- 4 ways to learn when Windows was installed on your PC or device
- 1. Use the systeminfo command in the Command Prompt or PowerShell
- 2. Use File Explorer or Windows Explorer
- 3. Use the Settings app to see when was Windows 10 installed
- 4. Use PowerShell and different commands to check when was Windows installed
- Do you know other methods for checking when Windows was installed?
- CreateWindowW macro (winuser.h)
- Syntax
- Parameters
- Returns
- Return value
- Remarks
- Examples
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.
CreateWindowW macro (winuser.h)
Creates an overlapped, pop-up, or child window. It specifies the window class, window title, window style, and (optionally) the initial position and size of the window. The function also specifies the window’s parent or owner, if any, and the window’s menu.
To use extended window styles in addition to the styles supported by CreateWindow, use the CreateWindowEx function.
Syntax
Parameters
A null-terminated string or a class atom created by a previous call to the RegisterClass or RegisterClassEx function. The atom must be in the low-order word of lpClassName; the high-order word must be zero. If lpClassName is a string, it specifies the window class name. The class name can be any name registered with RegisterClass or RegisterClassEx, provided that the module that registers the class is also the module that creates the window. The class name can also be any of the predefined system class names. For a list of system class names, see the Remarks section.
The window name. If the window style specifies a title bar, the window title pointed to by lpWindowName is displayed in the title bar. When using CreateWindow to create controls, such as buttons, check boxes, and static controls, use lpWindowName to specify the text of the control. When creating a static control with the SS_ICON style, use lpWindowName to specify the icon name or identifier. To specify an identifier, use the syntax «#num«.
The style of the window being created. This parameter can be a combination of the window style values, plus the control styles indicated in the Remarks section.
The initial horizontal position of the window. For an overlapped or pop-up window, the x parameter is the initial x-coordinate of the window’s upper-left corner, in screen coordinates. For a child window, x is the x-coordinate of the upper-left corner of the window relative to the upper-left corner of the parent window’s client area. If this parameter is set to CW_USEDEFAULT, the system selects the default position for the window’s upper-left corner and ignores the y parameter. CW_USEDEFAULT is valid only for overlapped windows; if it is specified for a pop-up or child window, the x and y parameters are set to zero.
The initial vertical position of the window. For an overlapped or pop-up window, the y parameter is the initial y-coordinate of the window’s upper-left corner, in screen coordinates. For a child window, y is the initial y-coordinate of the upper-left corner of the child window relative to the upper-left corner of the parent window’s client area. For a list box, y is the initial y-coordinate of the upper-left corner of the list box’s client area relative to the upper-left corner of the parent window’s client area.
If an overlapped window is created with the WS_VISIBLE style bit set and the x parameter is set to CW_USEDEFAULT, then the y parameter determines how the window is shown. If the y parameter is CW_USEDEFAULT, then the window manager calls ShowWindow with the SW_SHOW flag after the window has been created. If the y parameter is some other value, then the window manager calls ShowWindow with that value as the nCmdShow parameter.
The width, in device units, of the window. For overlapped windows, nWidth is either the window’s width, in screen coordinates, or CW_USEDEFAULT. If nWidth is CW_USEDEFAULT, the system selects a default width and height for the window; the default width extends from the initial x-coordinate to the right edge of the screen, and the default height extends from the initial y-coordinate to the top of the icon area. CW_USEDEFAULT is valid only for overlapped windows; if CW_USEDEFAULT is specified for a pop-up or child window, nWidth and nHeight are set to zero.
The height, in device units, of the window. For overlapped windows, nHeight is the window’s height, in screen coordinates. If nWidth is set to CW_USEDEFAULT, the system ignores nHeight.
A handle to the parent or owner window of the window being created. To create a child window or an owned window, supply a valid window handle. This parameter is optional for pop-up windows.
To create a message-only window, supply HWND_MESSAGE or a handle to an existing message-only window.
A handle to a menu, or specifies a child-window identifier depending on the window style. For an overlapped or pop-up window, hMenu identifies the menu to be used with the window; it can be NULL if the class menu is to be used. For a child window, hMenu specifies the child-window identifier, an integer value used by a dialog box control to notify its parent about events. The application determines the child-window identifier; it must be unique for all child windows with the same parent window.
A handle to the instance of the module to be associated with the window.
A pointer to a value to be passed to the window through the CREATESTRUCT structure (lpCreateParams member) pointed to by the lParam param of the WM_CREATE message. This message is sent to the created window by this function before it returns.
If an application calls CreateWindow to create a MDI client window, lpParam should point to a CLIENTCREATESTRUCT structure. If an MDI client window calls CreateWindow to create an MDI child window, lpParam should point to a MDICREATESTRUCT structure. lpParam may be NULL if no additional data is needed.
