How can I tell when Windows was installed on a computer?

There are a few ways to determine when the version of Windows you are currently using was installed on the computer. Below is a list of each of the ways.

Finding Windows install date using systeminfo

Users who are running Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 can use the systeminfo command to show when Windows was installed on the computer. To run and use the systeminfo command, follow these steps.

If you’ve upgraded to a newer version of Windows (e.g., upgraded Windows 8 to Windows 10) the original install date shown is the date of the upgrade.

1. Open the Windows command line.
2. From the command line, type the following command to show only the original install date. If you are using a non-English version of Windows, this command may not work, and you may want to use one of the other options.

If done properly systeminfo should return output similar to the example shown.

1. Open the Windows command line.
2. From the command line, type systeminfo and press Enter to see output similar to the following example. The «Original Install Date» is when Windows was installed on the computer.

Finding Windows install date in the registry

The install date is also in the Windows registry for all versions of Windows by following these steps.

1. Open the registry.
2. Browse to the following path.

1. Once in the folder above, locate the «InstallDate» key, which contains the hexadecimal and decimal value of the date Windows was installed. Open the «InstallDate» key.
2. Select Decimal to get the decimal value, which is the date in epoch time. Once this value is copied, you need to use an epoch converter to convert that value into a readable date. Below is an example of an epoch and its converted date value.

Epoch value: 1450404590

GMT value: Fri., 18 Dec. 2015 02:09:50 GMT

Find out Windows Installation Date using various methods

There may come a time when you may want to or need to know your Windows installation date or the date and time when your Windows 10 OS was installed on your computer. There are several ways to find this out, which we will discuss in this post.

Windows Installation Date

To find the installation date of your Windows 10 OS:

1. You may see the Windows folder Properties
2. Check the Windows Registry
3. Use the systeminfo command-line tool
4. Use a PowerShell command.

1] Windows folder Properties

The easiest way to find out when your Windows OS was installed, would be to right-click the Windows folder, select Properties and see the entry in front of Created under the General tab. Here you will see the time and date.

But if you have upgraded your Windows version to a higher version, you will see the date when the earlier version was installed and not when the latest version was installed or upgraded. In my case, it shows the day I first installed Windows 8 – and not the Windows 8.1 date.

2] Check the Windows Registry

The Windows Installation Date is also stored in the Windows Registry in the following key, as UNIX time, ie as a 32-bit value displaying the time in the number of seconds since 1st Jan 1970.

My Windows was installed 1382359164 seconds since 1st Jan 1970, so you need to do some calculations to arrive at the figure.

3] Use the systeminfo command-line tool

The easiest and the most convenient way of finding the Windows Installation Date would be to use the systeminfo tool, which we have already talked about. To use this built-in tool, open a command prompt window, type the following, and hit Enter:

You will be able to see the Original Install Date.

4] Use a PowerShell command

The Windows install date is also stored in the property InstallDate of the WMI class Win32_OperatingSystem. You can use PowerShell to get the date and time of installation.

To find out the date, open Windows PowerShell as Administrator, change the path to C drive, type the following, and hit Enter:

The date and time your Windows was installed will be displayed!

4 ways to learn when Windows was installed on your PC or device

You may need to know when Windows was installed on your computer or device. Maybe you need this information for your work, or because you want to brag about how stable your Windows is after all these years of abuse, or just because you do not want it to run for more than six months without reinstalling it. Whatever the reason, we have simple ways for you to learn the correct answer, with incredible precision:

NOTE: This guide works for Windows 10, Windows 7, and Windows 8.1. All the methods we share are tested and confirmed to work in all three versions.

1. Use the systeminfo command in the Command Prompt or PowerShell

The first method involves using the Command Prompt or PowerShell. Open CMD or open PowerShell, depending on what you prefer. You do not have to open it with administrator rights. Type the following command and press Enter on your keyboard: systeminfo | find “Original Install Date”.

In a second or two, you see the Original Install Date displayed.

2. Use File Explorer or Windows Explorer

If you use Windows 10 or Windows 8.1, open File Explorer. If you use Windows 7, open Windows Explorer. Then, navigate to the C: drive where Windows is installed. Right-click the Windows folder and choose Properties.

