Microsoft KB Archive/272499

= Error Message: This Pre-Release Version of Windows Has Expired =

Article ID: 272499

Article Last Modified on 1/29/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition

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This article was previously published under Q272499



SYMPTOMS
If you have Windows Millennium Edition Beta 3 installed, you may receive the following error message when you restart your computer:

ERROR: This pre-release version of Windows has expired. Contact your vendor for a new version of Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition.

Press any key to continue.

After pressing a key to continue, the computer does not respond and you receive the same error message.



CAUSE
The Windows Millennium Edition Beta 3 expired on August 15, 2000.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this behavior, you must use a previous version of a Microsoft Windows Startup Disk (Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition) to start the computer and to format the hard disk drive. After that, you need to install a released retail version of Windows.

For more information, please read the Cleanhd.txt file on the Windows Millennium Edition CD-ROM, or click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

221829 How to Install Windows 98 on a Computer with No Operating System

271673 Windows Millennium Edition Cleanhd.txt File Contents

Keywords: kbfaq kbprb KB272499

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