Determine my operating system. How to find out the operating system and its bitness

How to find out the OS

Sometimes you need to find out what operating system (OS) is installed on your computer or laptop. This may be required in several cases, for example, if you need to find drivers for a printer or MFP, and for this you need to know the type of operating system and its bitness (32 or 64 bit). Let's look at possible ways to determine the OS type.

Method for Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7

Step 1. Click on the “Start” button, which is located in the lower left corner of the screen, and then, with the right mouse button, click on the “Computer” or “My Computer” button.

You need to right-click on the “Computer” or “My Computer” button - depending on the operating system

Step 2. In the context menu, select the “Properties” command.

In the context menu, select the “Properties” command

Step 3. In the window that appears, we can get all the necessary information regarding the operating system. In this particular case, 64-bit Windows 7 Basic is installed on the computer.

Operating system type and bit depth

Please note that in addition to the type of operating system and its bitness, we received other useful information about our computer:

• Processor type;
• Service Pack version;
• Windows Experience Index;
• The amount of installed RAM.

Method for Windows 8

Windows 8 can be easily identified visually by the “tiles” on the screen.

Windows 8 is easy to distinguish by its interface, but you need to keep in mind that it can be either 32-bit or 64-bit

Let's use the Microsoft website help system:

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, then tap Search. Or, if you're using a mouse, move your pointer to the bottom right corner of the screen and click the Find button.
2. In the search field, enter “system information.”
3. Tap or click the System icon, tap System Information or click the button System Information.

Click the System Information button

You can now view detailed system information.

The laptop has 64-bit Windows 8 version 8.1 installed

A universal way to identify all types of operating systems

This method requires an Internet connection. All you have to do is go to http://bilet.pp.ru/calculator_rus/moya_os.php.

The service determined the operating system (Windows 7) and browsers used on the computer

We hope you can now recognize your operating system. If you have any questions, ask them in the comments.

If you are asked what operating system you have, but you have no idea what it is, then this article is just for you!

Let's start, as always, with definitions. I don’t think it’s worth remembering this, but it could really be useful for someone.

An operating system is a computer shell that allows you to manage software to perform the necessary tasks and work. There is a graphical operating system, or in other words, a simplified one, which allows you to control a computer mouse and visually present all the actions performed and the results of work, and there is a command operating system (all main actions are performed through the command line), which is most often used to organize servers, which provides to minimize all used computer resources.

Still not clear? I completely agree with you, because in general it is quite difficult to understand what an operating system is, what exactly it includes, and I personally was only able to understand it after reinstalling my OS. However, finding out exactly what it costs is much easier. There are quite a lot of ways to do this:

1). Let's first go to "My Computer", where all local drives are displayed. To do this, most often install a “Computer” or “My Computer” shortcut on the desktop. If there are no shortcuts on the desktop, you can go to “Start” (the farthest left bottom button in the corner) and click “My Computer”. If not here, try opening any folder at all and on the left in the list of folders find “This computer”. You can try right-clicking on "Start" and selecting "System". You can also type “Computer” in the search (in the start or next to the start). Ultimately you should get something like this:

Here you need to right-click on the empty field and select “Properties”.

Then look for "Windows Edition". Your operating system is listed below. This is what programmers most often mean. The figure below shows an example of the Windows 10 Home operating system:

2). Another method appeared for Windows 10 with the advent of Computer Settings. Right-click on “Start” (bottom leftmost button) and select “Settings”. You will see the following window:

Here we select “System” and then “About”. In the "Windows Features" section, opposite the "Edition" item, your operating system is indicated ("Windows 10 Home"):

3). Another way is to go to Start>Control Panel. Or click "Start">"All Programs">"System">"Run". You can also use the hotkeys: Win (“Start” on the keyboard) + R and enter “control”, as in the next window and click “OK”.

The following control panel will appear, where you need to select “Large icons” and, scrolling below with the mouse wheel, click “System”:

4). You can use the search. To do this, next to the “Start” button, click on the magnifying glass image or on the search bar:

If you don’t have one, then go to “Start” and find the search field at the bottom, or (if there is one) click on the down arrow (bottom left) and find the search line there.

In the search bar you need to type “System” (without quotes). This will quickly take you to a window where you will need to find the current release of Windows.

5). You can open system properties even faster by using the hot keys - WIN+Pause.

If you still haven’t been able to find your OS release, write in the comments. We will definitely try to solve your problem.