Returns
If the function succeeds, the return value is a handle to the new window.
If the function fails, the return value is NULL. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.
Return value
Remarks
Before returning, CreateWindow sends a WM_CREATE message to the window procedure. For overlapped, pop-up, and child windows, CreateWindow sends WM_CREATE, WM_GETMINMAXINFO, and WM_NCCREATE messages to the window. The lParam parameter of the WM_CREATE message contains a pointer to a CREATESTRUCT structure. If the WS_VISIBLE style is specified, CreateWindow sends the window all the messages required to activate and show the window.
If the created window is a child window, its default position is at the bottom of the Z-order. If the created window is a top-level window, its default position is at the top of the Z-order (but beneath all topmost windows unless the created window is itself topmost).
For information on controlling whether the Taskbar displays a button for the created window, see Managing Taskbar Buttons.
For information on removing a window, see the DestroyWindow function.
The following predefined system classes can be specified in the lpClassName parameter. Note the corresponding control styles you can use in the dwStyle parameter.
| System class | Meaning |
|---|---|
| BUTTON | Designates a small rectangular child window that represents a button the user can click to turn it on or off. Button controls can be used alone or in groups, and they can either be labeled or appear without text. Button controls typically change appearance when the user clicks them. For more information, see Buttons For a table of the button styles you can specify in the dwStyle parameter, see Button Styles. |
| COMBOBOX | Designates a control consisting of a list box and a selection field similar to an edit control. When using this style, an application should either display the list box at all times or enable a drop-down list box. If the list box is visible, typing characters into the selection field highlights the first list box entry that matches the characters typed. Conversely, selecting an item in the list box displays the selected text in the selection field. For more information, see Combo Boxes. For a table of the combo box styles you can specify in the dwStyle parameter, see Combo Box Styles. |
| EDIT | Designates a rectangular child window into which the user can type text from the keyboard. The user selects the control and gives it the keyboard focus by clicking it or moving to it by pressing the TAB key. The user can type text when the edit control displays a flashing caret; use the mouse to move the cursor, select characters to be replaced, or position the cursor for inserting characters; or use the BACKSPACE key to delete characters. For more information, see Edit Controls. For a table of the edit control styles you can specify in the dwStyle parameter, see Edit Control Styles. |
| LISTBOX | Designates a list of character strings. Specify this control whenever an application must present a list of names, such as file names, from which the user can choose. The user can select a string by clicking it. A selected string is highlighted, and a notification message is passed to the parent window. For more information, see List Boxes. For a table of the list box styles you can specify in the dwStyle parameter, see List Box Styles. |
| MDICLIENT | Designates an MDI client window. This window receives messages that control the MDI application’s child windows. The recommended style bits are WS_CLIPCHILDREN and WS_CHILD. Specify the WS_HSCROLL and WS_VSCROLL styles to create an MDI client window that allows the user to scroll MDI child windows into view. |
| RichEdit | Designates a Microsoft Rich EditВ 1.0 control. This window lets the user view and edit text with character and paragraph formatting, and can include embedded Component Object Model (COM) objects. For more information, see Rich Edit Controls. For a table of the rich edit control styles you can specify in the dwStyle parameter, see Rich Edit Control Styles. |
| RICHEDIT_CLASS | Designates a Microsoft Rich EditВ 2.0 control. This controls let the user view and edit text with character and paragraph formatting, and can include embedded COM objects. For more information, see Rich Edit Controls. For a table of the rich edit control styles you can specify in the dwStyle parameter, see Rich Edit Control Styles. |
| SCROLLBAR | Designates a rectangle that contains a scroll box and has direction arrows at both ends. The scroll bar sends a notification message to its parent window whenever the user clicks the control. The parent window is responsible for updating the position of the scroll box, if necessary. For more information, see Scroll Bars. For a table of the scroll bar control styles you can specify in the dwStyle parameter, see Scroll Bar Control Styles. |
| STATIC | Designates a simple text field, box, or rectangle used to label, box, or separate other controls. Static controls take no input and provide no output. For more information, see Static Controls. For a table of the static control styles you can specify in the dwStyle parameter, see Static Control Styles. CreateWindow is implemented as a call to the CreateWindowEx function, as shown below. ExamplesThe winuser.h header defines CreateWindow as an alias which automatically selects the ANSI or Unicode version of this function based on the definition of the UNICODE preprocessor constant. Mixing usage of the encoding-neutral alias with code that not encoding-neutral can lead to mismatches that result in compilation or runtime errors. For more information, see Conventions for Function Prototypes. |
