Windows XP build 2526

5.1.2526.0.xpclient.010724-1758
	Build of Windows XP
Release name	Release Candidate 2
OS family	Windows NT
Version number	5.1
Build number	2526
Build revision	0
Architecture	x86
Build lab	xpclient
Compiled on	2001-07-24
Expiration date
Timebomb	2002-01-21 (+181 days)
SKUs
	Home Edition; Professional; Embedded
Product key
	QB2BW-8PJ2D-9X7JK-BCCRT-D233Y
About dialog

Windows XP build 2526 is the official Release Candidate 2 build of Windows XP, which was released to the public on 27 July 2001.^[1] It is only currently available in the English and Traditional Chinese languages.

The Korean and German-localized versions of this build are also known to exist, but have yet to be found. A screenshot of this build's Polish counterpart can be additionally found in the RTM build's HTML tour files, as WINDOWS\Help\Tours\htmlTour\desktop_screen_shot.jpg. A Traditional Chinese version of the build was uploaded to the Chinese website BetaWorld on 17 April 2023,^[2] and was later shared on 28 October 2024.

Modified copies[edit | edit source]

The initial English copy included modifications from an unknown party (likely a warez group) such as an attempt to null out the timebomb included within SETUPREG.HIV and a modified readme document outlining the changes made against the original build's media, although a human error caused the timebomb in the existing copy to be shortened down to a mere two hours and five minutes after installation. The aforementioned copy is also incomplete as it includes a corrupted Korean language-specific hardware support library (\I386\LANG\HWXKOR.DL_).

The original English (United States) media with the proper timebomb values was later publicly uploaded via the BetaWorld blog on 19 November 2023 in the form of a Microsoft TechNet disc dump.^[3]