First, let's figure out what exactly we are going to learn. With the version, everything is a no brainer: it is indicated by a number present in the system name (relevant for Windows 10, as well as 8/8.1 and 7) or a letter designation (XP or, for example, Vista).

This also works for server systems from Microsoft - for example, Windows Server 2012, and, of course, for other “old-school” operating systems in the line: Windows 95/98/ME (Millennium) and so on. The version also means the digital code of the installed assembly.

The operating system type, also called edition, determines the edition of Windows. Yes, yes, these are the same postscripts indicated after the system number: Home (Home), Pro (Professional) and so on. For example, in Windows 7, the Starter edition was a “stripped-down” inferior distribution with a lot of limitations and was intended mainly for home use on not the most powerful computers and laptops. While Ultimate (Maximum) endowed the PC with increased security and provided more functions - for example, the ability to join a corporate network or even deploy a server. But we all mostly played solitaire and played Counter-Strike!..

In some understanding, the build number (English build) or, as it was called in Russian localization - system construction, determines the numerical identification of the program code used in the current version of the operating system. As a rule, it is not necessary for the average user to know it. “Build” may be of interest to some developer who is testing his, say, game on the system of a specific build.

Architecture (bit, bit version of Windows) is a set of commands for interaction of the operating system with the central processor of an information device (laptop, tablet or computer, for example).

Microsoft operating systems support the following processor architectures:

• ARM - currently used in the CPU of mobile devices;
• x86 (also known as x32) - used in early processors from industry giant Intel;
• x86-64 (another name is AMD64) - developed by AMD, is an extension to x86 and is used in almost all modern processors;
• IA-64 is a joint development of HP and Intel, which was conceived as a 64-bit analogue of x86 for home computers and laptops, but after the release of x86-64 it did not find use (now it is used mainly in servers).

As mentioned above, most modern CPUs are based on the x86-64 architecture, which allows the user to install both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit versions of the system on the computer. At the same time, the so-called Windows 64 will have an important advantage over Windows 32 - support for a larger amount of RAM and physical memory and, as a result, higher performance and the ability to handle large amounts of data. In other words, 16 GB of RAM installed in the computer will be defined as 4 in a 32-bit system, but you will get no more than 3.5. So it goes.

How to find out the Windows version? See what is written on the installation disk of your OS.

If this is not possible, read the article further.

Find out the installed version and bitness of Windows through “Computer Properties”

The easiest way to find out what version of Windows is installed on your computer is to open its properties and look. To do this, open “Explorer”, find “This PC” (or “My Computer” if you are using a system younger than Windows 10), right-click on the icon and select “Properties” at the very bottom of the drop-down list. In the window that appears, you can see the version, release (type) and bitness of the system.

The method is preferred by most users. The only drawback is that there is no information about the system assembly.

How to determine the version and other OS parameters using the winver utility

The winver utility is used to collect and provide the user with information about the running system. To initialize, use the command window (go to “Start” - “Run” or press the Win and R key combination), in which enter the winver command as shown in the figure and click “OK”.

The Win key is usually located in the lower left corner of the keyboard!

The interface that opens will contain detailed information about the system. Except for the bit depth!

msinfo - all system information

Another way is to use the good old msinfo32 utility. In the “Run” window, enter msinfo32 , execute and admire the comprehensive result.

How to determine version by key

It is very easy to find out the Windows version by product activation key by using the official Volume Activation Management Tool 2.0 from Microsoft. Simply enter your productkey in the appropriate field and click the “Verify” button.

You can use the same method to find out which version of Windows the key you have lying around in your desktop drawer is from.

But what if the computer won't start?

This method is relevant for operating systems released before XP (including the latest), and allows you to determine the version of Windows by files, or more precisely, the prodspec.ini file, located at C:\Windows\System32.

The method will help people whose old computer does not boot, but it is necessary to find out which system is installed (for example, to restore the system itself or files). To do this, you need to download some RescueDisk or BootCD, then open the above file and find the line with the text - the data located next to it indicates the installed Windows distribution.

other methods

But if suddenly, for some reason, the above methods for determining the version of Windows on a laptop or computer did not suit you...

Find out the OS version via Windows CMD

The command line is the best friend of both the amateur beginner and the bearded system administrator. Finding out the Windows version from the command line is simple: and enter the systeminfo command, which will almost instantly collect and provide you with detailed information about the system.

You can also use the systeminfo command in PowerShell.

