How to tell which ServicePak is installed

[tacoeater]

I want to know how I can tell which service pack is installed so that I can use the correct CD for a repair install. I already know it screws things up royally when I use the wrong one. Many times the Windows won't run so knowing what service pack is not something which you can tell in device manager or at boot screen. Back in the old days with Win98 you could tell the version by looking at the date and size of command.com. I usually put the problem drive on a USB adapter to copy off my documents and stuff for the customers and figure that I might be able to tell what service pack is installed by examining something in the i386 folder. Does anyone have any knowledge on this. I would really like to get proficient on this.
Thanks,
Alan

[sdkfz]

On Win XP Bring up your system properties window and it will tell you what SP you have. This is the same place that you access device manager.

[Statica]

* From a working system: You can tell the Service Pack version by checking the system properties dialog (Right Click on My Computer > Properties).
* From a non-working system: You can tell the service pack version by going to \Windows\ServicePackFiles\i386\
Look for the following indicators: the presence of a cab file called: spX.cab where X is the SP version
Alternately, you can check the registry data by using the REG command from a console. The SP info is stored in the CSDVersion key in: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
So a command:
REG QUERY "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion" /v CSDVersion
would output:
CSDVersion REG_SZ Service Pack 2
Taking it further, if you want to list the hotfixes applied you can check out HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\HotFix\
* Finally if you want to check the SP version slipstreamed into a CD, before installation - you can check the root directory of the CD for the file win51ip.spX or look for spX.cab in the i386 directory of the CD (where X is the SP number).

HTH

[Retrac1324]

Theres a bunch of easier ways:

1. Start -> Right Click My Computer --> and it shows it there

2. Start -> Control Panel --> Add or Remove Programs --> See if Service Pack 2 is listed

3. TweakUI has a feature that can add your Windows Xp Version and Service Pack on your desktop

[tacoeater]

i am both pleased and amused with the responses. thank you statica most of all. the others, thanks but my post plainly states i want to do this from a non-working install of xp
thanks again,
alan

[bailey]

on a non working system, you won't even be able to tell if xp is installed.

[Statica]

Originally Posted by bailey on a non working system, you won't even be able to tell if xp is installed.

Yes you will.
There are various levels of what is going to be classified as a non-working system. Systems that boot and allow you to go to the recovery console .. which means any of the methods (looking at the registry.. looking at the files) are going to be perfectly possible. Systems that wont go to the console can still be looked into using various Linux distros having NTFS drivers.

If you mean a nonworking system is one that doesnt POST, then knowing the OS is the least of the worries.

[tacoeater]

YES BUT
on a Dell laptop with the XP sticker on the back you can tell. that was the case this time.
also you can hazzard a guess if you boot with a 98 boot and do fdisk and find it to be NTFS. oops what if it is fat32?
thanks to all of you.
alan

[tacoeater]

I also would like to know what to look for to tell if the installation on a
NON WORKING INSTALLATION (HARD DRIVE)
is XP Home or XP Professional.

This would be nice to know in order to do a repair install to try to use the customer's installation on a replacement motherboard. Some times I get a computer with no indication on the case of which XP is installed and they do not know the difference. It really happens.

I do know that if you start the setup with intention of doing a repair the installation will be shown when you get to the point to repair or zap the current partition. I would just like to save time by starting out with the correct XP version in the first place.