources, but would prefer to copy it from the existing install.

There is a link to exactly that type of guide in the post right above yours!

You can follow my easy to use guide here: Clean Vista install WITH NO ACTIVATION to start from a clean install. Then you can use vLite to start customizing, or whatever else you want to use.

Wow, thanks for that! I actually found TClockEx first, a long time ago. Then I did some research and found the original TClock, and had the impression that the guy who did the TClockEx version was taking credit for the work. Then I found Alfaclock, which seems to have done a lot for the idea, works better on XP, but then there's the problems on Vista. I'm glad to see that you have redone the original version, and have updated it to work with Vista also. This program has been indispensable to me, and I'm still amazed that Microsoft doesn't make a better clock. On the source code thing... most programmers feel like their projects are never really done, and wait to release the code because they fear it will be criticized. What winds up happening is they lose interest, never "get around" to cleaning up the code, and then it's never released. If you still have the intent to release it, I believe it would be good for the Net, and you might get some help with it!

I have used alfaclock (http://www.alfasoftweb.com/alfaclock/) on winxp, and found a way to get it to work on vista. You must run it as administrator. It's probably the same thing for Lclock.