Challenge: Determining OS version without booting into it.

[ShadowTiger]

So here's a fun little challenge.  Suppose someone hands you a laptop or desktop and it doesn't boot fully into Windows. You are left with no choice but to reinstall the operating system.  You have to know which version to install - Home Premium, Professional, etc, because you can only reinstall it from the proper installation media.

You have read from the License.rtf file in the Windows directory that it's Windows 7, but you still do not know which version of Windows 7 it is. 

 

Is there a way to find out which version of Windows 7 (Or any OS; 8.1, 10, etc.)  if all you have is the hard drive?

[Herman Mcpootis]

if the user has a windows os sticker on the pc case then you can find out using that.

[tp95112]

Is this a challenge or do you need help? If you need help just ask dont need to hide a challenge. We're friendly people.. er most of the time

[ShadowTiger]

Herman - If only, right?    They're usually rubbed off or were never included.  Sometimes they have the veritable audacity to put it under the removable battery.   But here, sadly, we have no such luxury.

 

tp - I like to think of it as an exercise in creativity.  I do know of at least one way to do it, but it's VERY round-about.  It involves extracting the registry hive and reading its Windows License Key from it, then you can run it through a specialized program that interprets the key and spits out a version.  It's a bit ridiculous, but it works.  Though having that registry hive is useful or getting all of the license keys out of there at the same time.

[DocSwag]

3 minutes ago, ShadowTiger said:

Herman - If only, right?    They're usually rubbed off or were never included.  Sometimes they have the veritable audacity to put it under the removable battery.   But here, sadly, we have no such luxury.

 

tp - I like to think of it as an exercise in creativity.  I do know of at least one way to do it, but it's VERY round-about.  It involves extracting the registry hive and reading its Windows License Key from it, then you can run it through a specialized program that interprets the key and spits out a version.  It's a bit ridiculous, but it works.  Though having that registry hive is useful or getting all of the license keys out of there at the same time.

Make sure to quote people or they won't know you replied!

6 minutes ago, herman mcpootis said:

if the user has a windows os sticker on the pc case then you can find out using that.

 

4 minutes ago, tp95112 said:

Is this a challenge or do you need help? If you need help just ask dont need to hide a challenge. We're friendly people.. er most of the time

 

[ShadowTiger]

Just now, DocSwag said:

Make sure to quote people or they won't know you replied!

 

 

Fascinating.  Most forum software I go to notifies based on a new post in the thread, rather than having been directly quoted, but I guess I'm not used to ... ... ... wait, is this Invisionboard?  Goodness, it's changed since version 1.2   Wow.

[Herman Mcpootis]

there's always brute-forcing your way to finding out if you have the CD-key, just keep installing versions of windows 7 and test the key until one of them works