I have Windows 7 beta on my work laptop.. I put it there because everywhere that I read said the beta does not expire until August 1st, 2009 and I figured I needed to force myselft to learn it so I could support it. I did not find anything saying that Windows 7 beta will begin shutting down every two hours on June 1st - crippling my ability to develop. My development is almost entirely in virtual machines - but some of it does rely on the currently installed operating system.Now, after working a lot of overtime, my project is almost ready for startup.. after my vacation this week.. When I get back from vacation, it's back to 80-hour weeks in a stressful industrial plant startup. So I have a ONE WEEK notice that I either have to get another OS on my laptop or I have to deal with two-hour shutdowns during startup! Great.. it looks like I'll be reformatting during vacation.. which is scary considering it is normally unwise to change anything about development during startup..Where the ____ did it say there would be 2-hour shutdowns when the beta was originally made available?! And, what the ____ is the point of two-hour shutdowns? Is there any way to get around this? I'llpay for a Windows 7 license.. I don't care..-- very pissed off IT Manager

ummm... just curious, but why develop against a beta , in the first place? you could download and install the win7rc (bld7100). expiry = june 1, 2010. bi-hourly shutdowns = march 1, 2010.

How long can I test Windows 7?This is a very important question, because Windows 7 Beta and Windows 7 RC each have an expiration date. To avoid interruption, youll need to rebuild your test machine using a valid version of Windows before the software expires. Windows will notify you that the expiration process is beginning and two weeks later your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. The Beta expires on August 1, 2009, and bi-hourly shutdowns will begin July 1, 2009. The RC will expire June 1, 2010, and the bi-hourly shutdowns will begin on March 1, 2010. In both cases, youll need to rebuild your test PC to replace the OS and reinstall all your programs and data.Ref: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/faq.aspxCarey Frisch

was the item about bi-hourly shutdowns for the beta published at beta release? i don't believe i saw it mentioned for the beta until the rc was released and it was stated for both.

From the email I just received, it looks like the 'two hour shutdowns' was moved up a month for the BETA.. And I get a ONE WEEK NOTICE??! And the current FAQ isn't even changed?? How am I supposed to plan around this when I originally downloaded the beta?From the FAQ: (TODAY.. as of RIGHT NOW.. 5/24/09)How long can I test Windows 7? This is a very important question, because Windows 7 Beta and Windows 7 RC each have an expiration date. To avoid interruption, youll need to rebuild your test machine using a valid version of Windows before the software expires. Windows will notify you that the expiration process is beginning and two weeks later your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. The Beta expires on August 1, 2009, and bi-hourly shutdowns will begin July 1, 2009. The RC will expire June 1, 2010, and the bi-hourly shutdowns will begin on March 1, 2010. In both cases, youll need to rebuild your test PC to replace the OS and reinstall all your programs and data. (Learn more about installing Windows.) From the EMAIL: Were sending this mail to remind you that Windows 7 Release candidate is available and to make sure you plan ahead for when the Beta expires on August 1, 2009. On June 1, 2009, the PC youre using to test the Beta will begin shutting down every two hours. Windows will send you a notice a couple of weeks in advance, and thatd be the ideal time to rebuild your test PC with a non-expired version of Windows, such as the RC or Windows Vista. This will be a clean installation, so be ready to reinstall your programs and data. (Learn more about installing Windows.) Which one is right?

i have the same email. it says june... go with june.

All I can say is "Some people are amazing". We were asked to test Windows 7 forMicrosoft not ourselves. What did you expect? I was told not to use this for production systems or where data could be lost. Unbelieveable!!

Does Microsoft have any proper explanation for the one month preponement of the bi-hourly shutdown?

yup. just for testing, not for production.

Beta and RC are both for testing, they didn't ask anybody to use it or make us pay for it. In addition, they said not to try on a machine you "need" for work, school work, paying off bills, trading stocks at the right time, or whatever.I personally don't have any issue with them changing rules as they see fit or necesary so long as they give us aweek notice or so.

brxndxn -The drop dead expiration date of August 1st has been known since the beta was announced. The bi-hourly shutdown thing isn't exactly brand new either. It's been known for a couple of months now. It explains one other mystery - if you hit the Start Orb and type in WinVer - and run WinVer.exe, it will pop up a date that's one month AHEAD of theannounced drop dead date (July 1st, 2009) - which at first didn't make any sense until 2+2 got put together and it was figured out that WinVer was reporting the date when the 2 hour shut downs were to begin. The Winver misrepresentation of theexpiration date wasoriginally reportedin Januaryas being a "bug in Winver" but obviously that wasn't entirely the case.If you run slmgr -dlv from the CMD prompt, it will give you the full license version information. The beta should give you the final drop dead date of Aug 1st, 2009. Secondly... Before Microsoft released the Beta, they made it abundantly clear that it should NOT be used in a production environment. It should be only used on a machine you could test stuff on and wasn't going to cause problems if it crashed or had other issues. While the Beta has proven itself as being very stable - more stable than most beta software probably has a right to be - it's still a beta.

Please dont confuse "two hour shutdown" with "shut down every two hours". I may be wrong...but a two hour shut down means your computer is down for two hours........a shutdown evry two hours means your computer shuts off evry two hours and you just have to reboot.Carrie...can you clarify this for brxndxn

Does Microsoft have any proper explanation for the one month preponement of the bi-hourly shutdown? "Over the weekend, some of you may have received an email from us reminding you that the Windows 7 Beta expires on August 1st, 2009. In that email, we ask that if you are still on the Windows 7 Beta that you should consider moving to a non-expired copy of Windows such as the Windows 7 RC or Windows Vista because bi-hourly shutdowns will begin June 1st. The Windows 7 Beta does expire on August 1st, 2009; unfortunately the date for when bi-hourly shutdowns will begin for the Windows 7 Beta was incorrect however. Bi-hourly shutdowns for the Windows 7 Beta will begin July 1st, 2009 as weve stated both here in this blog post on May 5th and also in the Windows 7 RC FAQ."Ref: Clarification on the Date for Bi-hourly Shutdowns for the Windows 7 BetaCarey Frisch

People need to take a chill pill here and try to understand the issue. Please re-read the original poster's "question" in the original thread of this. First off, YES Microsoft did warn anyone that is going to beta test win 7 (as does many other companys that do beta testing for software) that Beta=Testing and is used for TESTING not for Production or actual day to day use with anything or any files that you or anyone else may have a cow if they get lost, plain and simple. The OP (Original Poster) was unwize to do this. However... The question still remains, with the Beta's currently in 2 hour restarts and soon to be fully expired, is there a fix or perhaps something that can be done to "fully register" or turn those beta machines into full versions via purchasing a license and not needing to fully reinstall the OS? if not would it be something in the future to consiter to help the many people who did testing for a product to actually purchase and use the released product without the hastle of reinstalling? could be a good idea and may even increase not only legitimate copy's of the OS but even sales.