Done with "Unofficial" Builds

[Chappy]

Howdy Y'all

I've decided that all these Unofficial releases are just not worth the trouble anymore, and I'm going to concentrate on this Official RC release until we go RTM or another official release from MS.

I have specific reasons for this also, the very foremost is that MS doesn't take into consideration any feedback from Unofficial builds since they aren't set up for proper debugging and can't be relied on for true feedback. They're released to a very specific group for testing fixes to specific problems, and can cause "known" side effects that need further work. So for MS to try and go thru feedback coming from the general public running builds that simply are not meant for machines outside of a specific testing criteria, makes no sense and can actually make it harder to sort out real issues.
And while I totally understand why so many people want to have a Free OS to use for a year, I also feel it's outside of the true spirit of what Beta Testing is all about. And I think we all know MS isn't "too" unhappy with all these leaked builds either as it's been pretty positive PR so far and free advertising for them.
But I want to get back to basics and test the He!! outta this thing, and help MS get this puppy out to RTM.

I got my copy of 7100 from my TechNet subscription on Apr 30th and just got everything installed last night.
I also have to STRESS to anybody who doesn't want to Clean install and try the upgrade (with version hack) from an unofficial build...DON'T!! There are Known issues with this as some low level changes will not respond well in an upgrade situation and it's just not worth it really. Take the time and do it right or face some possible problems that simply can't be fixed thru normal ways.

Anyway, I hope everyone here enjoys their time with W7 and shows their appreciation for MS including us in this process by Buying it when it's released! There are changes in the version structure with W7 when it goes retail and I think most people will see an improvement over the Vista version debacle (semi)...LOL

Take Care!

 

[Jacee]

but i want to get back to basics and test the he!! Outta this thing, and help ms get this puppy out to rtm.

yay!!!

 

[xan K]

different from you, I got the "legit" leak (hashes match) prior to the official release. but I am also staying put with this one as I have installed everything and I'm happy with it.

 

[PhreePhly]

Howdy Y'all

I've decided that all these Unofficial releases are just not worth the trouble anymore, and I'm going to concentrate on this Official RC release until we go RTM or another official release from MS.

I have specific reasons for this also, the very foremost is that MS doesn't take into consideration any feedback from Unofficial builds since they aren't set up for proper debugging and can't be relied on for true feedback. They're released to a very specific group for testing fixes to specific problems, and can cause "known" side effects that need further work. So for MS to try and go thru feedback coming from the general public running builds that simply are not meant for machines outside of a specific testing criteria, makes no sense and can actually make it harder to sort out real issues.
And while I totally understand why so many people want to have a Free OS to use for a year, I also feel it's outside of the true spirit of what Beta Testing is all about. And I think we all know MS isn't "too" unhappy with all these leaked builds either as it's been pretty positive PR so far and free advertising for them.
But I want to get back to basics and test the He!! outta this thing, and help MS get this puppy out to RTM.

I got my copy of 7100 from my TechNet subscription on Apr 30th and just got everything installed last night.
I also have to STRESS to anybody who doesn't want to Clean install and try the upgrade (with version hack) from an unofficial build...DON'T!! There are Known issues with this as some low level changes will not respond well in an upgrade situation and it's just not worth it really. Take the time and do it right or face some possible problems that simply can't be fixed thru normal ways.

Anyway, I hope everyone here enjoys their time with W7 and shows their appreciation for MS including us in this process by Buying it when it's released! There are changes in the version structure with W7 when it goes retail and I think most people will see an improvement over the Vista version debacle (semi)...LOL

Take Care!

I got the leaked build, but other than that, I concur, I think I'll work this version through its paces until RTM.

I was tempted to test the upgrade process by first installing vista and some programs, then upgrade. Ultimately I would have still blown it all away and performed a clean install, as I am a firm believer in clean installs. I didn't have the time

I will most definitely be buying this OS, although I haven't decided which version yet, Professional or Ultimate. I don't really need the bitlocker function and I connect to a Novell Network at work and a WHS at home, so Pro seems the best for me.

PhreePhly

 

[Anthony]

There's a point, if we have the official 7100, how do we send feedback to Microsoft?

Has the "send feedback" finished in RC or am i missing something??

 

[SqdnGuns]

There's a point, if we have the official 7100, how do we send feedback to Microsoft?

Has the "send feedback" finished in RC or am i missing something??

From a previous thread:

RUN: rundll32.exe FeedbackTool.dll,ShowWizard

 

[Anthony]

From a previous thread:

RUN: rundll32.exe FeedbackTool.dll,ShowWizard

and this is what Microsoft wants us to do, in order to send feedback :huh:

 

[Colonel Travis]

I'm no conspiracy theorist, but for pete's sake - matching hashes does not mean matching files 100% of the time any more.

I'm not even saying it happened with these RC leaks. All I'm saying is that the vulnerability of the MD5 checksum was exposed a few years ago, and you have absolutely no assurance, in the case of the leaked 7100, that what you got is the real deal, other than other people saying "Oh yeah - it's the real deal." Really? What's the other proof? I've seen none.

And I'm saying this as a guy who's running a leaked version of 7100. But like Chappy, I'm downloading the official RC so I don't have to bother with any possible crap that may or may not be lurking under my keyboard.

 

[myzr7]

Howdy Y'all

Anyway, I hope everyone here enjoys their time with W7 and shows their appreciation for MS including us in this process by Buying it when it's released! There are changes in the version structure with W7 when it goes retail and I think most people will see an improvement over the Vista version debacle (semi)...LOL

Take Care!

