Finding information about your favorite computer is very simple, but many users (especially beginners) do not know how to do it. There are many ways how to view pc settings, and today we will consider the most famous with you. Why bother learning about a computer at all? For example, everyone knows that before buying any computer game, you need to review its system requirements (minimum, recommended). It indicates the frequency of the processor, the amount of video memory, the volume of the game, the amount of RAM, the operating system, etc. So, in order to compare each parameter, you need to know information about your computer, and only then analyze whether the machine can pull the selected game.
Or you decided to switch to the new Windows 10 operating system, but you don’t know if it will work stably on your computer. In this case, you need to compare your settings with the Windows system requirements. Let's get started!
We learn general information about the system and computer
To view information about the operating system, user, processor and RAM, just go to the System window. In Windows 10 or 8, right-click on the Start menu and select "System"
A window will open showing basic information about the computer.
If you have Windows 7, then right-click on the "Computer" icon on the desktop and select "Properties",
After that, the same window will open, where you can see information about the processor, operative, system, user.
Viewing Information Using the DirectX Diagnostic Tool
The Windows operating system has an interesting window called the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, where you can find a lot of useful information about the system and PC. To call this window, press Win + R and type the command dxdiag
This will open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window,
As you can see, some information is displayed. If you select the "Display" tab, you can see the parameters of your video card, moreover, you can diagnose the video adapter and other DirectX devices.
Finding system parameters on the command line
Friends, let's go to the command line and write a command thanks to which you can see detailed information about the computer. To do this, press the key combination Win + R and type the command cmd, this will call the command line,
In the window that opens, enter the command systeminfo and press Enter,
As you can see, basic information about your computer will open, up to when the operating system was installed, how many network adapters it costs, system type, username and much more. These actions can be done not only in Windows 10, but also in previous releases (8, 7, XP).
Viewing computer information using AIDA64
There are special third-party programs that are designed to determine the hardware (parameters) of a computer. I remember there was once an indispensable Everest program for displaying detailed PC information, which had no equal. And then, as I understand it, the owners of the utility changed and an additional program appeared with the name AIDA64. As before, so now the program displays the most detailed information about each piece of hardware on your computer. Let's download the software at http://www.aida64.ru/download
The program will download, then install it. First, select the language and then click all the time Next. If you left everything as default, then the AIDA64 shortcut will appear on the desktop.
We open it and a window will immediately pop up, where we will be warned about the 30-day free version of the program. Here you can enter the license key, if available.
If we press the cross, then the program will be incomplete, if we enter the key, then the utility will work legally and fully. Below in the spoiler you can find the keys for AIDA64 v4.60.3100 - 5.50.3600
You just take a closer look at how much detailed information you can view for each computer device.
This utility is one of the best in its field, so I advise you to use it. By the way, in it you can find out the temperature of each part of the computer. To do this, go to the "Computer" - "Sensors" section. You can also test some PC devices, to do this, go to the lowest section "Test".
I hope the instructions were helpful to you. Thank you for your attention!
There are situations when it is necessary to find out the exact characteristics of a laptop, while the documentation for it has not been preserved. In fact, this is a fairly simple task, since almost all the necessary information can be obtained through standard utilities of the operating system itself or simple third-party applications. Next, we will tell you how to determine the manufacturer, model, type and parameters of the main components of a laptop - processor, video card, motherboard, memory, etc.
The easiest way to get information about the parameters of laptop components
All basic information about the memory, video chip, processor and other components of a mobile computer can be obtained without installing any third-party applications. For this, ready-made solutions in Windows itself should come up. To check if the system requirements of any application fit your laptop, the Msinfo32 system utility will be enough. It starts like this:
- Open the Run command window. To do this, you can right-click on the "Start" button in the left corner of the desktop or simply press "Alt" and "R" at the same time.
- In the field for entering commands, write the line "Msinfo32", click on "Ok".
After completing these two simple steps, a system information window will open, where you can immediately see data such as model, frequency and number of processor cores, type and amount of memory, what motherboard costs, etc. Information about the graphics chip can be seen in another tab , switching to the components branch and opening the Display item. The type and size of the storage device is available in the branch of the same name in the "Disks" section.
The fastest way to find out the characteristics of a laptop
There is another easy way to compare system requirements with how much memory costs, and in general what hardware is installed in your laptop. To do this, Windows provides the ability to view basic system information. You can get to the corresponding window in just a couple of clicks:
- Open the context menu of the This PC folder by right-clicking on it.
