DtWinVer v1.3

Features

Enclosed is a routine which provides a comprehensive method to determine which OS the program that calls it is running on. All methods it uses are fully documented on various articles on the MSDN CD. The routine provides the emulated OS as well as the underlying OS. e.g to a Dos program Windows 95 looks like MS-DOS 7.0. A full list of the OS’s it can detect are:

• Dos
• Windows 3.0
• Windows 3.1
• Windows 3.11
• Windows for Workgroups
• Win32s (if you can call this an OS <g>)
• Windows CE 1.0 
• Windows CE 2.0
• Windows CE 2.1
• Windows CE 2.11
• Windows CE 3.0
• Windows 95
• Windows 95 Service Pack 1
• Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2
• Windows 98
• Windows 98 Second Edition
• NT Workstation, Server 3.1
• NT Workstation, Server, PDC, BDC 3.5
• NT Workstation, Server, PDC, BDC 3.51
• NT Workstation, Server, PDC, BDC 4.0
• Windows 2000 Professional
• Windows 2000 Server / Advanced Server
• Windows NT Terminal Server

Some of the possible scenarios it can report on are:

• "You are running an emulated Dos v5.50 On NT"
• "You are running an emulated Windows 3.95 on Windows 95 v4.0 Build 950"
• "You are running Windows for Workgroups on Dos v6.22"
• "You are running NT Server v3.51"
• "You are running an application on Windows NT Terminal Server.
• This NT machine is acting as a stand alone server, primary domain controller or backup domain controller.

History

v1.1 (8 May 1997)

• Fix to remove Unicode and TCHAR code when being compiled for Win16.

v1.2 (13 September 1998)

• Updated the sample app plus the DtWinVer code to explicitly support Windows 98.

v1.3 (13 September 1998)

• UNICODE enabled the code.
• Removed need for the dwOSVersionInfoSize variable.
• Added support for detecting Build Number of 95 and 98 from DOS code path.
• Now ships as standard with VC 5 workspace files.
• Added explicit support for Windows 95 SP 1.
• Added explicit support for Windows 95 OSR 2.
• Added explicit support for Windows 98 Second Edition.
• Added explicit support for Windows 2000.
• Added explicit support for Windows CE.
• Added explicit support for Windows Terminal Server's.
• Added explicit support for NT Stand Alone Server's.
• Added explicit support for NT Primary Domain Controller's.
• Added explicit support for NT Backup Domain Controller's.

API

GetOSVersion

BOOL GetOSVersion(LPOS_VERSION_INFO lpVersionInformation)

Parameters

lpVersionInformation A pointer to a structure of the following form:

typedef struct _OS_VERSION_INFO

{

//What version of OS is being emulated

DWORD dwEmulatedMajorVersion;

DWORD dwEmulatedMinorVersion;

DWORD dwEmulatedBuildNumber;

DWORD dwEmulatedPlatformId;

#ifdef _WIN32

TCHAR szEmulatedCSDVersion[128];

#else

char szEmulatedCSDVersion[128];

#endif

//What version of OS is really running

DWORD dwUnderlyingMajorVersion;

DWORD dwUnderlyingMinorVersion;

DWORD dwUnderlyingBuildNumber;

DWORD dwUnderlyingPlatformId;

#ifdef _WIN32

TCHAR szUnderlyingCSDVersion[128];

#else

char szUnderlyingCSDVersion[128];

#endif

} OS_VERSION_INFO, *POS_VERSION_INFO, FAR *LPOS_VERSION_INFO;

This will be filled in upon a successful return from the function.

Return Value

TRUE if the function was successful otherwise FALSE.

Notes

The code uses some C++’isms and uses MFC header files. If you want, it would be a very simple matter of commenting out a few lines here and there to get it to work on any standard "C" compiler on any PC OS. 3 mak files are also included which builds a simple application which reports the OS version, through a message box on Windows and stdio in Dos.

The mak files are:

• dosver.mak (VC 1.5x for Dos)
• winver.mak (VC 1.5x for Win16)
• winver32.dsp/dsw (VC 5 for Win32).

Areas where the code may prove useful are:

• A Dos program wants to know if it can be allowed access to hardware ports which is not available on NT, but is available on Dos, Windows 3.x & Windows 95.
• A Win32 program wants to know if the Windows 95 UI is available.
• A Win16 program wants to know if it can call the Win32 API via generic thunking.
• Checking for the existence of a certain Service pack on Windows 95 or 98.

Planned Enhancements

• Add support for Windows 2000 Advanced Server.
• Add support for Windows 2000 Datacenter Server.
• Add support for Embedded Windows NT.
• Add support for differentiating between NT Server / Workstation from 16 bit Windows code path.

Contacting the Author

PJ Naughter
Email: pjn@indigo.ie
Web: http://indigo.ie/~pjn
23rd June 1999