How to Check Computer Specs on Windows

With the advancement of technology and newer computers rolling out every day, one should know his computer specifications in detail. Most of the time, you have no idea what’s inside your computer; you just know it is working. When troubleshooting a problem, you might interpret all the computer terms as gibberish and here is where you should know exactly what hardware you have on your computer.

There are several ways through which you can get detailed insights regarding your computer and the type of hardware present. We will walk you through all the steps and demonstrate with a sample specification.

Method 1: Using Settings applications

The easiest way to get all the information of your computer is a summary is using the Settings application. Do note this application is not present in the earlier version of Windows. This will provide a basic overview of your system configuration.

1. Press Windows + S, type “Settings” in the dialogue box and open the Application.
2. Once in Settings, select the System

3. Now click About from the left navigation pane. Here underneath Device specifications, you will find an overview of your computer. The Device name, Processor, RAM, etc. will be listed. In this case, the RAM is 12 GB and the processor is i5-8600k (overclocking enabled) with each thread at 3.60 GHz.

You can also see your Windows version by looking at the details underneath Windows specifications.

Method 2: Using System Information

If you are looking for a detailed analysis of your computer, you can use the utility of System information to get the details of your internet components as well as third-party components such as Display, Multimedia, Ports, Storage etc. It is safe to say that this method yields the most detailed analysis of your computer and you will find almost all the information here under one screen.

1. Press Windows + R, type “msinfo32” in the dialogue box and press Enter.
2. In the first page, all the basic information will be displayed ranging from your detailed processor specifications and to your BIOS version.

You can use the left navigation pane to navigate to more categories and see your required setting in detail. For example, when we click Display we see that default Intel drivers are installed on this computer with the driver version as well.

How to save the results of the above method to a file?

If you need to save or send your computer specifications to some other person or forum, you can use this pretty nifty feature to send all the selected settings. You can also use this to save all your system specifications over the cloud so you can correctly diagnose if something goes wrong with your computer and you need your system information.

1. Select the category you want to store. If you click System summary, you will only be saving your system summary but not other categories present.
2. Once the category is selected, click on File > Export.

3. Set the name of the file which you want to save, navigate to the directory and press OK.
4. The file will contain all the necessary details of your computer. You can send it, save it, or back it up if necessary.

Method 3: Using command prompt

What to do if you have come across an error on your computer and are unable to log in but you need your computer’s information for troubleshooting? The answer is simple: use the command prompt. The command “systeminfo.exe” will display all the necessary commands on your command prompt and even help you by listing your operating system’s location.

1. If you are stuck in Windows RE, you can navigate to the command prompt using the options or if you are using your computer normally, press Windows + R, type “cmd” in the dialogue box and press Enter.
2. Once in the command prompt, execute the command “systeminfo.exe”
3. Here all the necessary information will be displayed in the terminal which will even state your Hyper V settings and all the Hotfixes installed (if any).

Method 4: Using dxdiag run command

DirectX diagnostic tools also provide detailed information about your computer’s specifications and also gives detail about the display and sound properties under the same window. This method is more useful if you are investigating display crashing issues and need to determine the exact DirectX version along with video settings.

1. Press Windows + R, type “dxdiag” in the dialogue box and press Enter.
2. Use the tabs at the top of the screen to select different options and obtain the information.

You also have the option to save all the information as a text file like in the previous example. Just click the button ‘Save All Information’.

Method 5: Checking the device manager

If you are having a problem checking for a specific device on your computer, you can open the device manager and check the device name and the driver version installed. This is useful when you are troubleshooting hardware issues and need exact specification of the hardware along with its driver details.

1. Press Windows + R, type “devmgmt.msc” in the dialogue box and press Enter.
2. Once in the device manager, expand the category you want to check and the hardware will be listed there. You can right-click on the hardware and select Properties to gain more insights regarding the component.

Note: If the device is not installed properly or has outdated drivers, it may not appear in the correct heading. Instead, it may be under the category “unspecified devices” with a yellow exclamation mark. You can update its drivers for it to list normally.

Method for Mac: About this Mac

If you are using a MacBook, you can easily find your settings using the steps mentioned below. Unlike Windows, Mac has all the settings under one hood. In one window, it has all the generalized information where you can navigate to more detailed ones.

1. Click on the Apply button at the top left side of the screen and select About this Mac. In the next window, all the general information will be displayed.

2. If you want detailed information of your machine, click System Report.

3. In the detailed system report, you can navigate to any directory using the left navigation pane and find out all the necessary details within seconds.

Note: There are also loads of third-party applications which can do the exact some work. Surf the internet to get exact details.