I dl the auto fix from a trusted site and ran it and rebooted. It worked like a charm and then I exhaled.

I like solutions, I also like to know whhhhyyyy (kinda like a 4 y/o)

So I will share this with you.

"The test mode watermark can appear if the test signing mode is started on the computer. This test mode may occur if an application whose drivers are not digitally signed by Microsoft is installed and still in the test phase. Microsoft added test mode to Windows so that users can test programs without having to provide an authentication certificate."

Hope this helps anyone that encounters this situation.

Ebony

Per further research “Microsoft added test mode to Windows so that users can test programs without having to provide an authentication certificate. The message that (…) is displayed in the lower-right corner of the desktop when the computer is running in test mode.”

However, my computer was running very slow during the authentication. So I selected the option to stop it.

Per MS,

It’s also pretty simple to manually remove the watermark. Users need to fire cmd up, macking sure they run it with administrative privileges, and run the following command: bcdedit /set TESTSIGNING OFF.

Customers should restart their machines afterward, and in case that the “Test mode Windows 7 build 7600” message is still there, they should apply the following workaround:

“Click Start, and then type cmd in the Search box. Right-click cmd.exe under Programs, and then click Run as administrator. At the command prompt, type the following commands, and press ENTER after each command:

bcdedit.exe -set loadoptions ENABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS

bcdedit.exe -set TESTSIGNING OFF. Close the Command Prompt window, and then restart your computer,” Microsoft said.

They also suggested

In addition, the Knowledge Base article also provides users with an automated Fix It troubleshooter which is free to download.

Has anyone used either  method or have a suggestion so that I can get rid of this watermark.

How can I disable this mode or do I want to?

Ebony