Windows – Determine windows server version and service pack from filesystem using a Mac

vhdwindowswindows server 2008

I have a vhd disk image of a Windows Server which I have managed to mount on my mac using Parallels.

The mounted vhd file contains the c: drive of the windows server.

I'm fairly sure that it was running Windows Server 2008. However I need to confirm this. And I also need to confirm which service pack was installed.

Does anyone know of a way of doing this just by examining the files on the file system.

Cheers

Best Answer

I don't believe the OS version is stored anywhere in the file system, this information is stored in the Windows Registry. ('HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion' to be exact)

You could however take a look at some of the system files on the file system. Use \Windows\Explorer.exe file information perhaps? The first 3 octets of the File version property represent the Windows version aswell as the Windows build number.

  • Windows Server 2008 would be '6.0.6000'
  • Windows Server 2008 SP2 would be '6.0.6002'
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 would be '6.1.7600'
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 would be '6.1.7601'

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