Which version of Windows operating system am I running?

Find operating system info in Windows 10

To find out which version of Windows your device is running, press the Windows logo key + R, type winver in the Open box, and then select OK.

Here’s how to learn more:

Select the Start button > Settings > System > About .

Under Device specifications > System type, see if you’re running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows.

Under Windows specifications, check which edition and version of Windows your device is running.

Related links

If you’re having a problem with activation, see Activate in Windows 10.

If you forgot the password you use to sign in to Windows devices or email, see How to reset your Microsoft password.

For info about updating Windows, see Windows Update: FAQ.

Find operating system info in Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1

To find out which version of Windows your device is running, press the Windows logo key + R, type winver in the Open box, and then select OK.

If your device is running Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1, here’s how to learn more:

If you’re using a touch device, swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings. Continue to step 3.

If you’re using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.

Select PC and devices > PC info.

Under Windows you’ll see which edition and version of Windows your device is running.

Under PC > System type you’ll see if you’re running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows.

Related links

If you’re having a problem with activation, see Activate Windows 7 or Windows 8.1

If you forgot the password you use to sign in to Windows devices or email, see How to reset your Microsoft password.

For info about updating Windows, see Windows Update: FAQ.

Find operating system info in Windows 7

Select the Start button, type Computer in the search box, right-click on Computer, and then select Properties.

Under Windows edition, you’ll see the version and edition of Windows that your device is running.

Support for Windows 7 ended on January 14, 2020

We recommend you move to a Windows 10 PC to continue to receive security updates from Microsoft.

Related links

If you’re having a problem with activation, see Activate Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.

If you forgot the password you use to sign in to Windows devices or email, see How to reset your Microsoft password.

For info about updating Windows, see Windows Update: FAQ.

How to See PC Startup And Shutdown History in Windows 10

There are times when a user wants to know the startup and shutdown history of a computer. Mostly, system administrators need to know about the history for troubleshooting purposes. If multiple people use the computer, it may be a good security measure to check PC startup and shutdown times to make sure the PC is being used legitimately. In this article we will discuss two ways to keep track of your PC shutdown and startup times.

Using event logs to extract startup and shutdown times

Windows Event Viewer is a wonderful tool which saves all kinds of stuff that is happening in the computer. During each event, the event viewer logs an entry. The event viewer is handled by eventlog service that cannot be stopped or disabled manually, as it is a Windows core service. The event viewer also logs the start and stop times of the eventlog service. We can make use of those times to get an idea of when our computer was started or shut down.

The eventlog service events are logged with two event codes. The event ID 6005 indicates that the eventlog service was started, and the event ID 6009 indicates that the eventlog services were stopped. Let’s go through the complete process of extracting this information from the event viewer.

1. Open Event Viewer (press Win + R and type eventvwr ).

2. In the left pane, open Windows Logs -> System.

3. In the middle pane you will get a list of events that occurred while Windows was running. Our concern is to see only three events. Let’s first sort the event log with Event ID. Click on the Event ID label to sort the data with respect to the Event ID column.

4. If your event log is huge, then the sorting will not work. You can also create a filter from the actions pane on the right side. Just click on “Filter current log.”

5. Type 6005, 6006 in the Event IDs field labeled as . You can also specify the time period under Logged.

• Event ID 6005 will be labeled as “The event log service was started.” This is synonymous with system startup.
• Event ID 6006 will be labeled as “The event log service was stopped.” This is synonymous with system shutdown.

If you want to investigate the Event log further, you can go through the Event ID 6013 which will display the uptime of the computer, and Event ID 6009 indicates the processor information detected during boot time. Event ID 6008 will let you know that the system started after it was not shut down properly.

Using TurnedOnTimesView

TurnedOnTimesView is a simple, portable tool for analyzing the event log for startup and shutdown times. The utility can be used to view the list of shutdown and startup times of local computers or any remote computer connected to the network. Since it is a portable tool, you will only need to unzip and execute the TurnedOnTimesView.exe file. It will immediately list the startup time, shutdown time, duration of uptime between each startup and shutdown, shutdown reason and shutdown code.

Shutdown reason is usually associated with Windows Server machines where we have to give a reason if we are shutting down the server.

To view the startup and shutdown times of a remote computer, go to “Options -> Advanced Options” and select “Data source as Remote Computer.” Specify the IP address or name of the computer in the Computer Name field and Press the OK button. Now the list will show the details of the remote computer.

While you can always use the event viewer for detailed analysis of startup and shutdown times, TurnedOnTimesView serves the purpose with a very simple interface and to-the-point data. For what purpose do you monitor the startup and shutdown times of your computer? Which method do you prefer for monitoring?

Content Manager at Make Tech Easier. Enjoys Android, Windows, and tinkering with retro console emulation to breaking point.

How To Know Which Process is Using a File or Folder in Windows

Ever wondered which program has a particular file or directory open? Quite often, when trying to delete a folder, Windows reports this:

This error also happens with a file, when we tried to move a file, or delete those file. How we can find out which program or application is currently using it and preventing us to delete/move it? To get the process holding those folder or file, we can use these two utilities:

Resource Monitor

For Windows 7 and above, you can use the built-in Resource Monitor.

Open Resource Monitor, which can be found

• By searching for resmon.exe in the start menu, or
• As a button on the Performance tab in your Task Manager

Resource Monitor from Task Manager’s Performance Tab

From CPU tab, use the search field in the Associated Handles section

When you’ve found the handle, you can identify the process by looking at the Image and/or PID column. You can then close the application if you are able to do that, or just right-click the row and you’ll get the option of killing the process (End Process) right there.

Process Explorer

Process Explorer shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded.

