[Box Backup] XP license for Chris to enable VSS development

[Achim]

Good evening:

As discussed in the thread "Long path names, open files, etc", Chris
metioned that "an XP license would definitely be a great help in that
regard [of starting development of Volume Shadow Service for copying
open and locked files in a consistent manner]."

Does anybody with interest in VSS have an unused (UK/US) XP Pro or Home
license for Chris? Or would people at least be willing to donate to buy
a license? I would be happy to donate 30 EUR towards that end, in case
we do not find a license in another way.

Alternatively, there are free VMs available for download from Microsoft
[1] (not sure though whether they include the VSS component!), or 
Windows Server 2008 which runs for 240 days without activation [2].

 From the page:
> If you need more time to evaluate Windows Server 2008, the 60 day
> evaluation period may be reset (or re-armed) three times, extending
> the original 60 day evaluation period by up to 180 days for a total
> possible evaluation time of 240 days. After this time, you will need
> to uninstall the software or upgrade to a fully-licensed version of
> Windows Server 2008.

Hints on how to use the download to create a bootable CD are here [3].

In case anybody is still doubting the usefulness of VSS on Windows, 
perhaps these success stories for complete disaster recovery change you 
mind [4,5].

Thank you in advance for your consideration, Achim




[1]
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=21EABB90-958F-4B64-B5F1-73D0A413C8EF&displaylang=en>
[2]
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=13C7300E-935C-415A-A79C-538E933D5424&displaylang=en>
[3] 
<http://monishnagisetty.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/windows-server-2008-creating-bootable-iso-from-cd-contents/>
[4] 
<http://www.nabble.com/Vss-BartPE-disaster-recovery-success-story-p588810.html>
[5] <http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384630%28VS.85%29.aspx>