Renewing a Trial Period
 

I downloaded the backup software Acronis TrueImage 11 for a one-time backup job, but by the time my new hard drive had arrived the 15-day trial period expired. I thought I'd just uninstall the program and re-download the trial, but something on my computer is still telling the trial period that it's expired.

Is there something in the registry that I need to remove so that my computer thinks this is a first-time trial again?

I used to set the computer time backwards in years.
Not sure if it still works...

I usually solve this problem by putting the software in question into a VM.

......a VM......?

virtual machine? programs like vmware and virtual pc

and yeah i used to go digging in the registry to find the key for trial periods, its usually somewhere in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE and it was usually pretty obvious
you might want to backup your registry before deleting or changing anything tho

Well it's kind of meaningless now because I checked my new internal hard drive's compatibility with my motherboard and YEP - WRONG FUCKING KIND.

I could have sworn I needed a ATA instead of SATA. Man that discovery was just magical.

Most motherboards come with at least one IDE controller, to which you can connect two devices. So unless both slots are already occupied, you can still hook it up. If they are both taken, you might need to disconnect an optical drive temporarily so you can do your one-time backup.

Still, worst case is you'll have to get an adapter.

Even with notebook drives? My laptop has a separate compartment where the 2.5" drive goes, and I'm not sure if there's even room for an adapter...

Oh sorry, I missed that it was a laptop drive.