Yep to that!
I do have a machine with leaks on it but I also have a main pc with 7000 on it and a bunch of tweaks and files and programs. Sure am going to hate to delete that partition. Windows easy transfer please work. Ready, set, Cinco De Mayo one wakeup away!
Enjoy! Larry

 

[PhreePhly]

I'm no conspiracy theorist, but for pete's sake - matching hashes does not mean matching files 100% of the time any more.

I'm not even saying it happened with these RC leaks. All I'm saying is that the vulnerability of the MD5 checksum was exposed a few years ago, and you have absolutely no assurance, in the case of the leaked 7100, that what you got is the real deal, other than other people saying "Oh yeah - it's the real deal." Really? What's the other proof? I've seen none.

And I'm saying this as a guy who's running a leaked version of 7100. But like Chappy, I'm downloading the official RC so I don't have to bother with any possible crap that may or may not be lurking under my keyboard.

Well, I don't look at the MD5 hash, I look at the SHA-1. It's a big step to get a 3+ GB file to hash to an identical SHA-1 hash. The chances are in the astronomical range. To have both hashes match, ie. the MD5 and the SHA-1, you can be sure that the two files are identical.

PhreePhly

 

[Chappy]

yay!!!

LOL!!!

How come I knew that would come from you Luv...

and this is what Microsoft wants us to do, in order to send feedback

You know..that is kinda weird aint it.
I think it's probably because they're not really interested in the basic feedback from the public about "this & that" GUI or related type of feedback and are concentrating on the feedback they get thru the MSDN, TechNet, and official 7 forum for any real major deal breakers with the RC. That's my theory anyway and I'll stick with that till someone hits me with a shovel...

matching hashes does not mean matching files 100% of the time any more

While that IS true, it's more an issue with Certs over SSL/TSL than something like this. MD5 collision can be used to make this type of file make hashes match but it's far more work than simply inserting your malware, converting it to DVD format, and just say that's why the hash doesn't match. Plus if the MD5 and SHA-1 match, you're pretty sure it's OK...even tho SHA-1 has it's issues too and we should use SHA-256 (except nobody uses that yet)

I don't know about the rest of you, but that darn Program Compatibility bug still pops up in this build. Almost every time I install a program, I get that pop-up stating "This program may not have installed properly" and the options to "Install using recommended settings" or "This program Installed properly".
I always either cancel it or select option B and all the programs work fine. I'll be bringing that up on TechNet tomorrow and see where it goes.

 

[Jon55]

There's a point, if we have the official 7100, how do we send feedback to Microsoft?

Has the "send feedback" finished in RC or am i missing something??

Straight from the RC Download Page:

How do you test the software? You put it on your PC, and then do what you'd normally do. Your PC will automatically and anonymously send our engineers the information they need to verify the fixes and changes they made based on the Windows 7 Beta tests.

Not sure what this means exactly though.

 

[Chappy]

Not sure what this means exactly though.

That probably means they've "permanently" turned on the "Send Anonymous Details to MS" in the RC, on any errors that MS may consider to be important.
So I guess we'll be seeing a ton of "My PC keeps contacting some site.." threads from those who monitor this kind of activity...
With the numbers of people expected to get this RC, I would think MS is also using a few servers so we may need to find out their IP's so we can weed those out for them.

Personally, I think this is a much better way to do it also. MS can customize the degugger process and sort out the useless chaff from the seed of the problems more easily.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
To replicate the Hash algorithms you'd need all the computers on the planet plus the estimated future lifetime of the Sun (approx another 4.5 Billion years).

I doubt whether some "pimply semi literate teen" would have either the resource or knowledge to even ATTEMPT to do this.

By all means download the real one -- nothing wrong with that -- and the fact that there are a different set of keys (again albeit not many and they work for both the 32 and 64 bit versions - no separate set for each version) might mean MS knows whether your version was downloaded from the official site or obtained via a torrent. (The Beta keys do work as well however but if you've got the proper version use those keys).

But don't get paranoid with Viruses, trojans etc -- AV software often reports False positives -- so how do you decide if your system is really infected anyway.

If you use AV software then check with at least 2 different programs.

Check also the logs in your router - and if you want to add another level of safety only access the Internet via another "Proxy" which can dynamically check for stuff like this anyway.

If you are satisfied with your existing build of 7100 just use it for as long as you feel comfortable with it.

If you've had it for a while now and are satisfied with it why undo it all and go through re-install etc etc.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[xan K]

Hi there
To replicate the Hash algorithms you'd need all the computers on the planet plus the estimated future lifetime of the Sun (approx another 4.5 Billion years).

I doubt whether some "pimply semi literate teen" would have either the resource or knowledge to even ATTEMPT to do this.

By all means download the real one -- nothing wrong with that -- and the fact that there are a different set of keys (again albeit not many and they work for both the 32 and 64 bit versions - no separate set for each version) might mean MS knows whether your version was downloaded from the official site or obtained via a torrent. (The Beta keys do work as well however but if you've got the proper version use those keys).

But don't get paranoid with Viruses, trojans etc -- AV software often reports False positives -- so how do you decide if your system is really infected anyway.

If you use AV software then check with at least 2 different programs.

Check also the logs in your router - and if you want to add another level of safety only access the Internet via another "Proxy" which can dynamically check for stuff like this anyway.

If you are satisfied with your existing build of 7100 just use it for as long as you feel comfortable with it.

If you've had it for a while now and are satisfied with it why undo it all and go through re-install etc etc.

Cheers
jimbo

totally agree with you, man!

 

[brusse01]

yay!!!

in total agreement with Jacee and Chappy!

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

I had the earlier 7100 running but just finished clean installing the "official" RC a little while ago and activated with the new key.

I agree with Chappy.

















Later Ted