In early 1995 I ran Windows 95 release candidate 1. I got it on CD-R from a friend. I had to spend my savings on extra RAM in order to get it running. For a brief period of time I was the coolest kid on the block.
I'm surprised that they included the "no upgrade" check and then make it so easy to bypass. Internet access was rare in 1995, so a stricter check could've been pretty effective.