I just got the email that Win7 beta will start its bihourly shutdowns on June 1st and this has sent me into a panic. I haven't been able to install Win7 RC yet because I am in the midst of finals and final projects time at school. They go thru June 10, and I didn't want to have to overhaul my computer in the middle of them. I thought I had till Aug 1st, and now I find that my computer is going to start shutting down every 2 hours in the middle of my finals! Is there anything at all I can do about this short of installing Win7 RC? I am definitely installing the RC after finals, but I just can't afford to do it now. Please help!

According to this link: http://blogs.technet.com/springboard/archive/2009/04/30/plan-ahead-for-windows-7-beta-and-rc-expiration-dates.aspx"The Beta expires on August 1, 2009, and bi-hourly shutdowns will begin July 1, 2009."- John

You have got to be kidding!

This is a direct quote from an email I got from Microsoft TODAY (so not from a blog or 3rd party): IMPORTANT REMINDER ABOUT BETA EXPIRATION DATEThanks again for your help in testing the Windows 7 Beta.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 aboutinstalling Windows.)

"Is there anything at all I can do about this short of installing Win7 RC? " to answer your ?, specifically... no. there is nothing you can do to stop the impending start of the bi-hourly shutdown. there's no reason to panic, though. sure, it'll be a bit of a hassle to restart your machine every two hours, but the beta doesn't expire, leaving you out of luck. just deal with it until after june 10 when your tests are finished and then rebuild your machine with the rc. and just a reminder... ms did advise all of us who installed the beta (and the rc) ***not*** to use it as our primary/production system.

what?

"Is there anything at all I can do about this short of installing Win7 RC? " to answer your ?, specifically... no. there is nothing you can do to stop the impending start of the bi-hourly shutdown. there's no reason to panic, though. sure, it'll be a bit of a hassle to restart your machine every two hours, but the beta doesn't expire, leaving you out of luck. just deal with it until after june 10 when your tests are finished and then rebuild your machine with the rc. and just a reminder... ms did advise all of us who installed the beta (and the rc) ***not*** to use it as our primary/production system. Haha, I know...unfortunately, this wasn't my main computer until my main one died. Anyway, I really hope it's a typo in the email.

I'm pretty much in the same state (except it's trying to ship a new release -- finals are long since over for me).This June 1st date isa pretty sudden thing to drop on us! We need a short term work around for this.Mike

I am not particularly impressed with this - how can Microsoft have so little concern for their users to drop something like this on us at the last minute - and then to mess it up by announcing two different dates that we have to start worrying about (June 1, 2009 and July 1, 2009).Microsoft - please clear up the misundertanding ASAP.And if Microsoft wanted the beta to expire on June 1 or July 1 - they should have done this - the bihourly reboot doesn't make any sense - nag screens every 2 hours perhaps but a reboot is a very customer unfriendly move!!!! Where is the common sense that appears to be so sorely lacking at Microsoft - that appears to be destined to take what is an incredible product (Windows 7) and do its best to turn the market against it.Paul

I also received the e-mail and assume it's a typo. If not, this is anexcellent opportunity to utilize your time management skills and create a couple of hours over the next seven days. Good luck on the finals!

Microsoft has not yet posted a clarification or a revision of this statement, and as such, I'd recommend treating it as fact for the time being. June 1 is, after all, only a week away; it wouldn't be a bad idea to back up data to an external drive in preparation for a reformat.-Alex

to be clear, june 1 (or july 1, if that's the real date) is *not* the expiration of the beta. it's just the start of bi-hourly shutdowns. august 1, 2009 remains the published expiration date. plenty of time to get moved over to the rc for continued testing.