In the Windows Properties window, look for the Created field, in the General tab. It shows when the Windows folder was created on your computer or device. This folder was created when you installed Windows.

You can follow the same procedure using other system folders like Program Files.

IMPORTANT: We noticed that, in Windows 10, the other methods we described in this guide return the date when the last major update was installed, not when Windows 10 was installed initially. This method, however, seems to return useful results every time.

3. Use the Settings app to see when was Windows 10 installed

If you are using Windows 10, open the Settings app. Then, go to System, and choose About. On the right side of the Settings window, look for the Windows specifications section. There you have the installation date, in the Installed on field highlighted below.

4. Use PowerShell and different commands to check when was Windows installed

In PowerShell, you can run other, more complex commands that return the result you want. Open PowerShell, run the command ([WMI]”).ConvertToDateTime((Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem).InstallDate) and press Enter.

After a few seconds, you see the installation date, in a readable format.

Another command that you can use in PowerShell, reads the value of a registry key that stores the installation date. The command is the following: [timezone]::CurrentTimeZone.ToLocalTime(([datetime]’1/1/1970′).AddSeconds($(get-itemproperty ‘HKLM:SoftwareMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersion’).InstallDate))

It then displays the installation date, in a readable format. The only issue is that it is an extended command. Luckily, you can copy it from this tutorial, and paste it into your PowerShell window.

Do you know other methods for checking when Windows was installed?

There are other methods for getting the Windows installation date and time, but they do not produce results that are easy to understand. You need to convert the data they give so that you understand it. However, if you know other methods that give you the Windows installation date, in an easy to understand format, share them in a comment below, and we will update this tutorial to help other readers.

How to: Reinstall or Restore your original Windows Installation After Upgrading to or Evaluating Windows 10

Technical Level : Intermediate

Summary

Please note this article details instructions about migrating from preview builds of Windows 10 to a previous version of Windows (Windows 7 or 8/8.1). Although the article discusses pre-release Windows 10 builds, the same instructions work if you are running the final version of Windows 10 and want to reinstall your previous version Windows.

The Windows 10 Previews currently available will eventually expire. The expectation among users should be that they will either need to upgrade to the final release or reinstall their previous version of Windows after they have completed their evaluation of the Windows 10 Preview. Microsoft officials recently indicated the intention of having the preview releases support upgrades to the final version. This is the intention, but of course, things can always change on the road to RTM. With the excitement surrounding the arrival of a new major release of Windows and the more public approach to testing Windows pre-release version, a lot of persons who are normally not exposed to beta testing are jumping in without hesitation.

If you decide to pay for the final release or you would like to restore your previous version of Windows, you will need to be prepared if this becomes the eventuality. The following wiki article shows you how.

Details

If you upgraded or migrated your previous version of Windows to Windows 10 you can consider the Rollback option. If you have been diligently updating to each new build of Windows 10, you will be able to go back to the most recent build. If you somehow migrated from Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7/8/8.1 to Windows 10 and find out there is no option to go back, then you will have to prepare to do so manually. Microsoft has indicated when users upgrade or migrate to Windows 10, the recovery partition used to restore your system to its original factory state becomes inoperable. The recovery partition is used in the event you need to reinstall Windows on your computer.

What is the recovery partition?

Some computers that come preinstalled with Windows often have what is called a recovery partition. This is used to reinstall the operating system in the event of a system crash. To access it, you will need to boot into when you start your computer by pressing a function key. This can be either F1, F2, F9, F10, F11, F12 or even DEL or Tab key.

For some Windows XP, Vista and even Windows 7 users, if you don’t have a recovery partition, you might have to use the recovery media that came with your computer to reinstall Windows. The recovery media often comes on a DVD or set of CDs that are sometimes labeled Recovery, Operating System, Drivers and are installed according to how the disc is labeled (Disc 1, Disc 2, Disc 3). Unfortunately, sometimes these discs get lost or damaged. Your best course of action is to request recovery media from the manufacturer of the computer.

Below is a link to all OEM contact numbers you can use to request recovery media from the maker of your computer.

What if you upgraded to a retail copy of Windows?

