How do I find the version of Microsoft Windows that is on an external hard drive?

Look in the ../Windows/System32 folder for a file called "ntoskrnl.exe". If this file exists, it is at least an NT based system. (I assume you are not looking for Win95 or earlier.)

Now do a properties and examine the details for a product version.

4.x: NT 4.x
5.0: Windows 2000
5.1: Windows XP
5.2: Windows 2003 Server or Windows XP-64-bit
6.0: Windows Vista
6.1: Windows 7
6.2; Windows 8
6.3: Windows 8.1

This does not however  tell you which flavor of those systems (Pro, Home, etc).

On one device, I see 6.2.9200 so I can assume this is a Windows 8 disk.

2:
Or, to make it even easier, you can open the file ../Windows/System32/license.rtf with Word pad. Guess what, it tells you EXACTLY what system is installed. On that same drive above, this file said "WINDOWS 8 PRO"

credits to https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-tell-what-version-of-Windows-is-installed-on-a-hard-drive-without-booting-it
  • 1 Users Found This Useful
Was this answer helpful?

Related Articles

How do I change my remember password options in Google Chrome

Manage your website passwords This article applies to the Google Chrome browser on Windows,...

Change time is Gmail

Correct Your Gmail Time Zone To set your Gmail time zone: Click the gear in your Gmail's...

How to speed up Windows XP use at your own risk

Warning: occasionally people break their PC badly by using this list of suggestions. Usually...

How to run cmd in escalated mode with admin rights to modify firewall

a solution: runas /user:administrator@domainname.local cmd then in the resulting command...

How do I enable auto login in Windows

This article describes how to configure Windows to automate the logon...