Determine Windows version using the registry

The Windows registry also contains information about the installed OS. To access it, enter the regedit command in the same “Run”. Next, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion and find the necessary information.

How to programmatically detect Windows version

There are a large number of programs from third-party developers, the functionality of which allows you to determine the installed system and collect information about it - for example, AIDA64. However, all such programs only use the built-in capabilities of the OS, which we wrote about above, so the advisability of using them for these purposes remains questionable.

How to find out the version of Windows recorded on a disk or flash drive

To find out the version of Windows on the installation disk or bootable USB flash drive, open the media through Explorer, find the setup.exe file, right-click on it and select “Properties” in the context menu. In the file properties window that appears, go to the “Details” tab and pay attention to the “Product version” column.

How to find out the version of Windows Phone

Although the mobile version of the operating system from Microsoft has not found such widespread use as its desktop counterpart, it still raised a number of questions.

So, if you want to find out which version of Windows Phone is installed on your gadget, follow these steps:

1. Open the Start menu and swipe left to select Apps.
2. Next “Settings”, “About device”, “More details”.

Here (in the “Software” column) you will see the name of the installed operating system (for example, Windows Phone 8). Additionally, you can find out the build version in the “OS Version” column.

The version of Windows CE (which, in fact, is a completely different OS and is used mainly in Chinese navigators) is determined in a similar way.

P.S

Thank you for reading our article to the end, thereby gaining the most complete understanding of how to find out the version and other parameters of your system. We hope you didn't do it in vain!

Please share our article with your friends on social networks. Thank you!

Determining the version of the Windows operating system is carried out in several ways, regardless of its edition. In this article, we will look at the simplest methods of how to find out the version of Windows and get complete information about the build of the operating system installed on your computer and its bit depth using the example of various editions. We will also take a look at several universal methods to find out information about your operating system, even if you don’t know what edition of Windows you are using (7, 8 or 10).

How to determine the version Windows 10

Via "System Information"

To obtain the data, go to the “Settings” menu of Windows 10, where all the necessary data is displayed.

To open the options window, use the key combination “Win ​​+ I” or the “Windows” button, where in the drop-down list select “Options”

How to find out the version of Windows 8 and 8.1?

Through system properties

To obtain information about the Windows 8 OS version, you need to call the context menu of the Windows icon located on the taskbar and select “System” from the drop-down menu.

Via "System Information"

Click the “Windows” button to open the drop-down side menu, where we select “Options”.

How to find out which version of Windows 7 is installed?

Through the properties of “My Computer”

• We go to “Start”.
• Call the “My Computer” context menu and select “Properties”.

• Select “System” and a familiar window opens with information about the version of your OS.

If control panel elements are displayed as icons, look for an icon called “System”.

Via the Start menu

Call “Start” and go to the following address:

How to find out the version Windows? Universal method

1. "Winver" command.

Launch the window for executing system commands by holding down the key combination “Win ​​+ R”. In the text entry line, enter winver and press “Enter”. A window will appear with information about the edition of Windows being used.

1. "msinfo32" command

We open the same window for entering system commands and enter in it msinfo32, confirming the execution of the command with the “Ok” button. The window that appears with information about the operating system displays all the information about its name, version, bitness, build, etc.

Most people use their computer very often, but have no idea how to find out which version of Windows is installed on their computer or laptop. However, sometimes even an advanced user may not know whether he has 32 or 64 bits “under the hood”.

For example, at work you always use a computer to perform certain functions, working in the same programs. At the same time, it somehow doesn’t occur to you to think about what version of Windows you are using. In general, this is not so important, unless we are talking about some specific actions that require accurate information about the OS.

Most people start looking for information about this on the Internet, typing the question that interests them into the search bar. However, finding out the bitness of Windows is much easier than it seems at first glance. There are several ways to do this.

How to see the Windows version

You need to login My computer, and find the tab there Properties. A window will open in front of you in which you will immediately see the information of interest. The top line will indicate the version you are using.

Winver utility

You can also use a utility called Winver. It is usually present in Windows 7 - 10 by default, in most versions. It is located on drive C, in the folder System. The utility can be launched from there and entered: Winver. As a result, you will see a window open that will tell you what version of Windows is installed on your computer.

Open menu Start, at the bottom you will see a line with the word Execute. Type the command in it. After this, a window with the relevant information will also open.

As you can see, it is very easy to find out which version of Windows you have installed. To do this, you do not need to download any programs from the Internet or disassemble them to read the necessary information on the components.