Windows 7 build 6469

Windows 7 build 6469 is the earliest available build of Windows 7, which was uploaded to BetaArchive on 26 April 2011. This build is specific in that it was compiled as a private build, with binary files having the  flag set in their version information and the builder user name being present in the build tag. In addition, most included apps and setup are signed by "WEX Build Lab Account" (the display name of the  account).

This is the last build to show the information regarding the system's RAM on the About Windows applet, which had been present since Windows 1.0. It is also the last build to have the Windows 2000-era banner in the aforementioned applet. It is also the last build to include the Windows Sidebar before being replaced with the Desktop Gadget Gallery in builds 6471 and 6519.

Due to its earliness, this build identifies itself as Windows Vista in most areas.

New features and changes

 * The kernel version has been changed to 6.1.
 * Setup uses the updated background image first introduced in Windows Vista build 6001.16549.
 * The texture of the Aero taskbar from Windows Vista has been slightly updated.
 * The Classic Start menu, first seen in Windows 95, has been completely removed and can no longer be enabled. However, its registry value still exists and the classic menu option is still referenced in the Help and Support Center.
 * The gradient used in Explorer's command bar has been updated, now having a more blue appearance.
 * The "How to Share Feedback" reporting tool has been inherited from Windows Vista Beta 2/RC 1 builds.
 * The option to choose which volumes to defragment has been added back to the Disk Defragmenter after being removed in the RTM build of Windows Vista.
 * Windows PowerShell 1.0 is now included as a preinstalled application.
 * This is the earliest known build to include, which at this point has a file description of "Windows NT BASE API Mini Client DLL" (the word "Mini" was later removed).
 * Starting with this build, an upgrade from Windows XP is no longer supported.

Control Panel

 * Classic View has been removed, and replaced by the All Control Panel Items view. This new view uses tiles for icons, and features more padding between the icons.
 * The final link in Category View now goes to All Control Panel Items rather than to Additional Options like in Vista.
 * The left pane for both the category and All Control Panel Items views is now collapsed, and it only contains an icon that when clicked from the latter returns the user to Category View.

Superbar
This build already includes an early version of the Superbar. To enable it, open Registry Editor, go to, create a key called  , create a DWORD value called  , and set its value to.

"No GUI" boot screen
There is a hidden boot screen unique to this build. To enable it, open System Configuration Utility -> Boot -> No GUI Boot box, and then restart the system. This will result in a bootscreen with the Windows flag and a large 7, as shown below. This boot screen was not seen on the RTM build.

Installation
In VMware on some machines, you must change the hardware version to 8.x or earlier (and consequently change the CD drive to IDE) or the build will not boot due to a bugcheck with code.

People Near Me
People Near Me (and thus also Windows Meeting Space) fails to launch with error.

Desktop icons
Showing the Control Panel icon on the desktop will also cause All Control Panel Items to show.