Helmers Blog

The 10th of February…..besides it’s my birthday , it’s the day that Microsoft pulls the Windows 7 Public Beta offline! So if you didn’t downloaded the ISO already….DO IT NOW!

Or at least start the download in the next few hours, you have till February 12th to finalize the download. Don’t forget to get your (legal) key (you can even get your key after February 12th)!

Check out the schedule below to see when what happens: Source : WindowsTeamBlog

• Starting January 27th, the Windows 7 page will be updated with a warning that time is running out on downloading the Windows 7 Beta and that we will be limiting downloads shortly. People will be encouraged to register and start the download of the Windows 7 Beta sooner rather than later.
• February 10th, new downloads of the Windows 7 Beta will no longer be available. People who have already started their Windows 7 Beta download and have not yet finished will still be able to finish their download and are encouraged to do so.
• February 12th, people will no longer be able to complete their download of the Windows 7 Beta. Anyone who hasn’t finished downloading the Windows 7 Beta will be unable to do so.

Product keys for the Windows 7 Beta will continue to be available. So if you have the Windows 7 Beta but didn’t get a product key you will be able to do so even after February 12th.

Everybody who received a Not For Resale copy of Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 at one of the event’s last year (Heroes Happen Here or Teched IT Forum EMEA for example ) could surf to  www.registerwindowsvistasp1.com and after entering the PIN (you can find it inside toe Vista promo kit) you’ll receive and e-mail with a valid productkey. Too bad the last possible day to do so was December 31st 2008. I’m one of the guys who forgot to activate, so I’m very happy that the deadline has been extended to June 30, 2009!

Thanks go to Keith Combs for blogging about it, so I can still receive a valid product key for the copy I received at Teched IT Forum EMEA 2008!

Just returned from a nice weekend in Paris, so I missed the info about the Windows 7 Beta downloads and what happens after the initial 14 days of downloading.

It’s good to hear that Microsoft has announced that you’re still able to download the beta of Windows 7 until February 10th! So still more then 14 days to check it out. A quote from the Windows Team Blog about the shutdown of general availability of the Windows 7 Beta :

• Starting January 27th, the Windows 7 page will be updated with a warning that time is running out on downloading the Windows 7 Beta and that we will be limiting downloads shortly. People will be encouraged to register and start the download of the Windows 7 Beta sooner rather than later.
• February 10th, new downloads of the Windows 7 Beta will no longer be available. People who have already started their Windows 7 Beta download and have not yet finished will still be able to finish their download and are encouraged to do so.
• February 12th, people will no longer be able to complete their download of the Windows 7 Beta. Anyone who hasn’t finished downloading the Windows 7 Beta will be unable to do so.

Product keys for the Windows 7 Beta will continue to be available. So if you have the Windows 7 Beta but didn’t get a product key you will be able to do so even after February 12th.

MSDN and TechNet Subscribers will continue to have access to the Windows 7 Beta bits throughout the Windows 7 Beta phase. The above dates do not apply to MSDN and TechNet Subscribers.

Also a good thing : You can even get a valid Windows 7 Beta product key after February 12th! En when you even have a MSDN of TechNet Subscription, you can even download the Windows 7 Beta after that date!

Click here to download the Windows 7 Beta ISO.

Update : This procedure did only work with the Windows 7 beta version!!!  It DOESN’T work with the current version of Windows 7!

To receive a valid Windows 7 Beta/RC key just click here to visit the official Windows 7 Product Key page, or follow the instructions below.

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