How To Extend Windows 8 Developer Preview Expiration Date?

Microsoft has made available an update for Windows 8 Developer Preview and Windows 8 Server Developer Preview to extend its expiry date to 15 January, 2013. After installing the update, users will be able to use Windows 8 Developer Preview for one more year.

Initially, Windows 8 Developer Preview was meant to expire on March 11, 2012, while the Windows 8 Server Developer Preview had its expiration date set for April 8th, 2012. As soon as the expiration date is reached, systems running under these platforms will periodically restart. If a user want to further test Windows 8, they had an option to install Windows 8 Consumer Preview, which is supposed to release on Feb 29, 2012. or install the update and extend the expiration date while keeping the present install running.

But before we reveal more details about the update, lets see what would happen when Windows 8 Developer Preview and of Windows 8 Server Developer Preview expire.

Users will receive a message on the Activate Windows screen in Control Panel to inform them on the matter:

The license for this pre-released version of Windows has expired. You’ll need to enter a new product key to activate Windows. Until you activate, Windows will restart every 1 hour, so you should back up your data. Install the latest version of Windows.

On the Windows Activation screen, the following message will be displayed:

This pre-release version of Windows has expired. Your computer will restart every 2 hours and you might lose any unsaved data.

Moreover, users will not be able to personalize their PC after the expiration date of Windows 8 Developer Preview. They will need to Activate Windows before getting access to personalization capabilities on their PCs. Starting 14 days before the expiration date, Windows will start delivering notifications to the desktop and in the Security section of Action Center:

This pre-release version of Windows will expire soon. Go to Windows Activation to purchase and install a released version of Windows.

So if the users want to keep testing Windows 8 Developer Preview, start Windows Update from Control Panel, and then click Check for Updates in Windows 8 Developer Preview or Windows 8 Server Developer Preview and install the update KB2671501 to extend the expiry period.

Info: If you are no longer interested in Windows 8 or just want to get back to Windows 7, please refer to this official guide by Microsoft.

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