How to tell what Windows OS version you are running

 

First and foremost, NCKCN no longer provides support for older operating systems that was distributed before the Windows 7 Operating System. The reason behind this is simple – Microsoft discontinued support for these operating systems and it is that time for NCKCN to do the same.

If you are unable to find out what Windows OS version you have after reading this guide, chances are you have an older operating system. Our advice to you would be to get yourself upgraded with either Windows 7, or Windows 10. From our experience, Windows 7 is superior, however, support for Windows 7 is planned to stop on: January 14, 2020.

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DISCLAIMER: NCKCN will not be held liable nor will we be held responsible for any data loss and/or damage that may occur on your device. You are solely responsible for your actions. This article is merely a guide on how to tell what Windows OS version you are running.

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UPDATE – [12.30.2017 @ 2:40am Central]: After writing this article and looking back at it, I’m thinking that some of you may not want to read all this technical jargon…So, to make things easier for you, simply CLICK HERE to jump to desired section of this article. For those tech-nuts out there, feel free to continue reading without jumping to the desired section of this article!

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Excerpt extracted from the Microsoft website:

An unsupported version of Windows will no longer receive software updates from Windows Update. These updates include security updates that can help protect your PC from harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software which can steal your personal information. Windows Update also installs the latest software updates to improve the reliability of Windows—such as new drivers for your hardware.

Reference: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/10736/windows-what-does-it-mean-if-not-supported

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Excerpt extracted from the Microsoft website (slightly modified – modified content is in Bold):

As of April 11, 2017, Windows Vista customers are no longer receiving new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options, or online technical content updates from Microsoft. Microsoft has provided support for Windows Vista for the past 10 years, but the time has come for us, along with our hardware and software partners, to invest our resources towards more recent technologies so that we can continue to deliver great new experiences.

What happens if I continue to use Windows Vista or earlier versions of Windows?

If you continue to use Windows Vista or earlier versions of Windows, your computer will still work but it might become more vulnerable to security risks and viruses. Internet Explorer 9 is no longer supported, so if your Windows Vista PC is connected to the Internet and you use Internet Explorer 9 to surf the web, you might be exposing your PC to additional threats. Also, as more software and hardware manufacturers continue to optimize for more recent versions of Windows, you can expect to encounter more apps and devices that do not work with Windows Vista as well as earlier versions of Windows.

Microsoft has also stopped providing Microsoft Security Essentials for download on Windows Vista and earlier versions of Windows. If you already have Microsoft Security Essentials installed, you’ll continue to receive anti-malware signature updates for a limited time. However, please note that Microsoft Security Essentials (or any other antivirus software) will have limited effectiveness on PCs that do not have the latest security updates. This means that PCs running Windows Vista and earlier versions of Windows will not be secure and will still be at risk for virus and malware.

Reference: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/22882/windows-vista-end-of-support

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Here is a helpful link to Microsoft’s Support website:

Microsoft’s End of Support Fact Sheet

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An overview of some older Operating Systems that Microsoft and NCKCN no longer provide support for include:

[Format: Windows OS version (Year it came out)]

• Windows 1.0 (1985)
  • Microsoft discontinued support for this operating system – Date unknown as information about this operating system no longer exists on the Microsoft website.
  • NCKCN has yet to be established and does not support this operating system.
• Windows 2.0 (1987)
  • Microsoft discontinued support for this operating system – Date unknown as information about this operating system no longer exists on the Microsoft website.
  • NCKCN has yet to be established and does not support this operating system.
• Windows 3.x (1990, 1992)
  • Microsoft discontinued support for this operating system – Date unknown as information about this operating system no longer exists on the Microsoft website.
  • NCKCN has yet to be established and does not support this operating system.
• Windows 95 (1995)
  • Microsoft discontinued support for this operating system – Date unknown as information about this operating system no longer exists on the Microsoft website.
  • NCKCN was established this year, woot woot, but has discontinued support for this operating system.
• Windows 98 (1998)
  • Microsoft discontinued support for this operating system – Date unknown as information about this operating system no longer exists on the Microsoft website.
  • NCKCN discontinued support for this operating system.
• Windows ME (2000)
  • Microsoft discontinued support for this operating system – Date unknown as information about this operating system no longer exists on the Microsoft website.
  • NCKCN discontinued support for this operating system.
• Windows XP (2001)
  • Microsoft discontinued support for this operating system on April 8, 2014.
  • NCKCN discontinued support for this operating system effective: January 1st, 2018
    • Sorry everyone, the Men in Black stopped by our office on December 31st, 2017 and used their neuralyzer on us. We no longer remember a thing about this operating system…
• Windows Vista (2006)
  • Microsoft discontinued support for this operating system on April 11, 2017.
  • NCKCN discontinued support for this operating system effective: January 1st, 2018
    • Sorry everyone, the Men in Black stopped by our office on December 31st, 2017 and used their neuralyzer on us. We no longer remember a thing about this operating system…

