Windows 7 beta expires

[Ashley Williams]

Hi Guys

Im running windows 7 beta and have for a while ive bought myself a copy of pro of the tinterweb. Now ive got everything where i want it in beta so im just wondering when does beta expire aka stop working. Dont want to turn it on one day to find beta isnt going to work and i still have all my stuff on it. So basically trying to delay the switch as long as possible.

A

[rjfvillarosa]

The two hour shut downs will start in March, I can't remember when W7 beta will quit working all together.
W7 beta cannot be upgraded to the retail version, you must do a fresh installation with your new DVD, so backing up all your documents is about to become a priority.

[doubledragon5]

Originally Posted by rjfvillarosa The two hour shut downs will start in March, I can't remember when W7 beta will quit working all together. W7 beta cannot be upgraded to the retail version, you must do a fresh installation with your new DVD, so backing up all your documents is about to become a priority.

I asked MS tech support about this every 2hr shut down. They claim that is a myth, we wll see in March..

[rjfvillarosa]

I cannot find the notification that came with W7 beta, but this is for the 90 day trial version of W7 Enterprise edition.


From the Microsoft TechNet site:

Guidelines on usage: Protect your PC and data. Be sure to back up your data and please don’t test Windows 7 on your primary home or business PC. You have 10 days to activate the product. If not activated within 10 days, the system will shut down once every hour until activated. Unsure on how to activate? Visit our FAQ. The 90-day Trial is the full working version of the Windows 7 Enterprise, the version most of you will be working with in your corporate environment. It will not require a product key (it is embedded with the download). The 90-day Trial will shut down once every hour when you have reached the end of the 90-day evaluation period. The 90-day Trial is offered for a limited time and in limited quantity. The download will be available through March 31, 2010, while supplies last. After the 90-day Trial expires, if you wish to continue to use Windows 7 Enterprise, please note that you will be required to purchase and perform a clean installation of Windows 7, including drivers and applications. Please keep this in mind; Windows 7 Enterprise is not available through retail channels. Technical details/updates/questions: Please review our FAQ or visit the Windows 7 support forum. Stay informed. You can keep up with general technical information and news by following the Springboard Series blog. Want technical guidance, tips, and tools? Visit the Springboard Series on TechNet. Keep your PC updated: Be sure to turn on automatic updates in Windows Update in case we publish updates for the 90-day Trial. Microsoft Partners-: Learn more about Windows 7 on the Microsoft Partner Portal.

[striker833]

You should maybe consider this method, lots of people including myself have used it to upgrade to retail



Basically, copy of all of the files from the retail disc to a folder on your hard drive, pop open the “sources” directory in that folder, and open up the file called “cversion.ini” in Notepad. Change the number 7233 to read 7000 (you’re telling it the minimum version that’s allowed to upgrade). Save it, and now you can do an upgrade install


Just run setup.exe from the files you got from disc