OK - so I got it fixed.

1. Ran a full ccleaner registry sweep AFTER uninstalling all versions of Sketchup from the machine

2. Reinstalled the FREE version

3. Tried to start the free version, Got the same old "sketchup pro trial expired screen"

4. Went into regedit

5. Searched for sketchup 8 entries

6. At the bottom of those entries appeared this item: Welcome Dialogue

7. Within Welcome Dialogue there are two entries - the bottom one is AllowRevertToFree

8. Go to edit command, then to edit

9. Change the value from "0" to "1"

10. Close regedit

11. Reboot machine (I just did this to be certain the change "took"

12. Start machine, click on Sketchup 8, and HOORAY! The option of "revert to free" now appears on the pro trial expired startup screen.

13. Back to sketchup!

Hope this helps someone with a similar problem. Thanks for all your help!

John and Mike, Indiana, USA

@tig said:

You speak of Win7 but your profile says Vista - can you update your SCF records...

TIG, thanks for all your attention on this. The machine that is affected by this problem is my friend Mike's Windows 7 Toshiba laptop. I run an old-school desktop with Vista, and as I've never downloaded the Sketchup pro trial I'm not having the problem that Mike is.

Both Mike and I are older gents and I'm a little bit more computer savvy, so I joined the forum as I'm trying to help him find a fix.

I'll try the ccleaner as soon as I can, and report back. I accessed regedit just now on my machine and can't make heads or tails of it - but at least I'm on the right path and some more research/study should solve my knowledge problem.

John H, Indiana, USA

@tig said:

You can't simply 'delete' an earlier version...
You must UNINSTALL it.
Look at Control Panel > Programs etc...
Find the appropriate entry and 'Uninstall' it.
It has to be removed from the Registry 'properly'...

THEN you can try to reinstall things...

I used the windows 7 control panel to fully uninstall the program 3X now... with no success. Each time I reloaded the free trial version... and each time it went straight to the "trial expired" screen upon opening.

I've read in other more technical forums that it could be a failure of the uninstaller to remove the original registry entries, but I'm not enough of a techie to know the procedure.

Help! (drowning sound)

@dave r said:

SketchUp 8 doesn't automatically revert to the free version when the pro trial expires. You'll need to download the free version and install it.

From the release notes for Maintenance Release 2:

@unknownuser said:

SketchUp Pro Trial no longer reverts to free features at the end of the evaluation period.

I've deleted pro and downloaded the standard version 3X now, to no avail. I still get the "your pro evaluation is expired" whenever I try to use the free program.

It is a windows 7 laptop... perhaps something in the registry file is leftover from the pro trial period? Help!

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum, but have been using Sketchup for years. When SU8 came out I decided to try the pro version for the trial period, which is now over.

I need to continue using Sketchup, but don't use the pro features - and I can't get my machine to revert to the free version. I've deleted the program completely from my computer (3X), with reboots in between each operation, reinstalled the free (approx 35mb) download file all three times, and it STILL won't give me access, and the program opens with the pro version prompt for the end of the trial period.

Help Help HELP! I use SU8 everyday for personal use, love the program, and now I'm completely locked out!

Mike, Fort Wayne, Indiana