Extend VMware Workstation Technology Preview July 2014 license until VMware Workstation 11 is GA

Here's my scenario. I already owned VMware Workstation 10. But when the beta for 11 came along in July, known as VMware Workstation Technology Preview July 2014, it piqued my interest, as I really wanted to see if I could help prevent the GA product from having the same triple monitor support bugs I've been noticing for some time now. The only way to really do that was to make sure I had a full backup, then jump right in. I've been using the full-time for 3 months now, on my primary system. I'm glad I did, especially since the speed-up is quite nice, IF you follow my simple tip here:

How to disable debug mode in VMware Workstation Technology Preview 2014 for a serious speed boost

Posted by Paul Braren on Fri Jul 11th, 2014

The thing is, when October 17th rolled around, I was out of luck. I found that my 3 month beta period had expired.  I was able to limp, since VMware Player still worked actually, despite the "License Expired" warning.

But without VMware Workstation, I was unable to create new snapshots in VMware Player, and I had some issues with triple monitors that Workstation didn't exhibit. I wasn't particularly interested in rolling-back to VMware Workstation 10. I wanted back in, on Workstation 11 beta. Ideally without the hassle of uninstall.

Over in the VMware Community area that announced the beta:
https://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/workstation/vmware-workstation-technology-preview-2014

it showed a new license key
M50AC-J034J-08L8A-03ARM-3D14A
was available now, to extend the preview until January 15 2015. This must be in response to the need to give some people time to get the GA code, announced on Oct 01 2014 here:
http://blogs.vmware.com/workstation/2014/10/vmware-workstation-11-vmware-player-7-pro-announced-today.html
which states:

We’re excited to announce VMware Workstation 11 and Player 7 Pro today with general availability in December 2014.

Remember, I wanted to avoid the hassle of VMware's recommended procedure:

To enter the new License Key, uninstall Workstation Tech Preview, make sure "Product License Information" is unchecked in the Preserve Workstation Configurations Window during uninstallation, then reinstall it and enter this new License key.

This seemed knowing it must be in the registry. I then located this gem of a tip, as far as how to actually add that new license key right to the registry, over in the VMware Community Discussion:

Easier way to upgrade your license to 1/15/2015

where WoodyZ gives us the actual procedure that's pretty darn easy:

There is no need to uninstall or muck around in the Windows Registry! Simply use the following command in and Administrative Command Prompt.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\x64\vmware-vmx" --new-sn M50AC-J034J-08L8A-03ARM-3D14A

See also the 2 minute video I've created, which shows the fix, and the immediate result. Enjoy!