Win98 version from productkey

Here is one I have not been able to figure out. Does anyone know how to tell what version of 98 is on a machine just from the product key? As in is it 98, 98 upgrade, 98SE, or 98SE upgrade? The date of win.com or command.com can narrow it down between 98 and SE but.... And there are also those time when everything on the drive is destroyed except for system.dat and all you have is a long string of letters and numbers. And is a bit time consuming to have to go through setup 4 times before you finally find the version that accepts the clients product key. And prefer not to just put in a known good key and change it afterwards with regedit. At least with 95 you could look at the last two numbers of the first group and get it.

About the versions.

4.10.1998 Windows 98.
4.10.2222 Windows 98 Second Edition.

I'm not sure if you can tell the version of Windows from the product key, since you can install, for example, Win98SE using Win98 product key.

The best two ways, in my opinion, are:
1. Typing "ver" at the command prompt, or
2. Checking the date of "command.com".

If anyone out there knows for sure, I'd appreciate some info.


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