Beginning on February 14th at midnight, the Windows 7 expiration process will start–with infrequent warnings first, then more frequent notices, then forced restarts every two hours, then a complete expiration and a black desktop. Here’s the full schedule from Microsoft’s blog:
“On February 15th, people still running the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) will receive a notification reminding them that starting March 1st, 2010, their PC will begin experiencing bi-hourly shutdowns. These shutdowns will continue through June 1st, 2010.
“On June 1st, 2010, a non-genuine experience is triggered where your wallpaper is removed and ‘This copy of Windows is not genuine’ will be displayed in the lower right corner above the taskbar. This means your PC will no longer be able to obtain optional updates or downloads that require genuine Windows validation.”
Filed under Windows 7 by on Feb 10th, 2010. Comment. 
If you wanted to snag a release candidate copy of Windows 7 via Microsoft’s Web site, you’ve missed your chance. As of this morning, a message on the site reads:
“Sorry, the Windows 7 RC is no longer available for download. If you’ve got the download and need a product key, they’ll be available until October 21, 2009.”
In other words, if you can retrieve the RC download via other (legal) means, a product key is still available through the Microsoft distribution site.
Filed under News, Windows 7 by on Aug 20th, 2009. Comment.
It appears that Windows 7 beta testers who are using the publicly available release candidate of the new OS will need to uninstall the pre-release software and re-install their valid Windows XP or Windows Vista edition before applying the final Windows 7 upgrade.
Microsoft states:
“When you install the final version of Windows 7, you’ll need to do a clean installation. So plan on backing up your data then reinstalling your applications and restoring your data.”
However, if you are purchasing a discounted, upgrade edition of Windows 7, you will need to first perform a clean install of a genuine edition of Windows XP or Vista before proceeding with the final Windows 7 upgrade. Windows Vista can be directly upgraded to Windows 7, while Windows XP requires a clean installation.
Microsoft provides instructions on how to uninstall the Pre-release version of Windows 7 and revert to a previous genuine operating system.
Filed under Windows 7 by on Jun 26th, 2009. 1 Comment.
Neowin reports that Windows 7 beta users who are still on build 7000 will start to experience bi-hourly shutdowns on July 1, 2009. The shutdowns are Microsoft’s mechanism to remind users to upgrade to build 7100. On August 1st, all betas will expire, and begin to show the “Windows not Genuine” message.
You can avoid this issue by downloading the public release candidate of Windows 7, which will be available until August 15, 2009.
Filed under News, Windows 7 by on Jun 25th, 2009. Comment.
Today, Microsoft released the first Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC1) [Download here]. Many users are likely to encounter a variety of issues, such as startup problems, application crashes, performance hiccups and more, after the update. Here’s a run-down of the best methods for preventing these issues and making your update experience a smooth one:
Backup First and foremost, a full backup should be performed prior to any major system update. Your best bet is to use a tool that can create a complete, bootable backup of your primary volume. If major problems ensue post-update, you will have working copy of your current applications and documents that can be put into use immediately. Acronis True Image is one such tool. Alternatively, you can use Windows Vista’s built-in backup tools.
Make sure your system meets requirements Requirements for Windows 7 are as follows:
- 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
- 1 GB RAM (32-bit); 2 GB of RAM (64-bit)
- 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit); 20 GB of avaiable disk space (64-bit)
- DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
Check for spyware Next, eliminate any spyware or malware that might interfere with the update process or create conflicts after your system is updated. Various free or inexpensive tools, including Ad-Aware and Spybot are available for this purpose.
Disable antivirus software until after installation After you’ve made sure that your system doesn’t have any viruses or spyware, you will actually want to disable antivirus software until after you’ve completed the Windows 7 upgrade. Some antivirus programs can cause conflicts with Windows 7–for instance, Kaspersky may cause a BSOD.
Kill any unnecessary startup processes Eliminating any unnecessary startup processes, or removing all third-party startup processes, can reduce compatibility headaches that often follow major system updates. Launch the System Configuration utility by clicking “Windows” then entering “System Configuration” in the search bar and pressing return. Click on the “Startup” tab and remove any unnecessary items, then restart.
Disable non-essential services Many freezes after Windows upgrades are the result of problematic third-party system services. Follow our guide for disabling non-essential services before running the Windows 7 upgrade.
Update drivers Check manufacturers’ websites for the latest driver editions for any third-party devices that are connected to your system. Many manufacturers have already updated their drivers for basic compatibility with Windows 7.
Disconnect any unnecessary devices Aside from your keyboard, mouse, monitor and network connectivity, virtually all external device should be disconnected from your system right before you install Windows 7. Disconnecting these devices can preclude a variety of issues. Once the update is applied, you can reconnect the devices one by one and check for compatibility issues.
Get your devices working Perhaps the biggest challenge facing Windows 7 upgraders involves hardware incompatibility. Many devices will be rendered temporarily unusable by the new OS or exhibit compatibility problems that will make them not worth using. See our guide to getting devices to work with the new OS.
