How-to identify Windows flavor (Home/Pro - OEM, Retail, VLK, etc)?

[Dumpy Dooby]

Okay, I have a friend's customer's hard-drive. No more. No less. That's it.

Windows does NOT load, not in Safe Mode, not at all (which could be Activation-related as my hardware differs from his, but that's neither here nor there).

How can I tell which version of Windows he has? I found one third-party program for browsing the Windows registry, but it wouldn't install on my computer (kept locking up during install).

Any recommendations? I'm sure I'm not the first tech to have this problem... :\

Edited April 4, 2006 by Dumpy Dooby

[hougtimo]

Windows generally wont boot on a different chipset / cpu than the one it was installed on.

[Dumpy Dooby]

That's all fine and dandy. I'll worry about that. I'm wondering how to find out which version of Windows he has.

What I'd really like to do is browse his registry ... but I can't figure out how to edit the permissions for Regedt32 so I can do that. I tried rebooting and starting in Safe-Mode as Administrator, but to no avail.

I once had a third-party program for browsing the registry of an offline unit, but I can't find it anywhere. Oh man ... this is driving me nuts.

Edited April 4, 2006 by Dumpy Dooby

[Daemonforce]

How about just ask?

That drive is of better use in the computer it was installed in since the OS will most likely load from it and nothing else at this point. OS flavor has always been a problem for me to determine. As for operating system, I could just boot PE and look at a file like winlogon for details. If you really want to know the type, C:\Windows\System32\$winnt$.inf might give a clue. But the only thing I'm able to determine from it is workstation or server. You want the specific flavor and that could be a problem because home and professional are identical except for the ability to join a domain.

As for the product's installation type...That's easy. Boot PE and open the system hive. \Setup\PID gives you the info. Also, you can determine the exact product type with this. I have 76487000 in mine. This means XP Media Center Retail. Some machines in the lab have 69713270. This means Server 2003 Volume. A LOT of machines in the lab have 55274270 which means XP Professional Volume. I think you get the idea. You need to get a PID list. Next time just boot WinPE on the dead system. It's easier and it saves you a big headache. =/

[Dumpy Dooby]

I asked my buddy. He didn't know (he's not really a tech). He said the guy he was doing the work for wouldn't know either.

Thanks though. I'll load up one of these PE discs I have around here do what you suggested.