Windows 7 Beta Begins to Expire July 1, 2009

If you're still running a beta version of Windows 7 – basically any build before 7100 – you'll probably want to upgrade to one of the Release Candidates or go back to your previous operating system.

Starting tomorrow July 1, 2009 all beta versions of Windows 7 will start shutting down every two hours – a huge annoyance if you plan on doing anything on your computer that requires an uptime of any time longer than that. Even if you can deal with prematurely ended computer sessions, after August 1, 2009 the beta will expire completely.

If you haven’t done so already, it's time to clean house and either move forward or backward.

We're guessing that if you've been using the beta for this long already, you'd like to continue. While Microsoft doesn’t officially want to its beta testers to upgrade from beta to RC (clean installs or Vista upgrades are what Microsoft prefers), those who can’t be bothered to backup their test machines can jump right to the RC courtesy of a Microsoft-provided workaround.

Read more about upgrading from beta to RC here.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
  • justjc
    For those wondering the release candidate, known as Build 7100 will not have this behavior untill March 1, 2010.
    Reply
  • jsloan
    no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Reply
  • jsloan
    justjcFor those wondering the release candidate, known as Build 7100 will not have this behavior untill March 1, 2010.
    oh, i feel better now. ;-)
    Reply
  • alvine
    what about those activation programs?
    http://i40.tinypic.com/11cfnu0.png
    Reply
  • eddieroolz
    Even if activated, it will expire.
    Reply
  • Kill@dor
    Just get the RC1 if you plan on keeping it longer...it will last till March 2010 which is really awesome.
    Reply
  • This does not apply to all releases before 7100.

    Type winver in the run menu or command prompt too check your actual expiration date.
    Reply
  • randomizer
    I'm sure this is only for "untouched" versions.
    Reply