If you upgraded to a retail version of Windows, then you can use your reinstall disc to reinstall Windows on your computer. See links below for

instructions. If you have an upgrade version, this will require that you first reinstall the qualifying license in order to use the upgrade

version. Please see the links below for work arounds for doing a clean install with the upgrade version:

Reinstall Windows XP:

Reinstall Windows 7:

If you lost your reinstall disc, you can request a new one from the following link or for Windows Vista/Windows 7 users you can download a copy

from the following links and create a bootable copy.

How to Replace Lost, Broken, or Missing Microsoft Software or Hardware

Download the corresponding edition of Windows 7 you have a license for from the following link. You can identify the edition on the COA sticker attached to your machine, at the bottom or within the battery compartment (laptop) or top/side if its a desktop computer.
COA Certificate of Authenticity:
http://www.microsoft.com/howtotell/content.aspx?pg=coa
What is the Windows Certificate of Authenticity?
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/What-is-the-Windows-Certificate-of-Authenticity

Windows Vista SP1:

(The above Windows Vista image allows you to install the appropriate edition by having the appropriate key).

UPDATE: Since publishing this article, Microsoft has discontinued availability of Windows 7 and Windows Vista ISO images through Digital River.

For the past 5 years Microsoft made it quite easy for users of the Windows 7 operating system to obtain reinstall media. If you lost your retail installation disc or recovery media; either it was damaged or faulty; you could download a copy of the edition you have a license for from an affiliate website named Digital River. Most recently, Microsoft ended availability of reinstall media which you could download as a .ISO file from Digital River, which is a digital replica of a optical disc.

This was especially handy for persons who could not easily obtain recovery media from the manufacturer, did not want to pay the cost required to obtain it or preferred a clean configuration without the manufacturers bundled software or even a non-functional recovery partition. It was easy to use, all you had to do was reinstall and reactivate using the product key located on the certificate of authenticity and download any appropriate drivers from the manufacturers website.

Since this option is no longer available, what are your options? See article for details:

ImgBurn – In addtion to supporting the creation of CD’s from .ISO files,
it supports a wide range of other image file formats, and it’s free.
(BIN, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, MDS, NRG, PDI and ISO)

Note: Always use the slowest burn speed (4x or 2x) if offered a choice.

Windows 8/8.1

Windows 8/8.1 users are sometimes limited in this respect, this is especially true for owners of certain form factors such as Ultrabooks that do not have optical drives normally used to facilitate the restoration of a system. In this case, you will have to manually download a copy of Windows 8/8.1 in order to reinstall the operating system. Unfortunately, this can be quite a chore. Fortunately, due to possible feedback and ongoing refinements and third party advancements, reinstalling Windows 8/8.1 since its release in 2012 is a lot more convenient.

Downloading Windows 8/8.1 — things to take into consideration

If you were running Windows 8.0 prior to upgrading to Windows 10, think deeply whether you want to go back to this release or just go directly to Windows 8.1 with Update 1 which can be easily downloaded. Windows 8 users have until early 2016 to upgrade to Windows 8.1 with Update 1 in order to continue receiving support. January 2016 might seem like a long time away, but its best you do it now to save you all the trouble. Besides, its way more reliable, considering that for Windows 8 installations, upgrading to Update 1 is a staged process, you have to first upgrade to Windows 8.1 through the Store, then install Update 1 through Windows Update. By simply downloading Windows 8.1 with Update 1 media, you avoid all this.

How do you do it?

Microsoft recently released a new Media Creation Tool which you directly download and create a .ISO file for Windows 8.1 with Update 1.

Lets take a look at how that is done.

First download the Media Creation Tool from the following link and save it to your Downloads folder:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=510815

Double click Media Creation Tool file to launch setup.

Wait while setup begins

The following window allows you to select the Language, edition (Core or Pro), Architecture (32 or 64 bit).

The above example shows all of the selected options.

To determine if your system came preinstalled with Windows 8 Core or Pro, look at the bottom of your laptop or on the chassis of the machine for one of the stickers.

Choose how you want to prepare your files.

Install by creating media

This I think is one of the most important steps, a lot of persons do not have fast Internet Connections, or they are using metered Internet Connections which prohibits them from downloading large files using their ISP over a period of time. Windows 8 is a 2 GB download which is still significantly large for some Internet Connections.

