1. Open the Control Panel by clicking on the Start menu in the lower left corner of the Windows desktop.
2. Scroll through the list of icons and click on “System” to open the System Properties window.
3. In the “System” window, find the “System Type” section and look for the phrase “64-bit Operating System” or “32-bit Operating System”. The latter refers to a 32-bit version of Windows, while the former indicates that you are using a 64-bit version.
4. To determine which version of Windows you are running, scroll down to the “Windows Edition” section near the bottom of the “System” page. Here you will see the exact version of Windows installed on your computer.
5. To get further details about the installation, scroll up to the “Computer Name, Domain, and Workgroup Settings” section and look for the “Windows Activation” or “Product Key” information. This should contain a product key, which will tell you what specific edition and version of Windows you are running.
6. If you need more detailed information about the Windows version installed on your computer, you can launch the Run box from the Start Menu. Type “winver” and press Enter to run the Windows Version command. This will bring up a window with more specific information about the installed version, including the build number and service pack level.
7. To find out whether you have the latest updates for your version of Windows, go back to the System Properties window and click on the “Windows Update” link. This will bring up a list of recent updates that have been installed on your computer.
8. Finally, if you want to know the exact version that is installed on your computer, you can open the Command Prompt window. To do this, open the Start Menu and type “cmd” in the search bar. Then press Enter. This will open a window where you can type the “systeminfo” command. The output of this command will include the full version and build number of your version of Windows.