how to get the OS/SP version of an offline/uninstalled image

[gauravkr]

Hi,

Is there a way to get the version of OS and ServicePack in a CD/DVD image of vista? I have a DVD image of base Windows Vista and another DVD image of vista-slipstreamed-with-SP1 (say) ... or similar images for win2K8 and win2K8-with-SP1. Is there a command or some win API to get the Vista version ready to be installed.

What I am looking for is an equivalent of "winver" command which I can run on an offline OS image (with or without SP installed).

(Note: we can run "winver" command on a live system to get the version of OS (vista/2K8 or others) and the level of SP installed)

Thanks and Regards,

Gaurav

[IcemanND]

imagex /info Imagefile.wim

Replace Imagefile.wim with your wim file name.

Will return Windows version and SP information in the version section of the XML data.

[gauravkr]

Thanks for that info IcemanND.

I print the info of the wim file and the OS related info says:

<VERSION>

<MAJOR>6</MAJOR>

<MINOR>0</MINOR>

<BUILD>6000</BUILD>

<SPBUILD>16386</SPBUILD>

</VERSION>

major version=6 and minor=0 implies this is Win2K8 or vista image, as from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms724833(VS.85).aspx

I have few questions on this:

1. how do we distinguish if this is a Win2K8 image or a Vista image now.

2. if version 6.0 comes from the major and minor versions what does the "build=6000" attribute imply?

3. what is the SP version installed in this image? Does "SPBUILD=16386" mean its a plain OS with no SPs installed, then what are the other codes/version nos. for other SPs? if not what does SPBUILD attribute say and how do I get the SP installed in this?

Thanks again for your help.

~Gaurav

[cluberti]

That's actually Vista RTM. Vista SP1 and Server 2008, depending on what's in the WIM, will show as 6.0.6001.18000. For example:

<VERSION>
  <MAJOR>6</MAJOR>
  <MINOR>0</MINOR>
  <BUILD>6001</BUILD>
  <SPBUILD>18000</SPBUILD>
</VERSION>

It won't help you distinguish between Vista SP1 or Server 2008, however. But, you can also look at the following flags to differentiate - Here's Server 2008 Standard (x64) vs Vista SP1 Business (x64):

<NAME>Windows Longhorn SERVERSTANDARD</NAME>
<DESCRIPTION>Windows Longhorn SERVERSTANDARD</DESCRIPTION>
<FLAGS>SERVERSTANDARD</FLAGS>
<WINDOWS>
  <ARCH>9</ARCH>

or

<NAME>Windows Vista BUSINESS</NAME>
<DESCRIPTION>Windows Vista BUSINESS</DESCRIPTION>
<FLAGS>BUSINESS</FLAGS>
<WINDOWS>
  <ARCH>9</ARCH>

Note that ARCH 9 == x64, and I believe 0 == x86.

[gauravkr]

Hi cluberti,

Thanks for your response.

So, do you mean we cant differentiate between Vista and Server2K8 wim except for looking into the description field. Will the version info in the xml output (namely, major/minor/build/spbuild or other fields) not help to resolve this. Also, I need to get the exact service pack for the OS in this wim image.

As from your earlier post, ARCH=9 or ARCH=0 will help differentiate x64 from x86 images. Similarly, i need to get/resolve the type of OS and the service pack from the "imagex /info <wim_file>" output. My requirement is to get these info from the wim image before starting the installation.

Also, a brief detailing on what the following attributes mean will be helpful: VERSION=major,minor,build,spbuild.

Any pointers in this regard will be a great help.

Thanks,

~Gaurav

[cluberti]

So, do you mean we cant differentiate between Vista and Server2K8 wim except for looking into the description field.

Correct.

Will the version info in the xml output (namely, major/minor/build/spbuild or other fields) not help to resolve this. Also, I need to get the exact service pack for the OS in this wim image.

Pay closer attention to my post. You can get the SP level from the build # in the output - SPBUILD 18000 is SP1, 16386 is RTM (Vista only). However, to get the actual OS version (Server 2008 vs Vista), you will need to parse the DESCRIPTION field.