Python: get windows OS version and architecture

Question

First of all, I don't think this question is a duplicate of
Detect 64bit OS (windows) in Python
because imho it has not been thoroughly answered.

The only approaching answer is:

Use sys.getwindowsversion() or the existence of PROGRAMFILES(X86) (if 'PROGRAMFILES(X86)' in os.environ)

But:

• Does the windows environment variable PROGRAMFILES(X86) reliable? I fear that anyone can create it, even if it's not present on the system.
• How to use sys.getwindowsversion() in order to get the architecture?

Regarding sys.getwindowsversion():
The link http://docs.python.org/library/sys.html#sys.getwindowsversion
leads us to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms724451%28VS.85%29.aspx
but I don't see anything related to the architecture (32bit/64bit).
Moreover, the platform element in the returned tuple seems to be independent of the architecture.

One last note: I'm looking for a solution using both python 2.5 and a windows version starting at Windows XP

Thanks!

Edit:
The relevant info is available here
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms724340%28v=VS.85%29.aspx
but how can I get this with python?

Edit2: On a 64bit windows, with a 32bit python interpreter:

• os.environ["PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE"] returns
  • 'x86'
• platform.architecture() returns
  • ('32bit', 'WindowsPE')

Answer 1

I think the platform module is really the best way to get this info.

  >>> import platform
  >>> platform.platform()
  'Windows-7-6.1.7601-SP1'
  platform.processor()
  'Intel64 Family 6 Model 42 Stepping 7, GenuineIntel'

I don't see where to get a firm answer on 32/64 bit windows from here, so I suggest this:

  try:
      os.environ["PROGRAMFILES(X86)"]
      bits = 64
  except:
      bits = 32
  print "Win{0}".format(bits)

or, if you need to know which flavor of Python you are running (as you can run x32 python under x64 Windows):

x32 python x64 windows:
>>> platform.architecture()
('32bit', 'WindowsPE')
>>> sys.version
'2.7.2 (default, Jun 12 2011, 15:08:59) [MSC v.1500 32 bit (Intel)]'

x64 python x64 windows:
>>> platform.architecture()
('64bit', 'WindowsPE')
>>> sys.version
'2.7.2 (default, Jun 12 2011, 14:24:46) [MSC v.1500 64 bit (AMD64)]'

Answer 2

These variables show your current runtime status on windows:

@rem Test environment using this table:
@rem
@rem Environment Variable       32bit Native    64bit Native    WOW64
@rem PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE     x86             AMD64           x86
@rem PROCESSOR_ARCHITEW6432     undefined       undefined       AMD64
@rem

Answer 3

1 Another option (poll WMI for OsArchitecture):

If you install pywin32 and the python wmi module on top you should be able to do (but only from Windows Vista and up!):

import wmi
c = wmi.WMI()
for os in c.Win32_OperatingSystem():
    print os.osarchitecture

2 Alternatively you could also use the _winreg module to check for the existence of SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (this is supposedly only there on 64 bit- OS versions) (no external dependencies).

Answer 4

i hope this can solve the problem i tried it on my windows 8.1 64 bit and returns the value AMD64 for me

import _winreg
def get_registry_value(key, subkey, value):

  key = getattr(_winreg, key)
  handle = _winreg.OpenKey(key, subkey )
  (value, type) = _winreg.QueryValueEx(handle, value)
  return value

windowsbit = get_registry_value(
    "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE",
    "SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\Control\\Session Manager\\Environment",
    "PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE")
print windowsbit

just run this code if you are working on 64 bit windows machine this will print AMD64

or if you are working on 32 bit it will print AMD32

i hope this code can help to solve this problem fully

Answer 5

Here's a nice Python command one-liner.

>python -c "import platform as p; print(p.platform());print(p.processor())"
Windows-10-10.0.17134-SP0
Intel64 Family 6 Model 61 Stepping 4, GenuineIntel

>

Answer 6

This post is heck old, but here's a little trick you can use to obtain the Windows OS arch. It's simple and reliable

import shutil
is_x64 = shutil.which("wow64win.dll") is not None
is_x32 = not is_x64
# or a one-liner
is_x32 = not (is_x64 := shutil.which("wow64win.dll") is not None)

This works because System32 is always on path, and all x64 distributions have the WoW64 translation layer for the 32-bit applications

As for the os version you can use the Curtis Price answer:

>>> import platform
>>> platform.platform()
"Windows-7-6.1.7601-SP1"