Troubleshooting a Windows Computer

For any of the methods below, please save it as a pdf or a screenshot or as a txt file, and email it to [email protected].

Easiest Method

http://www.wikihow.com/Find-System-Specs

Press Windows Key, and type msinfo32 then press Enter. Then click File > Export.... It will take a minute or two while it refreshes some things, but it is comprehensive and looks good.

Or if you have a pdf printer installed, do File > Print

System Information report written at: 10/07/14 14:38:49
System Name: MY_COMP
[System Summary]

Item    Value   
OS Name Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro   
Version 6.3.9600 Build 9600 
Other OS Description    Not Available   
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation   
System Name MY_COMP 
System Manufacturer Dell Inc.   
System Model    Precision WorkStation T3500 
System Type x64-based PC    
System SKU      
Processor   Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E5507  @ 2.27GHz, 2267 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)    
BIOS Version/Date   Dell Inc. A13, 10/30/2011   
SMBIOS Version  2.5 
Embedded Controller Version 255.255 
BIOS Mode   Legacy  
BaseBoard Manufacturer  Dell Inc.   
BaseBoard Model Not Available   
BaseBoard Name  Base Board  
Platform Role   SOHO Server 
Secure Boot State   Unsupported 
PCR7 Configuration  Binding Not Possible    
Windows Directory   C:\WINDOWS  
System Directory    C:\WINDOWS\system32 
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2 
Locale  United States   
Hardware Abstraction Layer  Version = "6.3.9600.17196"  
User Name   MY_COMP\User1   
Time Zone   US Mountain Standard Time   
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 12.0 GB 
Total Physical Memory   12.0 GB 
Available Physical Memory   8.08 GB 
Total Virtual Memory    13.8 GB 
Available Virtual Memory    8.61 GB 
Page File Space 1.81 GB 
Page File   C:\pagefile.sys 
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions    Yes 
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions   Yes 
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware    Yes 
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes

[Hardware Resources]

Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 Alternative

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/view-system-information

Charms Bar <Win + C>  > Settings > Change PC Settings > PC and devices > PC Info

Or

Right click on Computer. Click Properties, or go into Control Panel > System.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 Alternative

Navigate in Control Panel to

Control Panel > System and Security > System

or Right Click on My Computer and go to Properties.

For Windows Vista and Windows 7 it will list basic information about your computer. To get all of this into a good document click on:

Windows Experience Index

Click on View and Print detailed performance and system information.

Then on the next screen click on the print icon, and save it as a pdf (if you have a pdf printer installed). Or you should copy the text

Select All <Ctrl + A>   followed by Copy <Ctrl + C>

into an email and send it to us at [email protected].

Example of copy and pasted text from the page:

More details about my computer

Component Details Subscore Base score 
Processor Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5507 @ 2.27GHz 7.2 6.4 
  Determined by lowest subscore

Memory (RAM) 5.00 GB 7.3 
Graphics NVIDIA Quadro FX 580 6.4 
Gaming graphics 2814 MB Total available graphics memory 6.4 
Primary hard disk 21GB Free (74GB Total) 7.7 
Windows 7 Professional

System   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Manufacturer Dell Inc. 
  Model Precision WorkStation T3500  
  Total amount of system memory 5.00 GB RAM 
  System type 64-bit operating system 
  Number of processor cores 4

Storage   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Total size of hard disk(s) 307 GB 
  Disk partition (C:) 21 GB Free (74 GB Total) 
  Disk partition (D:) 233 GB Free (233 GB Total) 
  Media drive (E:) CD/DVD

Graphics   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Display adapter type NVIDIA Quadro FX 580 
  Total available graphics memory 2814 MB 
        Dedicated graphics memory 512 MB 
        Dedicated system memory 0 MB 
        Shared system memory 2302 MB 
  Display adapter driver version 8.15.11.9038 
  Primary monitor resolution 1920x1080 
  DirectX version DirectX 10

Network   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Network Adapter Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller 
  Network Adapter Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)

Notes   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The gaming graphics score is based on the primary graphics adapter. If this system has linked or multiple graphics adapters, some software applications may see additional performance benefits.