The Beginning of the End for Windows 7 RC Users

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Free ride is over!

If for some reason you're still running Windows 7 Release Candidate (build 7100), today is the day that you'll to see bi-hourly shutdowns. The RC was released in May 2009 as a final public test before Microsoft finalized the Windows 7 RTM build in July 2009.

While Windows 7 RC has been free to use without restrictions since its release, Microsoft made it no secret that March 1 would be the last day that users could continue the free ride. Users who haven't heeded the regular pop-up warnings of the RC's expiration, encouraging backup of data in preparation of migration to another version of Windows, will now experience a shutdown every two hours.

Those who continue to work through the shutdowns every two hours will see on June 1 a shift to a "non-genuine experience," which replaces the backdrop wallpaper with the message "This copy of Windows is not genuine" plastered at the lower right corner of the desktop.

Anyone out there still with a now-narcoleptic Windows 7 RC machine still kicking around?

Marcus Yam
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.
55 Comments Comment from the forums
  • davendork
    I'm running on W7 RC and it does seem to be aff
    Reply
  • davendork
    ting anything I need to do.
    Reply
  • uh_no
    time to shell out!
    Reply
  • festerovic
    For those of you wanting to upgrade to Win7 ultimate from RC-1, know that it is possible to do an Upgrade install (which keeps everything how it is right now)instead of doing a clean install. M$ reps will swear its not possible, but it is.
    It requires changing a single file on the windows install diskas well as copying the contents of the windows disk to a folder on your hard drive. It is located in the sources folder, file is called: cversion.ini. You need to change the minclient value to 7000.00 and then save the file. The hit setup and enjoy.
    Reply
  • redplanet_returns
    The Beginning of the End for Windows 7 RC Users

    wouldn't it be more like a new beginning for Windows 7 RC users? :)
    Reply
  • itadakimasu
    My wife's computer came up w\ that warning. Time to grab another copy of Win7 to install since Windows 7 is so awesome.
    Reply
  • mbmcavoy
    My ~4 year old PC was running Win7RC, and I will agree it is "the best Windows yet"! Still, I rarely even used it, and I had to to tech support almost every time my wife turned it on.

    I was actually happy for this deadline to come - I finally convinced my wife to let me replace it with a new Mac Mini!

    Reply
  • wotan31
    Windows 7 blows. It's not faster than Vista in any way, it's just another bloated kludge. I'm waiting for Windows 8.
    Reply
  • I am still using the RC! I have been seeing the Windows activation wizard pop up telling me to back up. At the time of the writhing, the wizard tells me I have 4 hours before the expiration. I will be going back to vista, but still not sure when.
    Reply
  • jhansonxi
    Linux and Mac users agree that what Microsoft needs to do is get rid of this annoying amateur DRM timeout garbage and just require a dongle.
    Reply