- In the list of commands, select the "Properties" item, after which the window of the system application we need will be displayed.
Here, there is already much less information about the laptop, but to compare the system requirements of a game with them, the data will be enough. The application window provides the following information:
- type and characteristics of the processor;
- memory size and system type;
- information about Windows - its version, availability of activation, etc.
This method, although fast, does not provide enough information about what hardware is in the laptop. Therefore, further we will present a couple more options for working with Windows system components, with the help of which almost all the necessary technical characteristics of the device can be obtained.
Using the dxdiag system utility
Detailed information about the laptop can be obtained by opening the system application dxdiag.exe. It can also be accessed via the Run command:
- Open the "Run" window in one of the ways described earlier;
- In the command input field, write the line "dxdiag.exe" without quotes and press "Enter".
It also provides a very detailed hardware extract, including system type, memory size, processor model and specifications. If you switch to the "Screen" tab, then full information about the laptop's graphics core will become available. Will be listed:
- manufacturer and model of the graphics chip;
- type and size of device memory;
You can also see the brand and manufacturer of the display, its performance, and information about installed drivers.
Using third-party applications to determine the characteristics of a laptop
A good quality small application that can determine many parameters of a laptop is CPU-Z. With it, you can see the technical characteristics of your processor, motherboard (model and chipset), size and type of RAM, video chip performance. Information about each of the components is given in separate tabs - CPU, Mainboard, Memory and Graphics, respectively.
Even more detailed information about installed system components is provided by the AIDA64 application. True, it is paid, but with a trial period during which the functionality is not limited, therefore, the program can be used by you completely free of charge.
Unlike many similar utilities, AIDA64 provides information not only about the processor, video adapter, etc., but even about the monitor, including its size. You can view them in the following way:
- Launch AIDA64 and click on the "Display" tab.
- Open the "Monitor" item.
All available information about the display will appear in the application workspace - its name, size in inches, maximum resolution. Information that allows you to determine the release date of your monitor may also be useful - the program indicates the year and week of its manufacture.
Other information about the laptop that cannot be found out from the diagnostic programs
If data such as the type and amount of memory, the diagonal size of the laptop display in inches can be viewed in some diagnostic programs, for example, AIDA64, then these applications do not show the date of manufacture of the laptop itself or, for example, its weight. But how to find out the year of manufacture of a laptop can be told by a label that should be pasted on the back cover of the device:
Another interesting characteristic for many is the weight of the laptop. No diagnostic utilities display it in any way. In the absence of scales, it is possible to determine how much a laptop weighs only approximately, focusing on its dimensions and characteristics. So, large-format laptops with a diagonal of 17 '' can weigh more than three kg. Gaming and multimedia devices often weigh even more, exceeding 4 kg. Basically, laptops with a diagonal of 11-13 '' weigh 1.3-1.5 kg, 15-inch laptops - 2-2.5 kg.
Most owners of computers or laptops are wondering how to view the main characteristics of their system, maybe out of pure interest, and sometimes to find out the parameters in order to replace one or another component. But it also happens that the user does not know where the properties of the computer as such can be found for viewing. There are several ways to access this information.
How in the simplest way?
First of all, let's consider the simplest method of viewing the information of interest to the user, which is used in all Windows systems without exception.
So, for example, the properties of the computer (Windows 7 on board or any other OS) can be found in the right-click menu on the My Computer icon (in Windows 10 - This Computer), where the property line is selected. Only minimal information is shown here, including the type of processor (manufacturer, number of cores, clock speed), size of RAM, model of the system unit or laptop, and type of operating system (version, bit depth).
Similar actions in the "Control Panel"
Exactly the same actions can be performed if you go, so to speak, in a roundabout way. In the standard "Control Panel", called from the "Start" menu or by the control command from the "Run" console, you can find the corresponding link.
The section is called "System". When clicking on this link, the user enters the same window that was called in the previous case.
computer: "Device Manager"
However, this was only basic information. In order to find out the properties of the computer in terms of installed hardware and software components, and even view information about installed device drivers, you should use the so-called "Device Manager", in which you can even troubleshoot if some component does not work, reinstall drivers, etc.
