/ System Tools: System Information

System Tools: System Information

Celeste Stewart The next time you need to speak with technical support, be prepared by having detailed information about your computer including your operating system and version, computer manufacturer and model number, BIOS version, processor, boot device, physical and virtual memory, and more. Sound like a lot of work? Don’t worry; it’s easy to find out this information once you know where to look.

Start by going to the Start button, clicking Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Information. This launches a screen that details your computer’s specific configuration. You can also launch System Information by typing msinfo32.exe in the Run box (Start >Run).

The first screen provides a summary of your system with most of the information you’ll be asked to provide. You can print this information out by going to the File menu and choosing Print. You can also highlight the information and click Control + A (to select All), Control + C (to copy) and then paste the information into a document by clicking Control + V (to paste).

While the opening screen provides you with more information than you probably had before, there’s more. In the left pane, you’ll see three categories: Hardware Resources, Components, and Software Environment. You can expand each of these categories to view specific details about your hardware, components, and software.

For example, under Components, you’ll find a listing for “problem devices.” This is useful when you suspect something is wrong with one of your peripherals but aren’t quite sure what. Simply check this listing to see any problem devices that your computer has identified along with related error codes.

Want to know who manufactured your hard disk along with detailed information about partitions, size, cylinders, sectors, tracks, and more? Go to Components, click on Storage, and click on Disks. Allow the system to refresh the display and you’ll see all kinds of details about your hard drive. The Components section also lists information about multimedia codecs, CD-ROM, sound devices, display devices, infrared devices, input devices, modems, network settings, ports, printers, and USB ports.

The Hardware section also provides you with a wealth of information about your computer’s hardware including I/O ports, memory address, and IRQ settings for various devices. While much of this information will be meaningless to you, it could provide clues to technical support personnel trying to troubleshoot your problem.

Want to see all of the system drivers? Go down to the Software Environment section and click on System Drivers. Likewise, you can click on Signed Drivers to see other device drivers from various manufacturers. The Software Environment section also lists environmental variables, print jobs, network connections, running tasks, loaded modules, services, program groups, startup programs, OLE registration, and Windows Error Reporting.

While you can’t do much within System Information besides view data about your computer and its installed components, this is a one-stop destination when you need system details.

View the whole series of System Tools Articles: