0xC0000268 Fix: Windows Evaluation License Expired

What's actually happening here

Error 0xC0000268 (STATUS_EVALUATION_EXPIRATION) means Windows was installed as an evaluation copy—Windows 10 or 11 Enterprise Evaluation, typically—and the 90-day grace period ran out. The system doesn't crash completely; it boots far enough to show the lock screen or a black screen with a mouse cursor, then refuses to let you log in. You'll see a message that your evaluation period has ended, or you'll just get stuck in a login loop.

The key insight: the evaluation timer is stored in the registry and cached in the BIOS. You've got two paths out—either convert to a licensed edition without losing data, or reset the evaluation timer to buy time. I'll cover both, starting with the quickest win.

Quick fix (30 seconds) – Check if you can even reach safe mode

Before anything else, try forcing safe mode. At the login screen, hold down the Shift key and click the power icon, then select Restart. If that works, you'll land in the recovery environment. From there, Troubleshoot → Advanced Options → Startup Settings → Restart, then press F4 for Safe Mode.

If safe mode loads, you're in luck—the fix is simple. If you can't even get that far, skip to the moderate fix below.

Once in safe mode, open a command prompt as Administrator and run:

slmgr /rearm

Reboot normally. This resets the evaluation timer back to 90 days. The reason this works: the rearm command tells the licensing service to store a new expiration timestamp in the registry, and the OS reads that on next boot instead of the cached BIOS value. You get 90 more days of full functionality.

You can run slmgr /rearm up to three times total before it stops working (that's four 90-day periods, giving you a year of evaluation). After that you'll need the permanent fix below.

Moderate fix (5 minutes) – Use the command line from recovery

If safe mode is a no-go, boot from a Windows installation USB or recovery drive. At the setup screen, press Shift + F10 to open a command prompt. You'll be in the Windows PE environment, not your installed OS, but you need to target that OS directly.

First, figure out which drive letter Windows assigned to your installation. Run diskpart, then list volume. Look for the partition with the Windows folder—usually D: or E: if your boot drive is C: (which is actually the system reserved partition). Exit diskpart with exit.
Run this command, replacing D: with your actual Windows drive letter:

D:\Windows\System32\slmgr.vbs /rearm

If you get an error about the script not being found, use the full path with the correct drive letter. The reason this works from PE: you're executing the same licensing script against the offline Windows installation's registry hive. The script modifies the registry key at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform directly.

Reboot into normal mode. Should let you in. If it doesn't, you might need to convert to a permanent license.

Advanced fix (15+ minutes) – Convert evaluation to a retail or volume license

This is the permanent solution. You can convert an evaluation copy of Windows to a licensed edition without reinstalling your apps, files, or settings. The trick is to upgrade the edition in-place using a product key that matches or supersedes the evaluation edition.

For Windows 10/11 Enterprise Evaluation, you can convert to Enterprise (if you have a volume license key) or to Pro or Pro Workstation using generic keys that trigger the edition upgrade.

From an elevated command prompt (use the safe mode or recovery method above to get there), run:

DISM /online /Set-Edition:Professional /ProductKey:VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T /AcceptEula

Replace the key with:

Pro: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T
Pro Workstation: NRG8B-VKK3Q-CXVCJ-9G2XF-6Q84J
Enterprise: use your volume license key if you have one

This command removes the evaluation status and installs the retail license. It requires about 5-10 minutes, and the system will reboot twice. Important: Your system must support the target edition. Pro won't work if your hardware requires an Enterprise-specific driver, but that's rare. Most systems are fine.

After the conversion, you'll need to activate with a valid key. If you don't have one, Windows will run in a reduced-functionality state (no updates, watermark), but at least it'll boot and let you use the desktop.

If nothing above works

You've exhausted the software-based fixes. The next step is to back up your data from the recovery environment using copy commands or a Linux live USB, then do a clean install of a non-evaluation version of Windows. This happens when the BIOS-level evaluation flag gets corrupted and the rearm command can't override it. I've seen it on old Dell Latitude 5480 laptops shipped with evaluation images—sometimes the firmware holds a residual flag that even a rearm can't clear. In that case, a clean install is the only fix.

One more thing: If you're running Windows 10 21H2 or earlier, you can also try resetting the evaluation timer via bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal to force safe mode on next boot—but that's a gamble. I'd stick with the recovery command prompt approach.