This section can be accessed from the same "Control Panel", in the administration section, which is located in the right-click submenu on the computer icon, or enter the devmgmt.msc command in the "Run" menu bar. Here you can already see all devices and software components that are initially sorted by type. The sorting type can be changed in the corresponding menu on the main panel at the top.
But there is one caveat. The fact is that not all devices are displayed in the list. In order to see hidden components, you need to use the corresponding line in the view menu.
Each device has its own sub-menu, from which you can select a property line, and then access driver information, enable or disable the device, remove or update drivers, and so on. This section is convenient because you can immediately identify devices with problems - they are marked with a yellow marker. The properties section will provide a brief description of the problem.
System Information
Another method to view the properties of a computer is to use advanced system information. In previous versions of Windows, it could be found under the name System Information. In later modifications, the easiest way to access is to use the msinfo32 command entered in the Run console.
There is already much more information here (there is even information about the BIOS version and other related components). Information about driver files and their location is also more widely presented. In the section itself, there are three main categories: hardware, components (devices) and software environment. In the component category, you can find a special section of devices with problems, where all problematic devices will be displayed.
DirectX Dialog
There is also an unfamiliar or simply forgotten method for many, which allows you not only to view the properties of the computer, but also to make a complete diagnosis of some components. This is the so-called DirectX dialog.
It is impossible to call it in standard ways, using the "Control Panel" or accessing other sections of system information for this. You will have to enter the dxdiag command in the Run menu. This section mainly presents the characteristics related to multimedia, excluding the basic parameters of the computer system.
As mentioned above, here you can diagnose some components. For example, on the monitor properties tab, there are characteristics of the video chip and the state of support for the components of the DirectX bridge itself. But you can easily test Direct3D, DirectDraw support, AGP acceleration, ffdshow usage variations, etc.
How to find out non-displayed characteristics?
It turns out that Windows systems are inherently limited in their capabilities. After all, the properties of the computer, which can be viewed using the system tools, are not able to show the user the same processor temperature, fan (cooler) rotation speed, and a number of other hidden parameters.
In this case, to get to them, you should use special programs like Everest, CPU-Z, GPU-Z, CoreTemp, SpeedFan, etc. Some of them provide information on the "hardware", including the characteristics of the motherboard with the display of the names of the equipment manufacturers, and its main parameters. Others have a narrow focus and are able to determine temperature indicators. Finally, most of these utilities can be used to test hardware, and even to overclock a processor or video card, which is what overlockers, who prefer software rather than physical methods, actually do.
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 a mess. 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 you can look at Windows 7, the simplest and most accessible method for any user is to use the menu, which is called by right-clicking on the computer icon. Here you can see the RAM and installed modifications of the operating system.
If you need to evaluate 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 the 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) with the Control command (it works on all Windows systems).
Here you need to refer to the "Systems and Security" section, where the desired parameters will be presented. True, if you look at all these characteristics more closely, it is easy to see that this is the same menu that was called in the first case.
How to find out the characteristics of installed devices in the BIOS
If you do not take into account the OS, 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.
Here, the main characteristics of all devices on the computer will be indicated, even if they are in a deactivated form.
System Information
How in Windows 7 another way to get the most detailed information?
To do this, you need to use information about the system. You can call this section from the same "Control Panel", but the easiest way is to enter the line msinfo32 in the "Run" menu. Here, not only the parameters of the main devices will already be indicated, but also the BIOS versions, SMBIOS, computer name, system destination folders, drivers, etc.
Defining Settings in Device Manager
If for some reason this option does not suit the user, the problem of how to view computer settings on Windows 7 is solved by calling the "Device Manager". Again, it can be accessed through the standard Control Panel, but it is even easier to enter the devmgmt.msc command in the Run console.
And here the information is already grouped by device type and installed drivers. By the way, this is where you can track down devices with which problems are observed, view all information about installed drivers and their files, reinstall problematic components, etc. To view all the components available in the computer system, in the view menu, use the display line of hidden devices.
DirectX
Another technique for resolving the issue 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 enters the main information window. The approach is good because here you can not only find out the main parameters of the system components, but also conduct a series of tests (for example, you can check the graphics accelerator by 3D or GPU parameters).
Third Party Utilities
Finally, if the user does not like all the above options, you can use the help of specialized software products that were developed specifically to obtain system information about any computer device.
Among them, it is worth noting programs like Everest, CPU-Z and their analogues. What is most interesting, 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 occupancy 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 by physical methods, but use exclusively software products for this.
