How to check computer data on Windows 7. How to find out the characteristics of your computer on Windows: system methods and special programs

If you have a computer, then most likely you have been asked this question. What kind of hardware do you have inside your computer? How much RAM, what processor, and what kind of video card and its video memory? In short, every user who is still little familiar with the hardware and has little knowledge of the operating system would like to know where to find the parameters of their computer, so as not to look like a complete dummie.

I also want to add! Why do you need to know the parameters of your computer? The fact is that many significant programs, and mainly games, need certain system requirements. If you have already purchased programs or games, then you noticed that on the package with the game at the bottom there is the following inscription (Minimum system requirements). These system requirements indicate what the minimum parameters should be for normal operation of this game. If your parameters are lower than those indicated on the box, then this game or program will not work properly. Therefore, then you should not buy this game, but it is better to find a game according to the parameters of your computer.

How to find out the parameters of your computer.

And the answer to this question is in yours. I will show you an example in the Windows 7 operating system. There are no special differences with Windows XP, since access to the parameters by name is the same.

And so, on the desktop, on the shortcut (My Computer), right-click and select (Properties). After clicking on this item, a window will open for viewing basic information about your computer, in which you can view the name and parameters of your processor, find out what random access memory (RAM) is installed, and here you can also view the type of operating system (32-bit or 64-bit) installed on your computer.

Here's a picture:

But where can you find out which video card and its parameters?

To do this, we need to go into detailed information about the computer and system performance.

Without closing the window of the basic information of our computer, which we discussed above, click on the item (Counters and performance tools) in the lower left part of the window. As shown in this image here.

If you do not have such an item in the display, then make an assessment of the system performance and you will have such an item.

After clicking on the above item, complete information about our computer and our operating system will open. In this information we can find out the parameters of our video card. In the figure, I highlighted where we look at the name of our video card and what memory it uses. Here's a picture

If you have Windows XP, you can find out information about the video card in a slightly different way. Right-click on an empty space on the desktop, then select (display options), (options) and (video adapter). Select the line (Video memory in use) - this is your video card memory.

So we sorted it out, how to find out the parameters of our computer and operating system. After mastering this article, you can now easily choose games and programs for your computer, and you can also answer your friends’ questions about your hardware and not end up in a stupid position.

I was always interested in delving into the characteristics of my computer, even those that I knew nothing about. It was interesting to test it, to “drive the computer”. For what? The goals can be different: to compare computer components with the original list, to download the necessary drivers, or to sell the computer. In this article I will discuss three simple methods.

System Information utility

The built-in utility is called “System Information”. Go to the menu “Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> System Information”, or simply write “information” in the search bar of the Start menu and also launch the program.

Here you can find out only basic information about the hardware, such as the motherboard model, processor type, BIOS version, amount of RAM and some others. If you go through the “tree”, you can find even more subtle characteristics of the computer.

For example, in the “Components” section there is information about the CD/DVD drive, sound card, and what video card is installed (“Display”). But in general, this tool is very unobtrusive and is intended for technical specialists to debug the computer. I recommend using it if you don’t have anything better at hand.

Without detailed characteristics, but much more convenient, the list of devices can be viewed in “”. To open it, simply press the “Win ​​+ Pause” combination. In Windows XP it will open immediately, and in Windows 7/10 the “System” window will first open, in which you can immediately see how much RAM is installed and how much RAM is installed. From here we launch the device manager.

Or open it from Control Panel. Here you can already see what devices are installed in the computer: sound chip, video card, network card, hard drive model, optical drive, monitor and others.

DirectX Diag program

Another standard program is the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. Mainly used for testing audio and video systems. To run it, you need to press the “Win ​​+ R” buttons and write in the line:

There are also the main characteristics: the model of the laptop or computer motherboard, video card, sound card, keyboard and mouse.

The described methods are suitable when you need to quickly find out general information about your computer, but if you need more detailed information, then you cannot do without additional programs. One of my favorite programs is AIDA64, it is .

The Windows operating system has built-in functionality that allows you to obtain fairly complete data about the characteristics of a PC, laptop or even tablet.

Using system information


Through computer properties



We look in the device manager



Using DirectX diagnostic tools



Software for checking characteristics

In addition to built-in Windows tools, there are many third-party programs for monitoring data about devices or the operating system.

Spessy

The Spessy app will allow you to find out exactly version OS installed on a PC, laptop or tablet, information about processor, random access memory, used hard drives, motherboard, video adapter, network cards and other similar devices. There is also the opportunity to find out temperature operation of the processor, video card and other components of your PC.

Everest

The program is a real combine, assembled from several small applications. Except complete information about the operating system and installed hardware, the utility allows you to stability check operation of the computer as a whole or its individual components, as well as adjust the speed of the case fans and cooling on the processor, video card or other component. New versions of the utility have a different name - AIDA 64.

