How to Find Windows version, build and edition from ISO or DVD

Windows 10 or Windows 11 ISO files downloaded from Microsoft will have descriptive names, such as en_windows_10_pro_10586_x64_dvd.iso and en_windows_10_pro_14393_x86_dvd.iso, depending upon the variant you downloaded. The file name depicts the language, version, build edition, and the bitness of the Operating System contained in the ISO.

iso dvd header image

Let’s assume you have a copy of the Windows ISO with a generic name such as windows_10.iso (which doesn’t make any sense) obtained from a friend. To find the Windows version, build and edition from an ISO file or Windows Setup DVD, you can use the DISM tool.

Find Windows version, build, edition from ISO

To find the Windows version, build and edition from an ISO file or DVD, use these steps:

  1. Mount the ISO file by double-clicking on it. By default, Mount will be the default action for ISO files. If not, right-click on the file and choose “Mount” in the context menu.
  2. Double-click the drive letter of the mounted drive.
  3. Double-click the Sources folder.
  4. Sort folder contents by Name, and look for a file named install.wim. If install.wim is missing, then you’ll have install.esd.

    find windows build version from iso file
    Install.esd located in the Sources folder.
  5. Open an elevated Command Prompt window, and then type the following command: 
    dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:F:\sources\install.wim /index:1

    In the ISO file, if you have install.esd instead of install.wim, you’d type:

    dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:F:\sources\install.esd /index:1

    DISM can handle both these file formats (.wim & .esd), at least in Windows 10.

    find windows build version from iso file
    Running DISM command on install.esd

    You’ll see the following output:

    Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.14393.0

Details for image : F:\sources\install.esd

Index : 1
Name : Windows 10 Pro
Description : Windows 10 Pro
Size : 14,747,431,455 bytes
WIM Bootable : No
Architecture : x64
Hal : 
Version : 10.0.14393
ServicePack Build : 0
ServicePack Level : 0
Edition : Professional
Installation : Client
ProductType : WinNT
ProductSuite : Terminal Server
System Root : WINDOWS
Directories : 19070
Files : 103878
Created : 7/16/2016 - 8:35:47 PM
Modified : 8/3/2016 - 3:15:18 AM
Languages : en-US (Default)

    If you’re using Windows 7, running the above DISM command-line with the .esd file name parameter would throw the following error:

    An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format.
    The DISM log file can be found at C:\Windows\Logs\DISM\dism.log

    In that case, you can pass boot.wim as the parameter, as below:

    dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:F:\sources\boot.wim /index:1
    find windows build version from iso file
    Running DISM command on boot.wim

    This results in the following output:

    Details for image : F:\sources\boot.wim

Index : 1
Name : Microsoft Windows PE (x64)
Description : Microsoft Windows PE (x64)
Size : 1,501,424,835 bytes
WIM Bootable : No
Architecture : x64
Hal : 
Version : 10.0.14393
ServicePack Build : 0
ServicePack Level : 0
Edition : WindowsPE
Installation : WindowsPE
ProductType : WinNT
ProductSuite :
System Root : WINDOWS
Directories : 3313
Files : 15074
Created : 7/16/2016 - 6:26:52 PM
Modified : 8/3/2016 - 3:11:57 AM
Languages : en-US (Default)

The operation completed successfully.

    Note that for Multi-arch ISO files that include both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows, the boot.wim, install.wim, install.esd file path varies slightly. These files are located under their respective architecture folders.

    \x86\sources\
\x64\sources\

Easier way using DISM GUI!

Download the DISM GUI utility and open a WIM or ESD file in it. Click the “Display WIM Info” button. It works for install.wim as well as install.esd — if you’re using Windows 10.

display wim esd indexes iso dismgui

You’ll see the list of indexes and the corresponding Windows OS editions under the “DISM Output” section below. The OS version is also displayed in the output.

We covered DISM GUI before.

That’s it! You’ve now obtained the maximum information about the Operating System included in an ISO file, such as the OS version, edition, Service Pack level, architecture.