True enough, but if I'm trying to use a system that shuts down every two hours, I call that unusable.Therefore, as soon as that starts the Beta is effectively over. If you can't rely on it, you can'tuse it. Anyone using the Beta will have to move to the RC as soon as the shutdowns start occurring.If that's June 1st, then I smell a"Hi, I'm a Mac." "And I'm a <shutdown>" commercial.Mike

I entirely agree with the original post, also finding myself in a position that requires not shutdowns until the 3rd of June has past. Initially given the impression in January that the beta would continue to August, I was not worried. Upon announcement of shutdowns on 1st July from the Windows blog early May, I was still not concerned, knowing that it was beyond my required date of 3rd June. That blog post on the Windows blog sealed my decision to not install the RC. I am also angry at the fact that MSDN subscribers are left completely out of the loop on any of this. I did not receive any emails myself about the Beta 1 shutdown, despite downloading it from MSDN. Maybe it is the case that this cut off does not apply to MSDN subscribers, in which case I would appreciate clarification. I'm aware of the test nature of beta operating systems, but if this 1st June date is correct, I will be thoroughly, thoroughly displeased with the poor communication.

I installed this program ShutdownGuard: http://code.google.com/p/shutdownguard/ But I am not really confident it will protect me, because it sounds like it is easily circumvented. Any other ideas out there?

Warren & Jmonkey - Try this:Click Start Orb Type WinVer.EXE >enter<Note the expiration date. It's 1 month prior to August 1st - or July 1st. No? That's the date the bi-hourly shutdowns begin - at 5 pm.

Good spot Wolfie2k6! For me it does indeed say 02/07/2009, 1am (which is 01/07/2009 17:00 seattle time!) Well spotted.....

Warren - Good thing you mentioned Seattle time... Your dates had me confused for a second... What's he talking about Feb 7th?But anyhow... It wasn't hard to figure out. When I noticed that WinVer was giving a date 1 month ahead of the announced date, it was reported as being a "bug" at the time - it stuck in my mind for some reason. When I reported it, it had already been flagged as a 'bug' by others. When the bi-hoiurly shutdown thing was first announced just before the RC's release - it kinda just fell into place. It's not a bug - the Beta's version of WinVer reported July 1st, 2009 and the RC's version reports the expiration date as being March1st, 2010 - the dates the bi-hourly shutdowns are scheduled to start. Coicidence? I think not.

Microsoft has not yet posted a clarification or a revision of this statement, and as such, I'd recommend treating it as fact for the time being. June 1 is, after all, only a week away; it wouldn't be a bad idea to back up data to an external drive in preparation for a reformat. -Alex People should always be using different partitions for data anyway. It makes no sense anymore for people to still be using C for their data. Partitions are very easy to create and can and will save lots of frustration when C drives need formatting. Cheers.

No offense but isn't the point of us even having this OS to TEST it. So why wouldn't you have already moved on to the RC by now?

This is a direct quote from an email I got from Microsoft TODAY (so not from a blog or 3rd party): IMPORTANT REMINDER ABOUT BETA EXPIRATION DATEThanks again for your help in testing the Windows 7 Beta.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 aboutinstalling Windows.) Hi JMonkeYJI think the email has the wrong date, here's why.2 weeks before the system starts the Bi-Hourly Shutdowns you will start getting a popup notification that these shutdowswill be starting in 2 weeks. This means that this notification would have to start displaying on May 18th, 1 week ago. I have not seen any post from anybody who has seen this popup.Also, if you follow the link in the email you received to the Beta FAQ, you will see this information. 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.) If you have not seen this notification yet, then it's probably safe to say that the email has the wrong date.However, it doesn't hurt to be ready, just in case. JRegards,Thank You for testing Windows 7 Ronnie Vernon MVP

Hey everyone, It seems the email was in error, as officially confirmed here.... http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/05/25/clarification-on-the-date-for-bi-hourly-shutdowns-for-the-windows-7-beta.aspx *sigh of relief*.... now I can concentrate on my university final thesis presentation next Wednesday, and then enjoy installing the RC the minute I get home :) Thanks to everyone who posted some helpful suggestions

thanks a lot for the clarifications, guys.