Error Message: This Pre-Release Version of Windows Has Expired (272499)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
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
| Modification Type: | Minor | Last Reviewed: | 1/14/2006 |
|---|
| Keywords: | kbFAQ kbprb KB272499 |
|---|
|