If you are still a Windows 7 RC version user, then you must have been troubled by the expiration reminder notification window in the past two weeks. Starting from February 15, 2010, Windows 7 RC users will receive an expiration notification on their taskbar every day, and 4 hours after seeing the expiration notification, users will receive a notification wizard every hour.
In the past two weeks, the Windows 7 activation program often reminded RC version users like this:
"The pre-release version of Windows 7 Final Edition will expire in XX days. To ensure the normal working of Windows systems, users should back up their files before installing any version of Windows 7 Final Edition."
For those who are still running Windows 7 RC, today will be the beginning of Windows 7 RC expiration. Of course, the final expiration date of Windows 7 RC version is June 1, 2010.
Starting today, Windows 7 RC will restart every 2 hours, and any open documents will not be saved after the restart. Additionally, users will still receive taskbar expiration notifications.
This situation will continue until June. But starting from June 1, the desktop will turn black after Windows 7 RC is started, and users will also see a Windows activation window to remind users that this version of the operating system is not genuine. In addition, Windows 7 RC will still restart every 2 hours.
Microsoft officially does not allow Windows 7 RC users to upgrade to genuine Windows 7 in place. However, Windows 7 RC users can still upgrade to the final version of Windows 7 through some special methods.