My.Computer.Info.OSFullName

Question

My.Computer.Info.OSFullName

StewartBW 1,830

Hello

Seems just like VB6, getting the OS Full Name is still challenging in .NET Framework!

Possible to throw exception based on the WMI, possible to return the My.Computer.Info.OSPlatform instead which is useless, and will return the full name based on the user's culture, ie:

Майкрософт Windows 8.1 Профессиональная 6.3.9600.0

Now, possible to get the My.Computer.Info.OSFullName in language invariant?

And is the following string always stored in English or this one will also be localized?

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion :: ProductName

Any better alternative?

Thanks :)

StewartBW 1,830 Reputation points

2025-03-15T17:00:48.41+00:00

Thanks all :)

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StewartBW 1,830 Reputation points

2025-03-15T17:00:48.41+00:00

Thanks all :)

Answer 1

Castorix31 90,686

And is the following string always stored in English or this one will also be localized?

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion :: ProductName

It does not seem localized on my french OS : I get "Windows 10 Education" while with other APIs, like BrandingFormatString from Winbrand.dll, I get "Windows 10 Éducation" (with accent, meaning it is localized)

StewartBW 1,830 Reputation points

2025-03-15T16:59:28.26+00:00

Guess on some Chinese OS copies it's localized too :(
Castorix31 90,686 Reputation points

2025-03-15T17:36:20.2233333+00:00

It does not seem localized either in Chinese, from :https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31620977/productname-in-windows-registry-it-is-localized-for-different-languages

Answer 2

Hi @StewartBW ，

My.Computer.Info.OSFullName retrieves the OS name based on the system language, which makes it unreliable if you need a language-invariant result.

The value of HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion :: ProductName is usually stored in English.

You can also use RtlGetVersion function (wdm.h) to get the Windows versions.

    <StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)>
    Public Structure OSVERSIONINFOEX
        Public dwOSVersionInfoSize As Integer
        Public dwMajorVersion As Integer
        Public dwMinorVersion As Integer
        Public dwBuildNumber As Integer
        Public dwPlatformId As Integer
        <MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst:=128)>
        Public szCSDVersion As String
    End Structure

    <DllImport("ntdll.dll", SetLastError:=True)>
    Private Shared Function RtlGetVersion(ByRef versionInfo As OSVERSIONINFOEX) As Integer
    End Function


    Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Dim osvi As New OSVERSIONINFOEX()
        osvi.dwOSVersionInfoSize = Marshal.SizeOf(osvi)

        If RtlGetVersion(osvi) = 0 Then
            Console.WriteLine($"Windows {osvi.dwMajorVersion}.{osvi.dwMinorVersion} (Build {osvi.dwBuildNumber})")
        Else
            Console.WriteLine("Failed to get OS version.")
        End If
    End Sub

Best Regards.

Jiachen Li

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