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How to Find Out What Is on Your Computer
I often help people with computer problems and very frequently it turns out that they know very little about what is actually on their computer. If you want to know things such as how much RAM you have, what hardware and software are installed, and many other interesting details about your PC, you can use a built-in Windows utility called System Information. Here is how to access it.
Windows XP
On most XP systems System Information can be found in Start-All Programs-Accessories-System Tools. Another route is:
1. Open the Start menu
2. Click “Run”
3. Enter “msinfo32" (without quotes)
4. Click “OK”
Windows Vista/7
1. Open the Start menu
2. Enter “msinfo32” (without quotes) in the box labeled "Start search" (Vista) or "Search programs and files" (Windows 7)
3. Click “msinfo32” or “msinfo32.exe” at the top of the menu
Open System Information from the command line
Another way to access this utility is to open the command line and enter "start msinfo32" (without quotes). This works in Windows XP, Vista, and 7.
How to use System Information
System Information opens in a two-pane view. The left pane contains the entries “System Summary”, “Hardware Resources”, “Components”, and “Software Environment”. To see the details of any category except “System Summary”, click the + by its name to expand the list and then click a desired sub-category. The right pane will show the details.
System information freeware
There are also a number of free programs that provide considerably more details than the built-in application System Information. Such helpful additional information as license keys for software are given.
My own favorite is Belarc Advisor, which works on all current Windows versions, both 32-bit and 64-bit. However, when I installed it on Windows 7, I did get the message, “This software may not have installed correctly”, but there was not actually any problem.
I have also used System Information for Windows, which comes in a portable version. It works on Windows XP on up. Added later: the installer for this software is now being bundled with Open Candy. See Gizmo's article about Open Candy.
Go to the link Best Free System Information Utility for more details on this type of application.
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This tips section is maintained by Vic Laurie. Vic runs a Windows blog called The PC Informant and also operates a computer education website.
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Comments
Let me put in a vote for Piriform's new program Speccy. It has a nice user interface and gives more/better info than Belarc for for most of your hardware: CPU, Memory, Graphics, etc. It is free, optionally portable, shows temperatures, worth a try.
http://www.piriform.com/speccy
I typed msinfo32 and got the Help and Support Center. No matter. I use Belarc anyway.
A shortcut for:
1. Open the Start menu
2. Click “Run”
3. Enter “msinfo32" (without quotes)
4. Click “OK”
would be:
Win+R (hold the Windows key in and tap the R key, then let both go), followed by typing “msinfo32" (without quotes), then just press the ENTER key, it is both faster and easy enough to remember. I believe that this also works on Vista & Windows 7.
No doubt Win+R is a shortcut to Start > Run, applicable to XP through 7. Not sure about earlier versions but probably ever since the Start button was created.
SisInfo is quick and thorough. Does a few things better than BelArc!
System Info for Windows v1.73 (Build 638) --- December 20, 2007
Freeware Version -- Copyright © 2004-2007 Gabriel Topala
SIW would do
Belarc does rock, but it has a couple of drawbacks. It wants to run using administrator rights (will work in reduced mode without it) and it also takes a long time - at least on my system - to respond with the information. If you need quick information, msinfo32 is probably a better bet.
Belarc Advisor rocks!
SIW (System Information for Windows - http://www.gtopala.com/) is pretty sweet, but it returns a metric crapload of information about your system that may be a little overwelming. It has a portable version as well (I'm not sure Belarc has a portable version).
But I would have to cast my vote for Speccy as my current favorite for a short & concise report of you system's innards.
I prefer dxdiag, available in any Windows pc with directx installed, which is pretty much any computer after 2001. It's not too information heavy, and what it does show is what's mostly important. I use it whenever I shop for a new computer.
Thanks for the tip but resorting to Windows in this case really is resorting to second best. As Luc has said, Belarc is effortlessly superior -- and, of course, it's just as free to use as the Windows shortcut.
I can't think of a single reason why a computer user wouldn't have Belarc installed: its html output is a major, welcome bonus in view of the way the numerous hot-links take you exactly where you need to go to stay safely updated. And though it does *not* find every installation key / software licence for every freeware or commercial app installed on a computer, it certainly finds a heck of a lot (including, for Dell users, all the stuff you need to get bespoke support for your particular PC.)
By contrast, Windows system information gets nowhere near.
Although it might seem that everyone should install something like Belarc, the fact remains that millions of PC users do not have anything of this sort on their computers. One advantage that Msinfo32 has is that it is on everybody's Windows system. When trying to help someone else with a computer problem, you can always find the built-in Windows utility. Although a portable program like SIW can be used, a quick look at Msinfo32 can be quite useful and save time.
Windows XP and above have the must simpler DOS prompt command "systeminfo"
msinfo32 contains way too much useless guff.
If I need a GUI, I use Speccy (http://www.piriform.com/speccy)
For Auditing we use Everest or a custom Powershell script that queries things direct...
I use Belarc Advisor - run the app, get an html page with a complete overview of what's on the PC, down to the latest installed Windows updates.
The app even tries to find all your registration keys for the installed programs.
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