DISM Get-WimInfo showing the wrong version?

Sometimes, the Windows 8 or 10 ISOs may have the wrong version info metadata that causes the above DISM command to show the wrong version or build.

I downloaded the Windows 20 20H2 ISO (20H2 Build starts with 19042.nnn) from Microsoft.

  • Filename: Win10_20H2_English_x64.iso
  • SHA-256: e793f3c94d075b1aa710ec8d462cee77fde82caf400d143d68036f72c12d9a7e

Running DISM showed this:

dism get wiminfo wrong version

Whereas, 20H2 build starts with 19042.nnn (as shown by the winver command)

dism get wiminfo wrong version

The setup.exe (inside the 20H1 ISO) file’s version showed up as 19041.xxx, instead of 19042.nnn.

Here is another such case: Windows version mismatch for Install.WIM, shows it as “Windows 8.1 Enterprise”

To know why this happens in Windows 10/11, read further.

Windows 10 ISO Version and build number are reported incorrectly

Windows 10, versions 2004, 20H2, 21H1, 21H2, and 22H2 share a common core operating system with an identical set of system files. Therefore, the new features in Windows 10, version 22H2 are included in the latest monthly quality update for Windows 10, version 2004, 20H2, 21H1, and 21H2, but are in an inactive and dormant state. These new features will remain dormant until they are turned on through the “enablement package,” a small, quick-to-install “master switch” that activates the Windows 10, version 22H2 features.

Because of this, the image metadata on 1909 media will report the version 1903 build number of 18362, and the image metadata on 20H2/21H2/22H2 media will report the version 2004 build number of 19041.

Workaround

  • To determine whether the media is 1909 media, mount the image, run dism /get-packages and check whether the 1909 Enablement Package is installed. Specifically, look for a package named Package_for_KB4517245.
  • To determine whether the media is 20H2 media, mount the image, run dism /get-packages and check whether the 20H2 Enablement Package is installed. Specifically, look for a package named Package_for_KB4562830.
  • To determine whether the media is 21H1 media, mount the image, run dism /get-packages and check whether the 21H1 Enablement Package is installed. Specifically, look for a package named Package_for_KB5000736.
  • To determine whether the media is 21H2 media, mount the image, run dism /get-packages and check whether the 21H2 Enablement Package is installed. Specifically, look for a package named Package_for_KB5003791.
  • To determine whether the media is 22H2 media, mount the image, run dism /get-packages and check whether the 22H2 Enablement Package is installed. Specifically, look for a package named Package_for_KB5015684.

Here are the DISM commands to mount the ISO and then query the mounted WIM to find if the “enablement package” is installed.

Step 1) Mounting the WIM Image

First, create a directory named “WinMount” on the C:\ drive, and try the following steps.

# Assumes that the Windows Setup USB/ISO is mounted at J: and the index of the edition [Home, Pro, etc.] must be chosen:
Dism /Mount-Image /ImageFile:"J:\sources\install.wim" /Index:1 /MountDir:"C:\WinMount" /ReadOnly

dism iso wim wrong version metadata

Note: If you have the file install.esd (instead of install.wim) in your ISO or USB drive, you need to convert the ESD file to WIM in order to mount its contents.

Step 2) Query if an Enablement Package is installed

dism /Get-Packages /Image:"C:\WinMount"

dism iso wim wrong version metadata

Sample Output
dism iso wim wrong version metadata

Package Identity : Package_for_KB5000736~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.1.3
State : Installed
Release Type : Update
Install Time : 4/9/2021 1:43 PM

KB5000736 is the enablement package that upgrades your Windows 10 device to version 21H1.

(or)

Package Identity : Package_for_KB5003791~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~19041.1237.1.3
State : Installed
Release Type : Update
Install Time : 12/16/2021 11:13 AM

KB5003791 is the enablement package that upgrades your Windows 10 device to version 21H2.

(or)

Package Identity : Package_for_KB5015684~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~19041.1799.1.2
State : Installed
Release Type : Update
Install Time : 9/8/2022 3:00 AM

KB5015684 is the enablement package that upgrades your Windows 10 device to version 22H2.

