Determine Win7 version from file

[Ryland]

Is there a way to determine what version of windows was on a non-bootable computer if you can look at the drive contents?

Edit: Im thinking along the lines of how you can do this in linux by looking at a file.

 

[ViRGE]

If you have any tools that will load the registry, under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion the ProductName string will have what you seek.

 

[yinan]

the reg command can load the registry natively, FYI.

 

[classy]

A quick and dirty way is to look in the software distribution folder. In that folder a file called reporting events is there. If you open you can see the type of updates applied based on the os.

 

[Ryland]

A quick and dirty way is to look in the software distribution folder. In that folder a file called reporting events is there. If you open you can see the type of updates applied based on the os.

I dont see that file under c:\windows\softwareDistribution.

Its hard finding the info from a non-bootable install, especially when all I have is an Acronis True Image file of the disk since the disk is showing a bad SMART status.

 

[Dahak]

A quick and dirty way is to look in the software distribution folder. In that folder a file called reporting events is there. If you open you can see the type of updates applied based on the os.

Unfortunately that is not very helpful in determining if its pro or home or ultimate.
when I look at mine, the only thing i can tell is if its 32 or 64 bit

as ViGRE said, the registry is about the only place that will tell you.

Or another way is to use the ProduKey and point it to the windows folder of the drive and it will tell you as well

 

[takeru]

If you have any tools that will load the registry, under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion the ProductName string will have what you seek.

this. use a winPE distro.

 

[Ryland]

Or another way is to use the ProduKey and point it to the windows folder of the drive and it will tell you as well

This is showing the versions for my desktop but when I point it at the loaded Acronis image's (I mapped it to a drive letter) windows directory it doesnt show anything. its possible that whatever is necessary to show the versions got corrupted before I backed the drive up.

 

[classy]

Unfortunately that is not very helpful in determining if its pro or home or ultimate.
when I look at mine, the only thing i can tell is if its 32 or 64 bit

as ViGRE said, the registry is about the only place that will tell you.

Or another way is to use the ProduKey and point it to the windows folder of the drive and it will tell you as well

You know when he asked that question, I was thinking along the line of whether its 32 or 64bit. But I would look at some of the disk repair utilities that maybe could tell me the OS version. The reg files are the log1 file types in the config folder, but if you can't boot the drive, you'll have to find some way to load the registry, because those files become locked when the drive is online.

 

[classy]

Did you try using ghost or any other utility to try and copy the image to another disk?

 

[Ryland]

Did you try using ghost or any other utility to try and copy the image to another disk?

I dont have another disk on hand to copy the files to so I cant check if the registry is even in decent shape. At this point Im thinking that I will be lucky to save some of the data once I do get another disk.

 

[classy]

I dont have another disk on hand to copy the files to so I cant check if the registry is even in decent shape. At this point Im thinking that I will be lucky to save some of the data once I do get another disk.

Oh well. When its not bootable its is tough to get indepth info from the drive. But I would first try ghosting the image to another disk first. Good Luck

 

[Ryland]

Oh well. When its not bootable its is tough to get indepth info from the drive. But I would first try ghosting the image to another disk first. Good Luck

Thanks. I hate dealing with my brothers kids computer since something always goes wrong and it somehow ends up as my fault....

 

[Level_1]

Try magic jelly bean keyfinder in winpe or working system and load the system hive.

 

[Ryland]

Try magic jelly bean keyfinder in winpe or working system and load the system hive.

As previously stated, this is a non working sytem. I cant use magic jelly bean or anything else that requires access to the registry.

 

[juiio]

You should be able to tell by looking at Properties->Details for most binaries in the System32 directory. A product version of 6.1.7600.16385, for example, is Windows 7.

 

[Dude111]

See if you have a file called winver on that..

Click start/run and enter winver (That will tell you the version # (It does on mine))


Good luck!

 

[Modelworks]

Is there a way to determine what version of windows was on a non-bootable computer if you can look at the drive contents?

Edit: Im thinking along the lines of how you can do this in linux by looking at a file.

yes. If you can't boot the computer but can look at the contents from a boot disk , the file you want to look for is:

C:\windows\panther\setupact.log
This is the file windows creates when doing the install. It also has the computers hardware info complete with pci and vendor id, volumes and partitions.

Inside the file look for the lines:
IBS SelectImageFromEICfg: Edition ID is Ultimate
IBS SelectImageFromEICfg: Channel is Retail
IBS SelectImageFromEICfg: VolumeLicense is 0

 

[Ryland]

yes. If you can't boot the computer but can look at the contents from a boot disk , the file you want to look for is:

C:\windows\panther\setupact.log
This is the file windows creates when doing the install. It also has the computers hardware info complete with pci and vendor id, volumes and partitions.

Inside the file look for the lines:
IBS SelectImageFromEICfg: Edition ID is Ultimate
IBS SelectImageFromEICfg: Channel is Retail
IBS SelectImageFromEICfg: VolumeLicense is 0

That file doesnt exist on the drive (although the c:\windows\panther directory does).

 

[GaryJohnson]

How about the XML files in C:\Windows\Performance\WinSAT\DataStore?

Those are generated by the Windows Experience Index thing. I'm running Ultimate and all of the files from the most recent running of WEI on my system have this line:
<ProductName>Windows 7 Ultimate</ProductName>

 

[Ryland]

How about the XML files in C:\Windows\Performance\WinSAT\DataStore?

Those are generated by the Windows Experience Index thing. I'm running Ultimate and all of the files from the most recent running of WEI on my system have this line:
<ProductName>Windows 7 Ultimate</ProductName>

yet another empty directory. At this point I think I might be best off just reinstalling the OS from scratch if my brother can ever find the DVD.

 

[Modelworks]

yet another empty directory. At this point I think I might be best off just reinstalling the OS from scratch if my brother can ever find the DVD.

Is it a retail branded pc ? Like Dell, HP ?
Those are cloned installs and not installed one at a time so the contents of install files will not exist.
There should be a label or look up online the model number and it should say what it shipped with.

 

[Ryland]

Is it a retail branded pc ? Like Dell, HP ?
Those are cloned installs and not installed one at a time so the contents of install files will not exist.
There should be a label or look up online the model number and it should say what it shipped with.

Unfortunately not, its a pc I built a few years back. I know I bought a retail license for it too.

 

[Level_1]

Download hiren's bootcd and burn to disc. Boot to the mini-xp then run the magic jellybean keyfinder.