Part of Windows 7 success was undoubtedly related to the extensive pre-release program that Microsoft had in operation prior to the official release of the RTM on the 22nd October 2009. The Windows 7 Beta 1 was released back in January of 2009 and began shutting down every 2 hours from the 2nd of July.
The Windows 7 RC 1 was then released in May of 2009 and there was an unlimited number of licenses available to the public so they could download and try out Windows 7 for themselves. We all knew that the Windows 7 Release Candidate ( Build 7100 ) was going to suffer the same fate as the Beta builds, so a month from today, the 1st of March, the Windows 7 RC 1 will begin shutting down automatically every 2 hours.
Windows 7 will automatically start alerting you to the fact that your copy of Windows is about to expire 2 weeks prior ( February 15th ) to the deadline of March the 1st. On June 1st 2010, if for some reason you are still running Windows 7 RC 1, the non-genuine experience will be triggered and your license will expire. What this means is that your wallpaper will be removed and “This copy of Windows is not genuine” will be displayed in the lower right corner of your desktop, above the taskbar.
So if you want to continue using Windows 7 and are running the Release Candidate ( you can tell by going to Start -> Right Click “My Computer” -> Properties ) you need to buy and install a copy of Windows 7 RTM. For information on upgrading from the RC to the official RTM of Windows 7, see our guides here, here and here. If you’re unsure on whether or not you need to perform an upgrade or clean install, see our guide here. Just remember that Microsoft don’t officially support upgrading from the Windows 7 RC to the RTM.
Now you have ample time to go out and purchase the final copy of Windows 7, back up all your data and install the Official RTM edition of Windows 7 before your system begins shutting down every 2 hours on you.