• Open Process Explorer (running as «administrator») by running procexp.exe or procexp64.exe.
• Enter the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F. Alternatively, click the “Find” menu and select “Find a Handle or DLL”.

Process Explorer — Find Handle or DLL

• Type in the name of the locked file or other file of interest in the Search dialog box, then click «Search». Partial names are usually sufficient.
• A list will be generated. There may be a number of entries. Click one of the entry, it’ll «Refreshing handles».

Process Explorer — Search

Same as Resource Monitor, an individual handle in the list can be killed by selecting it and pressing the delete key (or Close Handle). However, please be careful when deleting handles, as system instabilities may occur. Rebooting your system maybe will free the locked file/folder.

Process Explorer — Close Handle

Handle is a command line version of Process Explorer.

My Take

I prefer to use Resource Monitor compare to Process Explorer since Process Explorer is slower (especially during «Refreshing handles» process). If I can’t find the handle in Resource Monitor, then I use Process Explorer.

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How to find *all* startup programs on Windows 10? [duplicate]

I’ve checked the «Start-up» tab under Task Manager, the «Services» tab in msconfig , and the startup folder ( C:\Users\ \AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup ) but there’s an app that keeps coming up whenever I boot (Patriot Dashboard) that’s not listed in any of those places.

Where can I find the rest of the startup apps?

2 Answers 2

Use Autoruns for Windows from Sysinternals

This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and when you start various built-in Windows applications like Internet Explorer, Explorer and media players. These programs and drivers include ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys. Autoruns reports Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, and much more. Autoruns goes way beyond other autostart utilities.

Just search for Patriot Dashboard on Everything tab and Autoruns will locate it.

Not the answer you’re looking for? Browse other questions tagged boot windows-10 or ask your own question.

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Stuck at starting windows screen

Help me please, when I started my computer it got stuck on the «Starting Windows» screen. I had to force power off and reboot, tried using «system repair» and they ask for «system restore» and did restore but still it didn’t help me out ..and also i tried running it into «safe mode» it wont start.

not sure if this is a continuing issue with my Laptop or it’s Windows? I’m running Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.

Thanks in Advance!

Replies (9) 

Welcome to Microsoft Community Forum.

This issue may occur due to some third party software/hardware conflict, virus infection or if Boot mgr is missing or corrupted. The Windows boot manager, also known as the boot loader, tells your computer how and which operating systems to load. In some cases, if the boot manager is corrupted you may encounter this kind of issues.

1. What is the make and model of the computer?

2. Do you have Windows 7 installation disk?

3. Do you remember making any changes to the system prior to this issue?

To resolve this issue, use the following methods in the order in which they are presented. If method 1 does not resolve your issue, proceed to the next method.

Method 1:

Disconnect all the external devices (printers, scanner, USB (universal serial bus) device and then boot up.

If this corrects the issue then add the devices back one at a time until you discover the piece of hardware causing the issue. Then get updated driver software for the device.

Method 2:

Try booting into Last Known Good Configuration and see if you can boot fine.

Using Last Known Good Configuration

Method 3:

I would suggest you to re-perform start-up repair using Windows 7 disk.

Startup Repair: frequently asked questions

What are the system recovery options in Windows 7?

Method 4:

If the issue persists, then f ollow the troubleshooting steps from this Microsoft article and check if it helps:

How to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows

Windows hangs or freezes:

Hope this information is helpful. Please do let us know if you need further assistance, we’ll be glad to assist you.

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1. What is the make and model of the computer?

-LENOVO Z570 Laptop

2. Do you have Windows 7 installation disk?

— Sorry, I dont have..

3. Do you remember making any changes to the system prior to this issue?

— Not sure .. cuz ive installed programs such as Audacity [then uninstall it, thought that i could use it on something] i forgot the other programs.

-tried the method 1.. same thing happen [Stuck at starting windows]

-tried «last known good» still stuck at starting windows.

-cant perform the method 3, because i dont have the windows 7 disk

-i think i did try the method 4, it works perfectly fine at first . when i woke up in the morning .. the laptop works perfectly fine .. then suddenly it freezes/hangs > blackout then encounter the bluescreen thing .. then my laptop automatically restarted and loads slowly

I really dont know what to do now 🙁

will reinstalling windows fix my laptop?

thankyou! and sorry my english isn’t good

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Thanks for the information.

However, p lease reply to these questions, to understand the issue better:

1. What is the current status of the Windows? When you say «then my laptop automatically restarted and loads slowly».

2. Are you able to boot the laptop to the desktop?

Please reply with the required information, in order to help you fix the issue.

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1. that was .. when i first tried the «startup repair» then recommend me for a system restore .. when the restoration was complete.. starting windows > blackout with the mouse cursor > then Bluescreen appear

then it restarted the bios (loading screen i think?) loads very slow.

I have no idea .. what’s the current status of this windows ..

2. Nope, i cant because i’m stuck at «starting windows» cant login into my account .

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Thank you for keeping us updated on the status of the issue.

I would suggest you to boot the computer in Enable low-resolution video (640*480) from the Advanced startup options.

This starts Windows using your current video driver and using low resolution and refresh rate settings.

If the problem doesn’t reappear in low-resolution mode, then the issue is driver related. You can resolve this by downloading display card driver from the manufacturer’s website.

To do so follow the steps given below:

1. Click on Start, type Device Manager in the start search box and press Enter.

2. In Device Manager, double click on that Display Adapter.
3. It will show you the device driver name, select that device and then right click on it.
4. Now select properties.
5. In the properties window, under Driver tab, click on Uninstall button.
6. After the uninstalling the drivers restart the computer and update display card driver from the manufacturer’s website.

Please reply with the results, in order to help you fix the issue.