Q. How can I check which version of an OS a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) contains?

A. There might be times when you're not sure of the OS version in a VHD. You can find this information using the /Get-CurrentEdition switch of the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool. In the example below, I first create a VHD containing the Windows 7 Home Basic SKU using the wim2vhd tool. Then I check the version of the VHD using DISM after I mount it using DISKPART.

D:DocumentsScripts>cscript WIM2VHD.wsf /wim:"D:OS ImagesWindows 7 Ult 64-bit
sourcesinstall.wim" /sku:HOMEPREMIUM /vhd:d:tempwin7hpstd.vhd
 Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.8
 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

 Windows(R) Image to Virtual Hard Disk (WIM2VHD) Converter
 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
 Version 6.1.7600.0

 Check for updates at http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/wim2vhd!

 MACHINE INFO:
 Build=7601
 Platform=amd64fre
 OS=Windows 7 Ultimate
 ServicePack=Service Pack 1, v.721
 Version=6.1
 BuildLab=win7sp1_rc
 BuildDate=100929-1730
 Language=en-US

 INFO: Looking for IMAGEX.EXE...
 INFO: Looking for BCDBOOT.EXE...
 INFO: Looking for BCDEDIT.EXE...
 INFO: Looking for REG.EXE...
 INFO: Looking for DISKPART.EXE...
 INFO: Session key is ACFE1CDE-EF94-4D7F-9370-7377537B8CB8
 INFO: Inspecting the WIM...
 INFO: Configuring and formatting the VHD...
 INFO: Applying the WIM...
 \[ 100% \] Applying progress
 INFO: Making the VHD bootable with BCDBoot...
 INFO: Unmounting the VHD...
 Summary: Errors: 0, Warnings: 0, Successes: 1
 INFO: Done.

 D:DocumentsScripts>diskpart

 Microsoft DiskPart version 6.1.7601
 Copyright (C) 1999-2008 Microsoft Corporation.
 On computer: SAVDALWKS01

 DISKPART> select vdisk file=d:tempwin7hpstd.vhd

 DiskPart successfully selected the virtual disk file.

 DISKPART> attach vdisk

 100 percent completed

 DiskPart successfully attached the virtual disk file.

 DISKPART> assign letter=w

 DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

 DISKPART> list vol

 Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
 ---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
 Volume 0 H DVD-ROM 0 B No Media
 Volume 1 G EDGE_OF_DAR UDF DVD-ROM 6968 MB Healthy
 Volume 2 System Rese NTFS Partition 100 MB Healthy System
 Volume 3 C NTFS Partition 148 GB Healthy Boot
 Volume 4 T Temp NTFS Partition 74 GB Healthy Pagefile
 Volume 5 V Virtuals NTFS Partition 279 GB Healthy
 Volume 6 D Data NTFS Partition 1396 GB Healthy
 Volume 7 Removable 0 B No Media
 * Volume 8 W NTFS Partition 39 GB Healthy

 DISKPART> exit

 Leaving DiskPart...

 D:DocumentsScripts>dism /image:w: /get-currentedition

 Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
 Version: 6.1.7600.16385

 Image Version: 6.1.7600.16385

 Current edition is:

 Current Edition : HomePremium

 The operation completed successfully.