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 built 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.

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.

Taskbar

 * The texture of the Aero taskbar from Windows Vista has been slightly changed.
 * 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.

Windows Explorer
The gradient used in the command bar has been updated, now having a more blue appearance.

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.

Share Feedback
The "How to Share Feedback" reporting tool has been inherited from Windows Vista Beta 2/RC 1 builds.

Windows PowerShell
This build comes with Windows PowerShell 1.0 pre-installed.

Disk Defragmenter
The option to choose which volumes to defragment has been added back after being removed in the RTM build of Windows Vista.

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, click on the "Boot" tab, check the "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.

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.