Wrong version of Windows?

Hi folks, I'm new to this forum but not computing.
I have been installing O/S's since the days of Win 3.11 WFW.
Every time I have installed from XP onwards I have download a nify little program Belarc Advisor.
It gives a comlete record of components on the computer & more important any software's product keys.

Early last week my previous sytem (Win 7 m/b died so built this rig currently using.
The problem since installing Belarc is that it shows the O/S as Win 10 22H2 (All components & O/S disk purchased last July.
On checking the computer that is what is actually showing up.
It has since updated over the weekend & a major one at that. It happened to be 23H2.
Computer still showing up as Win 10 23H2.
The installation disk states Win 11 Pro 64 bit full version.

Had no problems installing & the product key activated.
Anyone else experienced this?

Type 'winver' in the Run box and post the version number shown

This is because Windows 11 still reports 10.0.xxxxx. What this means is that essentially it is a "reskinned" Windows 10 with a few new features. At it's core it is still Windows 10 though. Kernel version is NT10.0 and that is what your app and all other apps detects.

For instance:

Thanks for the replies guys.
Version & build is Win 10 23H2 19045.4046.
However what I'm finding confusing is that my laptop also purchased last July shows as Win 11 Home 23H2 22631.3155.

Sirius B said:

The problem since installing Belarc is that it shows the O/S as Win 10 22H2

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Welcome to Eleven Forums.

Windows 11 identifies itself in several different places in the Registry, some of those still identify it as Windows 10. Presumably this is to let any software that checks for and requires Win10 know that it will run OK in Win11 too. When they check in the Registry they'll see it as 'Windows 10', and this is what your Belarc is seeing too.

This is true for all versions of Win11, even the Insider Preview builds for the forthcoming version 24H2.

Sirius B said:

19045.4046

Click to expand...

This is Windows 10

Sirius B said:

22631.3155

Click to expand...

This is Windows 11

Okay thanks guys.
My worry now is, what happens after Oct 14 2025 when Win 10 support ends.

Sirius B said:

Okay thanks guys.
My worry now is, what happens after Oct 14 2025 when Win 10 support ends.

Click to expand...

Hey, supposedly, MS will let you pay to extend the support. If you don't want to pay, ChromeOS flex might be good for a "safe" OS, and a Linux distribution may be good for a "power" OS.

Sirius B said:

Okay thanks guys.
My worry now is, what happens after Oct 14 2025 when Win 10 support ends.

Click to expand...

Windows 10 will continue to work after EoL in 2025, you just won't get any more cumulative updates. There will be a 3 year Extended Security Update (ESU) program for Windows 10, as there was for Windows 7, but that will require an annual subscription.


My experience when Windows 7 reached end of support is that, while the were no further updates for the OS itself, it continues to get the virus definition updates and the monthly Malicious Software Removal Tool to this day. I expect the same to hold true for Windows 10.

Sirius B said:

Okay thanks guys.
My worry now is, what happens after Oct 14 2025 when Win 10 support ends.

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Upgrade it to 11 anyways. More than likely you can just do the free upgrade to 11 without issue. If its an older system, use refus to create 11 usb that skips the requirements.

andrew129260 said:

Upgrade it to 11 anyways. More than likely you can just do the free upgrade to 11 without issue. If its an older system, use refus to create 11 usb that skips the requirements.

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@Sirius B
Yes, with a workaround most systems that run Windows 10 can be upgraded to Windows 11. There is one proviso though for really old systems - the CPU must support the PopCnt instruction to be able to run the forthcoming version 24H2. If not, then it can only run 23H2, and that reaches EoL in November 2025. See post #25 here for how to check your CPU.

Thanks @Bree, I did see that but it seemed on the research that I did online that as long as the system was past 2010 it should be fine. But that is a good shoutout. I just figured anything running windows 10 decently enough wouldn't be on that old of a system