USB flash drive

If you have a thumb drive with 3 GBs of available space, you can use that to create a bootable copy. Thumb drives are very cheap these days, so pick up a couple and create one as your first backup option. This is especially recommended for persons using Ultrabooks which do not include optical drives (DVD) or Netbooks. There are some desktop systems that do not include one.

ISO file

An ISO file is a digital or virtual replica of a physical disc. In order to use an ISO you must burn it to a optical disc. In the case of Windows 8, a blank DVD. If you are using Windows 7, you can create the .ISO and burn it using the built in Disc Image utility. If you are running Windows XP or Windows Vista, you can using a third party burning tool such as ImgBurn or Roxio/Nero.

Creating a .ISO file

For the purposes of this exercise, we are gonna use the .ISO option.

Select ISO file, then click Save

Select your location and click Save.

Wait while the .ISO image is created.

After obtaining the .iso file you use the Microsoft .iso to USB/DVD tool to create a bootable DVD or USB (requires a blank DVD or USB flash stick of at least 4 GB).

Starting the installation.

To learn how to change your BIOS options to boot from the DVD drive, see the following tutorial:

Once your computer is set to boot from the DVD, you should see this option.

If you are installing from a thumb drive, see the following instructions how to prepare your computer to boot from one:

The Windows logo will appear on screen, this might be here for a while, as long as you see the indicater, everything should be ok.

The setup screen will eventually appear, select your time and currency format then click Next.

Click Install Now

Wait while setup starts up

You will be prompted for a product key during setup. You can use a generic key which you can find at the following link.

Accept the End User License agreement and click Next

Click Custom install Windows only (advanced)

Select the system drive where Windows 8 is installed.

You will receive the following warning:
The partition you selected might contain files from a previous Windows Installation. If it does, these files and folders will be moved to a folder named Windows.old. You will be able to access the information in Windows.old, but you will be able to use your previous version of Windows.

(At all cost, do NOT click anything named Format or Delete or Partition. So even doing a custom install, your personal files are still preserved. Click OK
Setup will now start the installation. During the installation, your machine will be restarted several times.

When the installation is complete, you can complete the Out of Box experience such as selecting your computer, create a username, password, your time zone. You can then proceed to download the latest updates for Windows and reinstall your applications and drivers.

Windows 8 Out of Box Experience page

You can then recover your personal files from the Windows.old folder and reinstall all your applications and drivers. Or you can use Windows Easy Transfer to restore your backup.
How to retrieve your files from the Windows.old folder – Microsoft

Retrieve your product key:

With Windows 8, Microsoft has changed from stickers that have the product key that the user has to type in when installing the operating system to new BIOS embedded product keys. The idea is that by eliminating the sticker, you eliminate one of the easier ways for nefarious users to get a legitimate product key. Eliminating the product key sticker also removes any worry that the sticker might get damaged while at the same time eliminating the long and irritating process of typing in various letters and numbers when installing the operating system.

If the user has to reinstall the operating system on a machine that came with Windows 8, the installation process automatically grabs the software product key from the motherboard BIOS with no input from the user. This means that those familiar Windows product key stickers will no longer appear on the Windows 8 computers.

If Windows 8 setup did not retrieve your key and you had to use a generic key from the link provided, here is how to retrieve the product key from the BIOS.

Windows 10 Embedded Product Key tool by Neosmart

Designed for users of Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10, our embedded product key tool will retrieve and display the Windows setup product key embedded in the BIOS or EFI, allowing you to store it for safe-keeping or use it to reinstall Windows with an official Windows setup image.

You can download it at the following link:

Press Windows key + R

Type: slui.exe 3

Enter the product key and click Next to activate over the Internet.

You can also use phone activation:

Press Windows key + X then clickRun, then type: slui.exe 4

2. Next press the ‘ENTER’ key

3. Select your ‘Country’ from the list.

4. Choose the ‘Phone Activation’ option.

5. Stay on the phone (do not select/press any options) and wait for a person to help you with activation.

6. Explain your problem clearly to the support person.

Related:

Please do not hesitate to share your feedback and suggestions, this is a huge undertaking and again underscores the benefits of dual booting instead which is a lot more convenient and less destructive.