Trend Micro Discovers Yet Another Windows 7 RC Trojan Build
There is really no reason to download the Windows 7 release candidate from P2P networks. While it might give a small speed boost it puts the computer system at serious risk of being subverted by trojans that have been build into these unofficial releases. There are two solutions to avoid falling prey to trojan infested Windows 7 installations.
The first option is to download the Windows 7 release candidate directly from Microsoft. This ensures that the release is free of malicious software. If that is not possible or wanted option 2 comes into play which is a simple hash comparison between the downloaded release and the official release by Microsoft. If the hash values match the release is free of malicious software. If they do not match it contains altered code.