Microsoft Weekly

Gather detailed information about your Windows installation

By Ed Bott

When you're on the phone with your help desk or a third-party support provider, you might need to supply detailed information about your current Windows installation. Most of the details you need are available using one of two built-in tools.

For Windows 10, type settings:about in the search box and then click the About Your PC shortcut. For older Windows versions, go to Control Panel > System. Both destinations provide the following useful bits of information:

• Edition--For Windows 10, Pro and Home are the two most common retail editions. Windows 7 has Home Premium and Ultimate editions, too, and on corporate networks you might find Windows Enterprise edition.
• Version--This value is only in Windows 10. It shows the currently installed feature update in the format yymm. Version 1703, for example, is the Creators Update, released in March 2017.
• OS Build--This is another value that is crucial to Windows 10. The number on the left side of the decimal corresponds with the version, and the number on the right is the most recent cumulative update installed.
• System Type--This will be either 32-bit or 64-bit.

For even faster access to all these details (minus the System Type), just run Winver.exe.

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