I would like to know if there are any files or directory structures that will tell me what was the previous version of Windows that created the windows.old
folder.
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Related (but too narrow): How can I determine the installed edition of Windows XP if the OS does not boot up?– Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007Sep 7, 2013 at 17:58
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1Windows Vista and Windows 7 and Windows 8 all use identical file structures. The contents of Windows.old is only the contents of the profile directories.– RamhoundSep 7, 2013 at 18:10
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Useful if you grab an old hard drive and want to know the OS installed on it.– nycynikJul 27, 2020 at 21:18
2 Answers
In C:\windows.old\system32, open the properties for any system file, like 'ntoskrnl.exe'. On the Details tab, you see the Product Version:
- 10.0 = Windows 10
- 6.3 = Windows 8.1
- 6.2 = Windows 8
- 6.1 = Windows 7
- 6.0 = Windows Vista
- 5.2 = Windows Server 2003
- 5.1 = Windows XP
- 5.0 = Windows 2000
- 4.0 = Windows NT 4
It gets a bit trickier if you need to know whether it was a home,pro, enterprise or server version.
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I just wanted to know if the previous installation was vista or 7. I think that should do it. Thanks a bunch!– John RSep 7, 2013 at 18:14
Open the "\Windows.old\system32\license.rtf" file in a text editor and look at the 2nd title row, it will tell you the exact Windows edition, as was initially installed. I verified this method on Windows Vista Business, Win7 Ultimate and Win8.1 Pro.
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2
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On a customer's computer,
Windows.old\system32\license.rtf
didn't exist, but I did a search forlicense.rtf
and found a few in subdirectories.– wjandreaDec 17, 2017 at 20:55