Identifying and dating MS operating systems?

From: Mark G. Spencer (dreadnoughtat_private)
Date: Thu Sep 05 2002 - 08:13:16 PDT

  • Next message: Don Mills: "Re: Router Investigations"

    I am looking for recommendations on how to accurately identify and date
    Microsoft operating systems, in particular Windows 95/98/ME/2K/XP, when
    analyzing images of systems.
    
    I am aware of the registry key "FirstInstallDateTime" for dating the
    operating system installation.  I am not clear however on whether this
    key represents the first installation of that particular version of
    Windows (e.g. an upgrade date, 98->2K) or does this date first install
    date of any MS operating system on that machine, regardless of upgrades?
    
    Are there better ways to identify:
    
    1.) The installation date of the current version of MS operating system,
    and
    2.) The installation date of the first MS operating system on a machine?
    
    Also, in terms of identification, would registry keys be the most
    authoritative way to determine which version of MS operating system is
    installed?
    
    Thanks for the assistance,
    
    Mark
    
    
    
    -------------------------------------------
    Introducing NetZero Long Distance
    Unlimited Long Distance only $29.95/ month!
    Sign Up Today! www.netzerolongdistance.com
    
    -----------------------------------------------------------------
    This list is provided by the SecurityFocus ARIS analyzer service.
    For more information on this free incident handling, management 
    and tracking system please see: http://aris.securityfocus.com
    



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sun Sep 08 2002 - 10:44:26 PDT