A. A Checked version of Windows has extra information used for debugging and troubleshooting an OS. A Checked version of each retail version of Windows is available. These debug or Checked versions are generally slower than the retail versions, which are streamlined for performance. To see whether you're running the checked or free (retail) version, run the sample script, which you can download at http://www.windowsitpro.com/content/content/48586/Ckosinfo.zip . (The script also shows other information that might be useful.) Essentially, the script queries the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) OS object and lists the content of each object (there will be just one instance of the OS object).
' osinfo.vbs by John Savill
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "\{impersonationLevel=impersonate\}!\\" _
& strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colOperatingSystems = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_OperatingSystem")
For Each objOperatingSystem in colOperatingSystems
Wscript.Echo "Install Date: " _
& objOperatingSystem.InstallDate
Wscript.Echo "Operating System: " _
& objOperatingSystem.Caption
Wscript.Echo "Version: " _
& objOperatingSystem.Version
Wscript.Echo "Checked Build: " _
& objOperatingSystem.Debug
Wscript.Echo "Service Pack: " _
& objOperatingSystem.ServicePackMajorVersion _
& "." & objOperatingSystem.ServicePackMinorVersion
Next
Here is the script output, which shows that this installation is the retail and not the checked (debug) build:
D:\temp>cscript osinfo.vbs Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.6 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1996-2001. All rights reserved. Install Date: 20051005103036.000000-300 Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional Version: 5.1.2600 Checked Build: False Service Pack: 2.0