If installation fails You may encounter in which Windows 7 installation fails at the very end of the process, with the system rebooting automatically as soon as the Windows 7 splash screen appears. The system then displays a message indicating that it was not shut down properly. A fix for this issue can be found here.
Windows 7 may also fail to install, giving the error message “Setup was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition. See the Setup log files for more information.” Generally this error occurs in situations in which multiple disks are connected to the system.
In order to eliminate this issue, disconnect any disks that are formatted as “dynamic disks.” Dynamic disk volumes cannot be changed back to partitions, causing the Windows 7 installation process to fail. Simply disconnect any external or internal hard disks that are formatted as dynamic disks then re-attempt installation.
If you are upgrading from a previous pre-release build of Windows 7 If you are using a previous pre-release build of Windows 7, such as build 7100, you will not be able to directly update to the RC. Instead, you will need to follow a series of steps provided by Microsoft to bypass the normal upgrade routine.
Feedback? info@windowsfixup.com.
Filed under Windows 7 by on May 5th, 2009. Comment.
Microsoft has announced that it will post a downloadable beta of the Windows XP Mode tool for Windows 7 alongside the public release candidate on May 5th. The releases will be available from the Microsoft download center.
Filed under News, Windows 7, Windows XP by on Apr 30th, 2009. Comment.
The official Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC)-the same build 7100 that leaked earlier–and the final build of Windows Vista SP2 have hit Microsoft’s private servers, and are now available to eligible users, specifically:
- Microsoft Connect subscribers: members of the closed beta program
- Technet and MSDN subscribers: paid account holders (accounts start in the $2500-range)
Subscribers are experiencing some difficulty getting through to the servers (which are apparently overloaded) to download the new releases.
Filed under Windows 7, Windows Vista by on Apr 30th, 2009. Comment.
Users are noting a variety of issues after updating to the Windows 7 Release Candidate, build 7100:
Bugs
- Blue screens (BSODs) Some users have reported an increased incidence of BSODs after the update to Windows 7 build 7100. Some of these cases may be related to a conflict between the Kasperskey antivirus software and new security updates included in the OS, which we covered previously. See our fix here.
- Taskbar Thumbnails do not appear properly The thumbnail previews of items in the Windows 7 taskbar may not appear properly in the new build of Windows 7, coming up blank. This generally occurs directly after the user switches themes.
- Decreased Graphics Aero score A number of users have reported a significant drop in their systems WEI (Windows Experience Index) Graphics Aero score after the update to Windows 7 7100. This means that either Microsoft changed the scoring methodology, or a difference in drivers or some configuration file has resulted in an actual score reduction.
- Wireless signal bars never displayed Some users have reported an issue in which wireless signal bars are never displayed in the status portion of the taskbar. Instead, the “networks available” icon is persistently displayed.
- Windows Media Player problems Several users have reported that music tags are missing or songs display the wrong titles in Windows Media Player under Windows 7 build 7100.
If you are experiencing similar issues, or have any other bugs or fixes to report, please let us know.
See our previous coverage “Windows 7 RC Leaked: What’s New, What’s Fixed, What’s Broken” for more.
Filed under News, Windows 7 by on Apr 27th, 2009. 1 Comment.
[Updated Sun., April 26th; 1:30 PM PST]
The unofficial release candidate edition of Windows 7, available to authorized beta testers, has leaked. The new release, build 7100, includes a number of significant enhancements and resolves some bugs extant in previous releases. It also provides some significant feature enhancements.
What’s new
- Better performance Several users have reported increased speed from Windows 7 build 7100, particularly with regard to startup times and gaming performance.
What’s fixed
- Erroneous “Read-only” message Previous builds of Windows 7 would sometimes state that Office documents were “read-only” when users attempted to save them, when in fact they were not read-only. This bug has been fixed in Windows 7 build 7100.
- Dropped connections Windows 7 build 7100 fixes an issue in which the Internet Connection would persistently drop when using some WiFi cards.
- Spotify, an online music discovery service, now works. It had issues with previous Windows 7 builds.
What’s broken
- ThinApp Users report that VMWare ThinApp (virtualized applications distributed as a single executable) still do not work with this build of Windows 7.
- Windows Media playback On some systems, Windows Media has problems playing back .mov and mkv files after the Windows 7 build 7100 update. In some cases, this issue can be resolved by removing the K Lite codec pack and instead installing CCCP.
- McAfee VirusScan Some users have reported problems with McAfee VirusScan Enterprise and other editions of the antivirus software after updating to Windows 7 build 7100.
- Upgrading If you had a previous, pre-release version of Windows 7 installed, you cannot directly upgrade to Windows 7 build 7100. However, there is a workaround.
- Upgrading If you had a previous, pre-release version of Windows 7 other than build 7077 installed, you cannot directly upgrade to Windows 7 build 7100. However, there is a workaround.
- DAEMON Tools Lite Several users have reported that DAEMON Tools Lite v4.30.4 causes an endless BSOD loop after the update to Windows 7 build 7100.
Noticed any other improvements or changes? Drop us a line at info@windowsfixup.com.
Filed under News, Windows 7 by on Apr 24th, 2009. 3 Comments.