How to get detailed information about the specifications of your computer

Unless you are the one who built your computer from separate parts and the one who personally installed its operating system, knowing the specifics about your computer may just end up as a guessing game.

Ditch the need to look for the box which printed your computer’s hardware names or the receipt that lists all of its parts. There are better ways of knowing the internals of your computer for a more accurate measure.

Use Windows’ Settings App

If you’re on either Windows 8/8.1 or 10, getting to know the specifications of your computer is as easy as pressing the combination buttons, “Windows key” + “I.” This opens the Settings app where you get to see options of icons to click from.

Simply, click on the icon labeled “System” which will bring you to a page with the “About” tab at the bottom-most part.

 

From there, two opposite sections should be provided, both of which will give a detailed view about your computer.

One, being the “Device specifications,” which displays two of your PC’s major hardware components — processor and RAM — in addition to other relevant information like product ID, device ID, or whether or not your device runs on a 32-bit or 64-bit OS.

On the other hand, “Windows specifications,” is meant to display the type of operating system you have installed, its version, and of which build.

Via System Information App

This nifty way of looking into the details of your device had been in Windows since before the XP came to be. This had probably been the method-of-choice for many computer users back in those days.

To view your computer’s system information via this route, simply hit the key combination “Windows key” + “R” and type in “msinfo32” in the open field. Press “Enter” to execute the command.

You will then be presented with a page which highlights all the important details about your computer, more so in Windows 10 where the data is more extensive, if not complete.

But if the need to view the full specifications of your computer is more than just for your own view and rather for another person’s reference as well — for example, during troubleshooting — you can easily make a dump of its detailed information by means of exporting the data in a text file.

To do so, simply highlight on a particular section — for instance, the “System Summary” — and click on the drop-down button named “File” on the upper-right corner of the app. From here, choose the option “Export” and save the file as a “text” in whatever name of your choosing.

As a result, you get a text file which contains the data you see from the actual app. To prevent any unwanted editing with the dump — whether by you or somebody else — simply set its properties to “read-only.”

Use a Third-Party App like Speccy

Speccy is a very handy Windows program which lets you get a real-time look at your hardware components’ temperatures. This is the app’s basic feature which you get whether using it for free or, otherwise, paid.

But apart from getting an up-to-date information about your computer hardware’s temperature, it also lets you in the know regarding the major software and hardware information about your PC.

While you can choose to view the summarized detail about your computer, this app also allows a more personal look at each hardware part for better understanding.

For instance, clicking on the “RAM” category of the app gives you a full detailed look about your device’s random access memory, the total number of slots for it and how many slots are in use. It also provides micro-details such as the number of channels it has, the latency, and the like.

Via the Command Prompt

You might find it annoying when your computer does not boot properly as it should. But, on the other hand, this is also a good time to know more about your computer if you have not already.

When having the opportunity to access the command prompt from a failed bootup, simply type in “systeminfo” on it. The console will then present you lines of texts indicating pertaining some pertinent information about your computer, including the original date when you installed the system software.

Others

Of course, the mentioned here are but just some of the many other means you can check on your computer. There are also intensive programs you can use like HWMonitor and Systernals Suite which are as effective in knowing your computer from within.

That’s it! Did we miss anything? If you have any questions, feel free to drop them below and we’ll gladly help you out.