System Information

As part of my job I often have to ask people to send me information about there computer, this is used by the department that I work in to check that the users system is compatible with our software. Within this blog post, I aim to highlight multiple ways that a user should be able to view system information about a windows machine.

Command Prompt
To open Command Prompt, click on the Start button in the bottom left hand corner of your computer, click on all programs, then accessories and it should appear as a small black icon called Command Prompt. Once open you should see the option to enter text into the new window. What you should see is explained below with an example.

Explanation: Windows Drive\Documents and settings\Username>
Example: C:\Documents and Settings\Marcus>

Once this screen has loaded and you have something similar to what is above, type the command “systeminfo” and then press enter. Once this command has been processed, you will now see a lot of information about your computer. Things that you will see include,

O.S. Name, this is the type of operating system that you are running.
O.S. Manufacturer, this is the operating system manufacturer, should be Microsoft on a Windows Machine.

Registered owner, this is the registered owner of the computer.
Orignal Install date, this was when Windows was originally installed on your computer.
System Uptime, this is the amount of time that your computer has been on
System Manufacturer, this is the manufacturer of your computer.
System Model, this is the model number/name the manufacturer gives the computer.
System Locale, is the location that your computer had windows installed. This is only country specific.

Windows Directory, this is the location where Microsoft Windows is installed on your computer.

Input Locale, this is the region that your keyboard is set up for, only country specific.
Time Zone, this is the time zone that your computer is set to.
Total Physical Memory, is the amount of random access memory (RAM) that you have installed on your machine.
Available Physical Memory is the amount of random access memory (RAM) not currently being used.

System Properties
This is the more common option that people use to see there computers information and at first it will appear like you have very little information about your computer. However this option works like a link to more options. Once you have located the initial window that “system options” appears in. You will also be able to click on tabs at the top to view more details about your computer.

To access “system options” click on your Start button, normally located in the bottom left of your computer screen. From here you should be able to see an icon called “My Computer” on the menu that pops up. You need to right click on “My Computer” and then select “Properties”.

You should now see a new screen appear with the following information. A collection of tabs named (General, Computer Name, Hardware, Advanced, System Restore, Automatic Updates, Remote). Most of the tabs are self explanatory. Advanced gives you access to more advanced controls for your computer, System Restore allows you to restore your computer to a previous date. Remote allows you to share access to your computer with some one else via the internet, this is often useful if you have friends who can fix the problem you are having and it also allows you to access your computer from another location.

Dxdiag
This is the third option that I frequently use. To use this you have to run the command from the run option that is given in your start menu. Click on the Start button in the corner of your screen, once the menu loads up you should see an icon called “Run”. If you click on “Run” you will then have a small text box pop up and in there if you enter “dxdiag” and press ok you will have another window pop up.

Once this final screen called “Dxdiag” pops up, you will see a lot of information about your computer system. There are a few tabs that run across the top of this screen and they will highlight information about different aspects of your system, but the basic system information that you wish to look at, is presented on the first tab called “System”.

This is often the option that most computer gamers prefer to use because it appears to list the more relevant information, when checking if your computer will be compatible with a game or piece of software that you want to install.

Hope that helps you guys out there, if there are any questions, just post them here and I will try and get back to you as soon as possible.