Can’t Use My Azure Free Hours – Any Workarounds?

It seems like B1s sizes are being phased out in several regions. You could try checking under Subscription > Usage + Quotas and look for the B-series quota details; then you can request a quota adjustment. Alternatively, deploying a B2ATS or B2PTS VM could be free in your regions. Be sure to look up those options if you haven’t already! Here are a couple of links that might help:

1. [VM Region Availability](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5778558/in-which-region-can-i-create-a-free-b1s-linux-virt)
2. [Marketplace Overview](https://marketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/product/azure-services/microsoft.freeaccountvirtualmachine?tab=overview)

Yeah, I totally get your frustration. The 750 free hours sound awesome, but they're really restricted based on the specific sizes and regions allowed for student accounts. Here are some options:

- First, check the 'Usage + Quotas' in your subscription settings to see if you actually can access areas like East US or West US—sometimes there are options available you wouldn’t expect.

- You might also want to give the B1ls variant a shot. It's the smallest burstable VM available and might slide through some of the restrictions that apply to the B1s.

- If your school provides a Visual Studio Enterprise subscription, that typically gives you a $150 monthly credit with fewer restrictions. It could really open up more opportunities for you!

I know it's a pain, as these restrictions are mostly to prevent abuse like crypto mining, but they really affect legitimate use cases. Keep experimenting with options—there's gotta be a solution that works!

If you want to try a different approach, I have an old Toshiba laptop I can give you. You might find it quite handy for your projects instead!

Have you checked your subscription quotas? Sometimes you might find that certain VM sizes or regions become available with a quick look in your account settings. It's worth checking out!