(Optionally, you can pipe the output to “clip” to copy the output to the clipboard and paste it into Notepad.)

dism iso wim wrong version metadata

Step 3) UnMounting the WIM Image

After you complete the query, you can unmount the image using the following syntax:

Dism /Unmount-image /MountDir: {/Commit | /Discard}

In our case, we’d use:

Dism /Unmount-image /MountDir:"c:\WinMount" /discard

dism unmount image

See also: How to Extract Specific Files from Windows ISO (Install.wim)

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Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.

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20 thoughts on “How to Find Windows version, build and edition from ISO or DVD”

  1. The only release of Windows 10 that has a correct build number is the Anniversary update which returns:
    Version : 10.0.14393

    All other releases return 10.0.10586 as the version number.

    Another inconsistency is found in release 1511 where one download from Microsoft contains sources/install.esd and another downloaded on the same day contains sources/install .wim. Surely this should not depend on the server the .iso file is downloaded from?

    Why is it so difficult for Microsoft to ensure that information is accurate?

    It seems the only way to keep a record of the Windows 10 release is from the “Created” date in the DISM listing.

    Reply

  4. Nice, now i know what version i have but….is useles, because can be broke on worse, so i check the checksum, ehi you know what? ther’s no way to verify if my version is legit or is a custom build, because MS don’t give us a complete list of checksum of his products….
    this is my version, if someone know where find a checksum
    Versione : 6.1.7601
    Build Service Pack : 17514
    CRC-32: 06B4258E
    MD5: B00D1EABC043412FD9CD13F6FE04202D
    SHA-1: 9F92DF8607D7C67FB19BB92910A8AE74A584D22E

    Reply

  6. I have a multi install DVD that has 14 versions of Windows 7 x64. Any idea how to find a specific one so I make it an install iso? Thanks.

    Reply

    • dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:D:\sources\install.wim or
      dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:D:\sources\install.esd
      This will display the full list available.
      Note: Change the drive letter to your drive letter WimFile:(letter):
      Then expand the index you want with below line,
      dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:D:\sources\install.wim /index: 3
      If 3 is the expansion you want
      Also

  9. Thanks for this.
    Using windows 8 enterprise the .esd file could not be read and
    neither DISMGUI worked. I instead used boot.wim in the command line
    and worked. Other isos with .wim file worked perfectly.

    Reply

  11. You could also find it by opening install.wim/install.esd with 7-zip then goto –> (desired edition)[could be any number]\Windows\explorer\.rsrc\version.txt
    Here you could find all related info such as below:
    FILEVERSION 6,3,9600,17415
    PRODUCTVERSION 6,3,9600,17415
    FILEFLAGSMASK 0x3F
    FILEFLAGS 0x0
    FILEOS VOS_NT_WINDOWS32
    FILETYPE VFT_APP
    FILESUBTYPE 0x0
    {
    BLOCK “StringFileInfo”
    {
    BLOCK “040904B0”
    {
    VALUE “CompanyName”, “Microsoft Corporation”
    VALUE “FileDescription”, “Windows Explorer”
    VALUE “FileVersion”, “6.3.9600.17415 (winblue_r4.141028-1500)”
    VALUE “InternalName”, “explorer”
    VALUE “LegalCopyright”, “© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.”
    VALUE “OriginalFilename”, “EXPLORER.EXE”
    VALUE “ProductName”, “Microsoft® Windows® Operating System”
    VALUE “ProductVersion”, “6.3.9600.17415”
    }
    }
    BLOCK “VarFileInfo”
    {
    VALUE “Translation”, 0x409, 1200
    }
    }
    This was for Windows 8.1 Enterprise Edition. 🙂

    Reply

  12. I downloaded latest Windows 11 22H2, with dism I found that the build is 22621, but I don’t know if the KB5022913 is included so I converted the ESD file to WIM, launched the command dism /packages but there aren’t KB inside it :S
    Is it possible?

    Reply

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