HWInfo

HWInfo is a good third-party application that allows you to get exact information about the hardware or software of the device. In addition to standard functionality, the program has the ability to display the temperature of computer or laptop components. The utility has an intuitive interface and excellent compatibility with almost any currently existing hardware.

Each user has some idea about the characteristics of the hardware (hardware) of his personal computer. However, to install games or some specialized software products, you need to know the exact parameter values, information about the manufacturer and model of the board or chip.

To determine detailed information, we suggest using the following standard methods:

  1. Info window "System".
  2. PowerShell utility Msinfo32.
  3. Device Manager.
  4. Command processor (command line).
  5. PowerShell dxdiag utility.

Most popular third party software:

  • Everest;
  • CPU-z.

Step 1. To launch the information window, expand any directory on your personal computer, for example, the “Pictures” folder.

Step 2. On the right side of the directory window there is a link “This computer”. By right-clicking on it, or using the “Menu” system command key, open the context menu. From the list, select “Properties”.

On a note! To open the information window, you can also use the key combination “Win"+"Pause/"Break"Break").

Step 3. The information window that opens contains indicators of such hardware parts of your computer as:

  1. Manufacturer of the central processor.
  2. Name of the central processor.
  3. CPU operating frequency.
  4. Amount of RAM.

To determine the possibility of installing utility programs, the specified data is quite enough.

Determining hardware data through Device Manager

Step 1. Repeat steps one through three of the previous method. In the left frame, click on the "Device Manager" link.

Step 2. In the information window that opens, find the section of computer devices that interests you. The “Processors” list is selected as an example.

Step 3. Expand the list to gain access to each item. The name of the central processor, its generation and operating frequency will be reflected on the screen.

Step 4. For more detailed information, double-click with the left mouse button on the section you are interested in.

Step 5. In the device properties window, switch to the Details tab.

Step 6. In the drop-down list you can find more detailed information on the hardware part you are interested in.

PowerShellMsinfo32

Step 1.

Step 2. In the query line you should enter the command “msinfo32”, and to execute it use “Enter” (on the keyboard) or “OK” (in the “Run” window).

Step 3. Information about the hardware is summarized in lists. By opening them, you will gain access to the data you need.

Important! This software environment is a large one. For example, the start page makes it possible to collect information about the motherboard, central processor unit (or several, if there is more than one). You can see summaries of the video controller in the “Display” section of the “Components” list. Information about the network adapter is located in the “Network” section and the corresponding subdirectory.

Determining hardware data through a command handler

Step 1. To connect to the software environment, use the key combination “Win+R”.

Step 2. In the query line you should enter the command “cmd”, and to execute it use “Enter” (on the keyboard) or “OK” (in the “Run” window).

Step 3. The command processor will provide information about the hardware of your personal computer by entering the “systeminfo” key and pressing the “Enter” key.

Step 4. There is another command that can provide the necessary information - “winsat cpu –v”. The "-v" switch allows you to display the most detailed information, including:


On a note! The same command can be used inWindowsPowerShell instead of a command processor. This feature appeared only in the operating systemWindows 8, and moved from it toWindows 10

Determining hardware data through the utilityPowerShelldxdiag

Step 1. To launch the utility, use the key combination “Win+R”.

Step 2. In the query line you should enter the command “dxdiag”, and to execute it use “Enter” (on the keyboard) or “OK” (in the “Run” window).

Step 3. A feature of the Windows 10 operating system is that it displays a request from the DirectX diagnostic tool (checking the driver signature). If you answer the request with consent, the results of the check will be displayed, if you answer with refusal, the utility will start by default.

Step 4. In the main software interface of the utility, the “System” tab is opened by default, where data about:

  • motherboard;
  • CPU unit;
  • amount of RAM;
  • BIOS version;
  • DirectX versions.

Step 5. To navigate between sections, you can use the “Next Page” button, or simply switch between bookmarks.

On a note! There is a special button to save the data array. All information will be placed in a text document and can be opened using a standard corporate toolMicroSoft – “Notepad” (data format – .txt).To quickly switch between utilitiesWindows 10 has a dedicated System Configuration tool.


Video - How to find out what characteristics a computer has

Determining hardware data through the programEverest

This program is paid, but provides the opportunity to take advantage of a thirty-day trial period.

Step 1.

Step 2. Use the drop-down lists to access the data you need. For example, a block of information about the motherboard is located in the list of the same name.

Step 3. To go directly to the description of the hardware, select the “Motherboard” list item, which is located to the left of the application information board.

Determining hardware data through a C programpu-z

The Cpu-z software environment does not require a paid license, and the developer is not responsible for its incorrect operation (the “As Is” distribution principle). However, do not be alarmed, the application is stable, no critical errors (for version 1.83) have been identified.

