Visual Studio 2012/2013 Express offline installation/activation

visual studio 2012visual-studio-2013

One of my computers is not connected to the internet. Right now it has Visual Studio 2008 Express installed which doesn't require an internet connection at all. Can I install and activate Visual Studio 2012/2013 Express without internet connection?

Best Answer

You can get offline installers for VS2013 Express easily from MS (example), but the Express versions require an Internet connection to re-activate every so often to extend the "trial" mode they run in.

The purchased versions (Std, Pro, etc.) don't.

I can't find any definitive MS sources to confirm this right now, but see this thread and this thread over on Social.MSDN where they say similar:

I've just been on the phone to MPN and MSDN (back and forth a few times) and eventually the MPN guy told me he'd found some internal emails which indicate the new MPN licensing model for Visual Studio 2013 requires you to sign-in every 30 days (or 90 days?) to keep the product active. Apparently signing out and in will extend the "trial period" by a further 90 days each time you do it, for as long as you have a current MPN/MSDN subscription.

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