Advanced System Information: View System Information Report

To access:

From the Individual Tools pane, click Perform Diagnostics and then click Start next to View System Information Report.

What it does:

The View System Information Report window displays a wide array of details about your PC's hardware, software, memory, running processes, and more.

Why use it:

The System Information window provides a wealth of information about the computer and its components, conveniently grouped and organized into one interface.

Instructions:

When you first open the window, System Mechanic collects all the system data and then displays a detailed overview of your machine's physical components. The menu options open additional windows with more information.

Navigate the window

Click on an item on the left side of the window, and its details will display on the right.

• To expand a category, click on the plus (+) symbol. To expand all of the categories, from the View menu, click Full Expand.

• To collapse an category, click on the dash (–) symbol. To collapse all the categories, from the View menu, click Full Collapse.

View information

Click on the PC name to display an overview of machine, BIOS, and operating system information.

Below the PC name, items are grouped into the following major categories:

• Central Processor(s). Technical details about the processor.

• Memory. Hardware information for memory devices.

• Motherboard. Detailed hardware, memory, and port information for motherboard and devices.

• Bus. Properties of bus connectors.

• Video. Technical details for video adapters.

• Monitor. Hardware and manufacturer details for the monitor.

• Storage. Hardware details for physical drives and Windows storage.

• Network. Information about network adapters.

• Ports. Hardware information about USB, parallel, and serial ports.

• Printers. Driver and port information for installed printers.

Menu options

The menu options open windows that contain additional information. You can create reports and reload the display.

Summary menu option

• Summary. Opens a detailed Summary window that displays a comprehensive array of technical information. The window displays the following information on 17 tabs:

  • Machine. General information about your computer

  • Windows [X]. Various operating system data.

  • CPU. Various processor data.

  • Memory. Breakdown of available and used memory data.

  • Display. Display settings for your monitor, such as color settings and screen resolution.

  • Monitor. Hardware properties for your monitor.

  • Engines. Information about engines and APIs in use.

  • Drives. Information about attached drives - hard drives, virtual drives, and removable drives.

  • Time Zone. Time zone settings.

  • Startup. Programs and services set to load at startup.

  • Software. List of installed software.

  • APM. Advanced Power Management (APM) data. APM allows a computer to enter standby after a period of inactivity, to conserve electrical power. On laptops, APM also controls the battery status.

  • Media. List of available devices, such as audio mixers and synthesizers.

  • Network. Information about network connections.

  • Printers. Information about installed printers

  • Storage. Capacity information for attached drives - hard drives, virtual drives, and removable drives.

  • USB. Information about USB ports, both those with devices attached or no devices attached.

  To save this information to an XML report, click Save Report and then select either All Topics (for all tabs) or Current Topic (for the selected tab).

  To reload the display, click Refresh.

View menu options

• Refresh. Refreshes the window. There will be a momentary delay as System Mechanic recollects all the system data.

• Processes. Opens the Processes window, which shows the Windows processes currently running. The following information displays for each process:

  • Name. The name of the process.

  • PID. A unique number that identifies the process.

  • CPU Time. The total processor time, in seconds, that has been used by the process since it started.

  • Memory Usage. The amount of memory being used by the process.

• Devices. Opens the Devices window, which provides information about hardware. The window displays the following information on two tabs:

  • The Windows Devices tab shows the hardware installed on your computer.

  For details on a specific item, select it and click Properties. Information specific to the device will display.

  To view allocated resources for a specific item, select it and click Resources. If a resource list is available for the selected item, data will display in one or more of these categories: direct memory access (DMA) channels, input/output ports, interrupt request (IRQ), memory addresses, and device-specific data.

  • The Resources tab shows allocated resources and the device using each resource. The types of resources are direct memory access (DMA) channels, input/output ports, interrupt request (IRQ), and memory addresses.

  To reload the display, click Refresh.

   

• Full Expand. Expands all entries on the main window.

• Full Collapse. Collapses all entries on the main window.

Report menu option

• Save to XML. Opens a standard browse window. Navigate to the location where you want to save the XML document.

Processes menu option

• Processes. Open the Processes window, which shows the Windows processes currently running. The following information displays for each process:

  • Name. The name of the process.

  • PID. A unique number that identifies the process.

  • CPU Time. The total processor time, in seconds, that has been used by the process since it started.

  • Memory Usage. The amount of memory being used by the process.

Devices menu option

• Devices. Opens the Devices window, which provides information about hardware. The window displays the following information on two tabs:

  • The Windows Devices tab shows the hardware installed on your computer.

  For details on a specific item, select it and click Properties. Information specific to the device will display.

  To view allocated resources for a specific item, select it and click Resources. If a resource list is available for the selected item, data will display in one or more of these categories: direct memory access (DMA) channels, input/output ports, interrupt request (IRQ), memory addresses, and device-specific data.

  • The Resources tab shows allocated resources and the device using each resource. The types of resources are direct memory access (DMA) channels, input/output ports, interrupt request (IRQ), and memory addresses.

  To reload the display, click Refresh.

Help menu option

• Help. Opens this Help system.