Step 1. After installation, launch the application.

Step 2. By moving through the tabs, get all the necessary information about the hardware. For example, a data block dedicated to the motherboard is located in the “Mainboard” tab.

Video - How to download and install the CPU-Z program to determine computer characteristics

Conclusion

This publication reveals the features of determining data about the hardware of a personal computer. A total of seven methods are considered, five of which are initially available with the Windows 10 operating system. Data on the features of each method are summarized in a table.

NameCommand Handler/PowerShelldevice ManagerCPU-zEverestProperties of the systemdxdiag utilityMsinfo32 utility
Delivery principleWith operating systemWith operating systemAs it isUpon paymentWith operating systemWith operating systemWith operating system
Multilingual platformYesYesEnglish onlyYesYesYesYes
Information about processor frequency and manufacturerYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Information about the amount of RAMYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Video System InformationYesYesYesYesNoYesYes
System Board InformationYesPartiallyYesYesYesYesYes
Network adapter informationYesYesNoYesNoNoYes
Interface convenience (from 1 to 5)4 5 5 5 5 5 5

Many users, for example, when buying used equipment, are wondering how to find out the characteristics of the hardware of a computer or laptop so as not to get into trouble. This is done quite simply using several basic methods that will be useful to any user, regardless of the situation.

How to view computer settings on Windows 7: the simplest method

Let's take the Windows 7 system as a basis, although in this case, by and large, this does not play a special role.

So, in resolving the question of how to look at Windows 7, the simplest and most accessible method for any user is to use the menu, which is called up by right-clicking on the computer icon. Here you can see the RAM and installed modifications of the operating system.

If you need to estimate disk space, there is nothing easier than going to the standard “Explorer”, where by the same right-click on the letter of the disk or partition, call up the corresponding menu. But this is only initial information.

Where can I see the computer settings on Windows 7 in the Control Panel?

You can also duplicate the view in the “Control Panel” by calling it from the initial start menu or through the “Run” console (Win + R) using the Control command (it works on all Windows systems).

Here you need to refer to the “Systems and Security” section, where the required parameters will be presented. However, if you look at all these characteristics more carefully, it is easy to see that this is the same menu that was called up in the first case.

How to find out the characteristics of installed devices in the BIOS

If you do not take the OS into account, then the question of how to find out the parameters of a computer on Windows 7 or on any other platform can be solved by simply entering the primary BIOS input/output system.

The main characteristics of all devices on the computer will be indicated here, even if they are deactivated.

System information

What is another way in Windows 7 to get the most detailed information?

To do this, you need to use system information. You can call this section from the same “Control Panel”, but the easiest way is to enter the line msinfo32 in the “Run” menu. Not only the parameters of the main devices will be indicated here, but also the BIOS, SMBIOS versions, computer name, system destination folders, drivers, etc.

Defining settings in Device Manager

If this option is not suitable for the user for some reason, the problem of how to view computer settings on Windows 7 can be solved by calling the “Device Manager”. You can again access it through the standard Control Panel, but it’s even easier to enter the devmgmt.msc command in the Run console.

And here the information is already grouped by type of device and installed drivers. By the way, this is where you can track devices that are experiencing problems, view all information about installed drivers and their files, reinstall problematic components, etc. To view all components present in the computer system, you need to use the display hidden line in the view menu devices.

DirectX

Another method for resolving the question of how to view computer settings on Windows 7 is to use the DirectX bridge dialog box, which most users either forget about or don’t know about at all.

To enter, use the dxdiag command in the same Run menu, after which the user is taken to the main information window. The good thing about this approach is that here you can not only find out the basic parameters of the system components, but also conduct a series of tests (for example, you can check the graphics accelerator based on 3D or GPU parameters).

Third party utilities

Finally, if the user does not like all the options described above, you can use the help of specialized software products that were developed specifically to obtain system information about any computer device.

Among them, programs like Everest, CPU-Z and their analogues are especially worth noting. What’s most interesting is that many utilities of this class are also capable of monitoring, say, the temperature indicators of the central processor or processor system of a video card, adjusting the speed of fans installed in coolers, monitoring the use of RAM, etc. And some can even overclock hardware, which is very often used by overlockers who do not want to interfere with the operation of installed devices using physical methods, but use exclusively software products for this.

Conclusion

The very problem of how to view computer parameters on Windows 7 can be solved in several simple ways. The question here is different: what kind of information does the user need regarding installed devices? For the most detailed information, without a doubt, you need to use system information, and to view general settings, use computer properties. For the simplest hardware test, DirectX is suitable, but if you are doing overclocking, you cannot do without third-party software. Yes, and you will need to choose only narrowly focused utilities. For example, to control fan speed there is nothing better than the SpeedFan utility, and for graphics accelerators you need to use testing programs with peak loads.