Can the free, one year license number be used during the whole year?

I've installed and have been using AyRecovery and am really impressed.  I have defraged the snapshots but at some point in time, could I uninstall Ay in order to do a defragmentation of my HD, and then re-install Ay with my free, one year license number or has that number become invalid as of 12/31/2008?  Thank You!