How to Find Out When Windows 10 Was Installed

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Hey all,

Does anyone know how to find the original install date of a Windows 10 install?

Running "systeminfo" at cmd shows an "Original Install Date" but that date is actually just the date of the last large update (creators update, etc)

For instance, the PC I am using right now hasn't been reformatted since 2015, yet the systeminfo shows:

Running "WMIC OS GET installdate" provides the same date:

If I look at C:\Windows, the "Date Created" of that directory is another is 3/18/2017, which is also not what I'm looking for.

Is there a directory somewhere where the "date created" persists throughout all of these major windows updates?  I need to find a way to find the true original OS install date on several PCs here.

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11 Replies

Mike434632

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Oct 25, 2017 at 19:35 UTC

PS C:\> ([WMI]'').ConvertToDateTime((Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem).InstallDate)

rbleattler

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Oct 25, 2017 at 19:37 UTC

I believe this powershell command should get you what you're looking for. If not, let me know. Now I'm interested!

                                                            (                              [WMI]                              ""                              ).                              ConvertToDateTime                              (((                              Get-WmiObject                              -class                              win32_operatingsystem                              ).                              installdate                              ))                            

EDIT: Expanding on this, in Windows 10, the 'installdate' may be the most recent feature upgrade. Why? Because feature upgrades are sort of considered new versions of Windows (basically, the major build numbers are "new versions", 1511, 1607, 1703, 1709).

skal_404

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Oct 25, 2017 at 19:45 UTC

There is a spot in the registry that will give it to you in UNIX time if you are pre-10.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\InstallDate as UNIX time

or you can use these powershell commands.

PS > $os = get-wmiobject win32_operatingsystem

PS > $os.ConvertToDateTime($os.InstallDate) -f "MM/dd/yyyy"

or this command:  systeminfo |find /i "Original Install Date"

all of these gave me the same as my systeminfo time so I imagine it will be a similar outcome for you. I think its a problem where the major windows updates are image based so they reset the original install date automatically.

So far all of these PowerShell commands also return the same date, 6/15/2017, which was the date of the last feature upgrade.

I went into Add/Remove Programs, and sorted programs by date installed, found a program I know I install on the day I install windows.  Then I went to my C:\Windows directory and tried to find folders matching that date. So far the ONLY thing I can find that seems to persist across all systems is the C:\Windows\CSC directory, which is used for Client Side Caching.

This "Date Modified" on this folder (NOT the "Date Created", that is a time from before this computer even existed) appears to match the actual Windows install date on 2 PC's so far, so hopefully this will be the case for all of them, though I'm not sure.  The folder itself is locked down, and I can't get into it even with admin privs.  So because it's locked down, I think it might have remained unchanged since the original install.

tfl

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Oct 25, 2017 at 19:53 UTC

I think that the install dates was the date of the last installation (i.e. the last feature upgrade) and not the original installation. From what I understand, that original date is lost.

Mike434632

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Oct 25, 2017 at 20:03 UTC

WOW, I just check and The original install dates do change after applying some updates......

The closet I can come up with is this:

Open your Program Files folder: (C:\Program Files (x86)),
In the Program Files window, select View from the menu ribbon.
In the View menu, inside the 'current view' group, click Add Columns.
Select 'Date Created'

Da_Schmoo

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Oct 25, 2017 at 20:08 UTC

Crap.  I just checked my Lansweeper inventory hoping it was pulling the original install date somehow and then figure out how they did it but nope, date is when the last feature "update" installed as well.

Mike434632

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Oct 25, 2017 at 20:18 UTC

So I was so dumbfounded on this I had to do some digging.
I do not have access to a WIN 10 system but try this:

So the Windows 10 OS has yet another registry subkey, this one in the SYSTEM hive file: "\Setup\Source OS." The InstallDate information here is the original computer OS install date/time. It also tells you when the update started, ie; "\Setup\Source OS (Updated on xxxxxx)." This may of course not be when the update ends, the user may choose to turn off instead of rebooting when prompted, etc. The update can actually complete on a different day, and "\Setup\Source OS (Updated on xxxxxx)" will reflect the date/time it started the update.

You can also find instances of multiple "\Setup\Source OS (Updated on xxxxxx)" subkeys, each one reflecting an update.

Mike, I have these but the dates just show the date an update was pushed out.

For instance, on the PC I'm working on now, the actual Windows initial install date from a fresh format of the drive is 10/21/2015 (I know this because Office was installed on the same day, and I can see the date that Office was installed.)

Your subkeys show 12/22/2015 as the earliest, which, while close, is still not the date!  (I don't know if this means that I didn't run updates until 12/22/15, or maybe it just means that was when one of the major feature updates finally made its way to this system.)

Mike434632

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Oct 25, 2017 at 20:53 UTC

So no  Setup\Source OS? Strange.......

i think you got the right idea/direction. thanks

Mufnzz wrote:

So far all of these PowerShell commands also return the same date, 6/15/2017, which was the date of the last feature upgrade.

I went into Add/Remove Programs, and sorted programs by date installed, found a program I know I install on the day I install windows.  Then I went to my C:\Windows directory and tried to find folders matching that date. So far the ONLY thing I can find that seems to persist across all systems is the C:\Windows\CSC directory, which is used for Client Side Caching.

This "Date Modified" on this folder (NOT the "Date Created", that is a time from before this computer even existed) appears to match the actual Windows install date on 2 PC's so far, so hopefully this will be the case for all of them, though I'm not sure.  The folder itself is locked down, and I can't get into it even with admin privs.  So because it's locked down, I think it might have remained unchanged since the original install.

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How to Find Out When Windows 10 Was Installed

Source: https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2076966-how-to-find-windows-10-original-install-date-not-the-last-updated-date

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