END_OF_NT_EVALUATION_PERIOD 0x00000098 – evaluation Windows Server shuts down

Fix it now

This is not a fault and there is nothing to troubleshoot. Microsoft publishes 0x00000098 as the trial period for the Windows operating system having ended, with the expiration date carried in the first two parameters. The only route back into service is converting the edition with a purchased key – and not every evaluation converts to every edition.

slmgr /dlv
DISM /Online /Get-CurrentEdition
DISM /Online /Get-TargetEditions

1. Read what the machine actually is. Get-CurrentEdition names the installed edition and Get-TargetEditions lists what it can become.
2. Check the conversion is possible before you buy. Microsoft documents evaluation Standard converting to retail Standard or retail Datacenter, evaluation Datacenter converting only to retail Datacenter, and evaluation Standard Core converting only to retail Datacenter Core.
3. If this server is a domain controller, stop. Microsoft states you cannot convert a domain controller from an evaluation version, and the documented route is different – see the next section.
4. Convert with your purchased key: DISM /online /Set-Edition:ServerStandard /ProductKey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX /AcceptEula, then restart.
5. Activate and confirm: slmgr /ato, then slmgr /dlv. The licence status line should read Licensed on a non-evaluation channel.

Take a backup or a checkpoint before converting. It is an in-place operation on a live installation, there is no undo, and an expired evaluation server will shut itself down again while you are part way through.

If the server stays up past the interval you were seeing, you are done. If Set-Edition refuses, or you are on a domain controller, the next section explains why and what to do instead.

Why it happens

Evaluation media is the complete product. Nothing is removed and nothing is crippled; what it carries instead is an expiry date held by the software licensing service. Client editions of Windows respond to an expired grace period with a watermark and reduced personalisation. Server editions do not: the kernel issues 0x00000098 and stops the machine, then does it again shortly after the next start. Parameters 1 and 2 of the bug check are the low and high 32 bits of the product expiration date, so the date is on the screen if you care to convert it.

That behaviour is deliberate. An evaluation server is meant for a proof of concept rather than production, and the shutdown cycle makes it impractical to run one indefinitely. It does leave a short usable window after each start, which is enough to read the edition, run the conversion and restart.

0x0000009A is a different statement about the same subsystem. Microsoft publishes SYSTEM_LICENSE_VIOLATION as the software licence agreement having been violated, and parameter 1 identifies which kind. The documented values include an attempt to change the product type of an offline system, an attempt to change the evaluation time period of an offline evaluation unit, and an attempt to change the licensed processor count offline, along with a series of failures reading the licensing keys in the registry. In practice that means it appears where something has edited licensing state from outside the running system – which is what unofficial activation tools do.

One thing this article deliberately does not tell you is how many times an evaluation can be rearmed. slmgr /rearm is documented as resetting the activation timers and nothing more; Microsoft publishes no maximum and no remaining count that we could verify, so treat any specific number you are quoted as unsourced. Use a rearm to buy hours while a purchase completes, not as a plan.

Full reference

Which evaluations convert to what

Microsoft states plainly that you cannot convert all Windows Server evaluation versions and editions to all retail versions or editions. Reading that table before raising a purchase order saves a specific and unpleasant kind of afternoon.

The commands, and what each is for

What the symptoms tell you

Edition conversion and rearm both change licensing state on a running server and both require a restart. Take a full backup or a checkpoint first and schedule the work, because an expired evaluation server will shut itself down again on its own timetable, including while a conversion is in progress.

Planning the licence before you buy

Windows Server is licensed by physical core. Microsoft’s licensing guidance for Windows Server 2025 states a minimum of 8 core licences per physical processor and a minimum of 16 core licences per server, with core licences sold in 2-packs and 16-packs. Licensing all the physical cores of a server grants two operating system environments on Standard and unlimited operating system environments on Datacenter. Client access licences are required for every user or device accessing the licensed server, with External Connector licences as the alternative for external users.

Those numbers decide the shape of the answer more than the sticker price does. A two-socket host running a dozen virtual machines is usually cheaper on Datacenter than on repeated Standard licences, and the crossover point is arithmetic rather than opinion: count the cores, count the virtual instances, and compare.

Every code this article covers

Confirm the fix worked

1. DISM /Online /Get-CurrentEdition reports the licensed edition rather than an evaluation one.
2. slmgr /dlv reports Licence Status: Licensed on a non-evaluation channel.
3. The server stays up for longer than the shutdown interval you were seeing.
4. No further 0x00000098 entries appear in the System event log.
5. If the machine held roles, confirm they still work after the restart the conversion required.

Questions people ask about this