I'm on Windows 7 Build 7600 (Ultimate), according to the watermark that suddenly appeared today on a x64 machine that was setup, brand-new, with Windows 7 six months ago. Is there any means, at this date, to remove the Watermark? What is the explanation for its sudden appearance.

What do you see on the Watermark? A non-genuine message? Build 7601 for showing that you use Sp1 Beta or what do you see?"A programmer is just a tool which converts caffeine into code" CLIP- Stellvertreter http://www.winvistaside.de/

The Watermark reads, "Windows 7 Build 7600".

Where did you buy your Win7 version? Ebay? Take a look here: http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/genuinewindows7/threads Small IT companies has also used "false" MSDN/Technet keys to install Win7, and almost all copies sold on Ebay is fake.Kenneth Myhre

It’s possible to remove and delete the watermark from Windows 7 desktop, by using the hacking technique published by My Digital Life that modify user32.dll.mui file to remove watermark strings. People who doesn’t have the skill, technical knowledge or patient to do the job themselves can download the following watermark removal script instead. Note that each Windows 7 Watermark Removal Script only supports a specific build version of Windows 7. Please download the correct version to ensure proper deletion of watermark for clean desktop. Update: Remove Watermark universal desktop watermark remover is a universal watermark patcher that supports all versions and languages of Windows, including 32-bit and 64-bit. Download Remove7Watermark.exe – mirror (for Windows 7 Build 7000) Download Remove7Watermark.exe – mirror (for Windows 7 Build 6956) Run the Remove7Watermark.exe as administrator. Restart the computer to make the change effective after successful patching. The script only supports English (en-US) Windows 7. Tip: If the batch script above doesn’t work, try out Remove Watermark automated patches, which supports all languages and all Windows versions. When running, the script will install a patched version of user32.dll.mui after making the backup of original user32.dll.mui to user32.dll.mui in %systemdrive%\User32Backup\ folder and user32.dll.mui.bak in %windir%\System32\en-US\ foder. So, to uninstall the patch and reset or restore the watermark, just copy or rename back the file to original location or name.

This Windows 7 Ultimate version was purchased and downloaded via MSDN subscriptions downloads, per the licensing agreements with my employer.

I recomend that you post a new thread here: http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/genuinewindows7/threads and run and post the result from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012 Maybe the MSDN account to your employer has been blocked. Kenneth Myhre

Check the following registry key: HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop\PaintDesktopVersion A value of "1" shows the current Windows build (and SP level) on the desktop. A value of "0" turns it off. I believe this can also be set Domain-wide via a Group Policy. Has someone been messing with your registry or Domain policies?