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Okay, now that we have that information out of the way, we will get back to the matter at hand – How to tell what Windows OS version you are currently running.

NOTE: This article does not cover all types of Windows Operating Systems. Instead, we have decided to stick with 1 edition for each version we currently support. We apologize in advance if your edition is not listed, however, the way to find out what version of Windows OS you are running should still be relatively the same.

Editions include:

• Home
• Pro — This is the edition we will stick with
• Enterprise
• Mobile
• Mobile Enterprise
• Education
• IoT Core

ANOTHER NOTE: This article also does not cover Windows Operating Systems for Windows Servers…That’s a whole separate topic of its own…which, if enough interest is garnered, an article will be written up and published.

Jump to Windows OS by clicking/tapping on the OS name below:

• Windows 7 Pro

• Windows 8 & 8.1 Pro

• Windows 10 Pro

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Windows 7 Pro 

1. Turn on your computer if it isn’t on already.
2. Locate the “Start” button and click it (located at bottom left corner of your screen).
3. Locate and click “Control Panel”. This will open up a Window displaying your computers in-depth options/settings.
4. Locate and click “System and Security”.
5. Locate and click “System”. Once you have clicked “System”, your computers basic information is displayed.
6. Near the top of this window, you will see “Windows edition” and right below this, your computers Operating System version. In this case, it will display “Windows 7 Professional”…and there you have it, you now know your Windows OS version.

Cheers

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Windows 8 & 8.1 Pro 

1. Sadly, NCKCN has little to no experience with this operating system. However, in due time, this section may be updated…So, please be patient and stay tuned 🙂

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Windows 10 Pro 

NOTE: The way Windows 10 is setup is a bit different than previous Windows operating systems. Windows 10 ushered in a new method for numbering versions. It’s the “last version” of Windows and, as such, needs a different way to keep track of all future updates/upgrades. It shouldn’t surprise you to discover that the last version of Windows has versions. In addition, a version update/upgrade is now called a “Featured Update” and so far there are 5 featured updates that I am aware of at the time of writing this article.

The 5 Featured Update versions are:

• 1507 (also known as RTM) – Released: July 29, 2015
• 1511 (also known as the Fall Update or the November Update) – Released: November 11, 2015
• 1607 (also known as the Anniversary Update) – Released: August 2, 2016
• 1703 (also known as the Creators Update) – Released: April 11, 2017
• and 1709 (also known as the Fall Creators Update) – Released: October 17, 2017

The Latest Version at the time of writing:

• Edition: Windows 10 Pro

• Version: 1709

• OS Build: 16299.64

1. Turn on your computer if it isn’t on already.
2. Locate the “Notifications” icon  and click/tap it (located at bottom right corner of your screen). Your icon may look somewhat different whereas there may not be any “lines” within the white outlined box. If this is the case, no need to worry, it just means you have a later version of Windows 10…To be honest, we could stop this guide here as you now know you have Windows 10 as your operating system…However, we will continue on for those who would like to know more about their system.
3. Locate and click/tap the “All Settings” button. This will open up a window displaying all settings.
4. Click/Tap the “System” box/button. This will display information and settings for your Display, Notifications, and Power…among other things…
5. Click/Tap the “About” option located on the far left-hand side of this window. This will display information about your device such as your Device specifications as well as your Windows specifications.
6. You want to look for the section titled: “Windows specifications”. Under Windows specifications, look for “Edition”, “Version”, and “OS Build”…and there you have it, you now know your Windows OS version.

Cheers

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We hope you found some value reading this online guide provided to you by NCKCN.

If you could spare a few more seconds, we’d appreciate it if you could rate this article.  Doing so will help us better understand our community as well as to provide better content for future articles.

We value your input and Thanks in advance!

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