Conclusion
The very problem of how to view computer settings on Windows 7 is solved in several simple ways. Here the question is different: what kind of information does the user need on installed devices? For the most detailed information, no doubt, you need to use the system information, and to view the general settings - the properties of the computer. For a simple hardware test, DirectX is fine, but if you're overclocking, you can't do without third-party software tools. Yes, and you will need to choose only narrowly focused utilities. For example, to control the speed of fans, there is nothing better than the SpeedFan utility, and for graphics accelerators, you need to use testing programs with peak loads.
Very simple. Moreover, there are many ways to view the technical parameters of a PC or laptop. Firstly, Windows 7, 8 and 10 have 4 built-in tools that can help you find out the properties of your computer. Secondly, there are special programs that show absolutely all the information about a PC or laptop. Therefore, below we will consider the simplest ways by which you can find out what video card, RAM, processor, etc. you have.
Why is this needed? Most often, knowing the characteristics of your laptop or PC is required for:
- installing games (to understand whether they are suitable in your case or not);
- updating drivers for the video card (you need to know its model);
- buying new RAM (it is recommended to install the same bar that you already have);
- sale of an old PC or laptop (to provide the buyer with all the information he needs).
How to find out the settings of a computer or laptop in Windows 7?
You can view the properties of your computer without special programs and utilities. Fortunately, Windows itself has many simple tools for this. Let's start with them.
The methods described below are shown on the example of Windows 7. But you can also use them on Windows 8 and 10.
System Information
As you can see, the main characteristics are listed in these two tabs. If you need other options, look for them in the other sections.
Control Panel
The second way is also very simple. To find the specifications on a computer in Windows 7, go to Start - Control Panel - System (or right-click on the "My Computer" shortcut and go to "Properties").
A new window will appear, where your processor, the amount of installed RAM, the version and type of Windows will be indicated. True, the information is again not complete.
device Manager
Another way to view the properties of a computer on Windows 7 is through the device manager. To open it, go to Start - Control Panel - Device Manager.
The following window will appear, where you can view the required technical parameters. For example, a processor, a video adapter (this is the name of a video card), etc.
DirectX Diagnostic Tool
And the last way to view the properties of a laptop or PC using the built-in Windows tools:
All of these methods have one common drawback - they show too little information about the PC. Plus, the parameters are scattered across different tabs (you have to look for them).
Therefore, below are 3 more useful utilities with which you can view the system characteristics of a computer or laptop.
Programs for viewing PC parameters
I note right away that such utilities work on all operating systems - Windows 7,8, 10 and even XP. Also, they don't care what brand of laptop you have: Asus, Acer, Samsung, Dell, HP Pavilion, Lenovo, etc. In a word, these programs are universal. Therefore, you can safely use them on any computer or laptop.
Piliform Speccy
Speccy is one of the best software for viewing PC specifications. After all, she:
- free (there is a portable version);
- supports different computers, laptops and netbooks;
- completely in Russian.
And most importantly - this utility shows all the technical characteristics of the PC:
- model, frequency, processor temperature;
- OS version;
- the amount and frequency of RAM;
- complete information about the motherboard;
- video card model;
- monitor resolution;
- the full name of the hard drive and its size.
And all this in one tab. And if necessary, you can get more detailed information about the components by opening the desired section in the left menu.
AIDA64 Extreme
Another great program with which you can view the characteristics of a laptop or computer. It is paid, but there is a 30-day trial period (for most cases, this period is enough). Plus there is a portable version (does not require installation).
Shows absolutely all PC parameters to the smallest detail. For example, if you want to buy additional RAM, then in AIDA64 you can find out everything about it: the full name, frequency, etc. Similar information is displayed on the processor, video card, monitor.
By the way, among other things, this program also shows the temperature of the components (in the "Sensors" tab). This is very useful when your PC or laptop suddenly starts to glitch and you need to check whether the processor or video card is heating up.
PC Wizard
And the last program on this list with which you can analyze the characteristics of a computer in Windows 10, 8, 7 is PC Wizard. In terms of functionality, it is one of the most powerful and is on a par with the paid AIDA64. It also shows absolutely all system characteristics about your PC.
The only negative is that it takes too long to think. The program slows down a bit, reacts slowly to user actions (sometimes you have to wait 10 seconds), and this is annoying. Although if it is rarely used, then this disadvantage does not play any role.