How to see the characteristics of your PC

Do you want to find out which hardware components are installed on your computer, to find out if they meet the minimum requirements for a video game? Have you recently noticed slowdowns on your PC and would like to discover its features to perform an upgrade? If this is the case, I can tell you that you have come to the right place at the right time.

In fact, in this guide of mine, I will show you how to see the characteristics of your PC , whether you have one with a Windows operating system or one with macOS. I’ll show you the default tools of these operating systems to find out the hardware components that your computer is made of, as well as some third-party software that might be right for you.

How do you say? Is it just what you were looking for? So let’s not dwell further! Sit down comfortably and take your time to concentrate on reading the tips I have prepared for you in this tutorial of mine. By following my suggestions, I am sure that you will be able to find out the technical specifications of your computer and reach your goals! Are you ready to take action? Well then let’s get started! I just have to make you a huge good luck!

Index

• How to see the characteristics of your PC: Windows 10
• How to see the characteristics of your PC: Windows 7
  • System Information
  • DirectX Diagnostic Tool
  • Device management
  • Command Prompt
  • Programs to see the characteristics of the PC
• See the features of your Mac
• Other useful information to see the characteristics of your PC

How to see the characteristics of your PC: Windows 10

If you want to understand how to be able to see the characteristics of your PC on Windows 10 and later , you can access information about the hardware of your computer from the operating system settings. How you do it? I’ll explain it to you right away.

First, go to the Windows Settings section , clicking on the Start button (the one with the Microsoft logo ) on the taskbar and selecting the gear wheel icon in the menu that appears on the screen. Alternatively, if you prefer keyboard shortcuts, you can press the key combination  Win + i .

In the window that you now see on the desktop,  click on the System item in the left sidebar and select the wording System information . On the right side of the screen you will then find the information you need: in the Device specifications  section you can read some information about the hardware components that make up the computer (e.g. you can read the make and model of the processor or the amount of RAM installed), while in the Windows Specifications section you can get information about the operating system (eg you can read the edition and version number)

How to see the characteristics of your PC: Windows 7

To see the characteristics of your PC on  Windows 7 or another older version of the Microsoft operating system or as an alternative to as I have already indicated, I inform you that just proceed as explained below, or through the System Information panel , the DirectX diagnostic Tool , using device Manager , via the command Prompt or using some third-party programs .

System Information

To access System Information , click the Start button on the taskbar , type “system information” in the search field and select the relevant link . Alternatively, use the key combination Win + R  to call the Run window , type the word msinfo32 in the appropriate text box and click the OK button .

Once the System Information screen is displayed,   you will be able to view all the information relating to your computer and operating system collected by category, which can be selected in the menu on the left and proposed in detail on the right.

If you cannot find specific information, you can possibly help you via the Find field located at the bottom, by typing the reference keywords in full and then pressing the Find button on the right.

DirectX Diagnostic Tool

To open, instead, the DirectX Diagnostic Tool panel , open the Windows Run window , using the key combination Win + R , type the term dxdiag  in the appropriate text field and click the OK key .

In the window that will now be shown on the desktop, you will find all the information on the operating system and hardware components distributed within the System , Display , Audio and Input tabs in the top bar.

If you deem it necessary, you can also export the characteristics of the computer to a file by pressing the Save all information button  located at the bottom right.

Device management

Another method that you can use to see the characteristics of your PC is to use the Device Manager panel to access the list of hardware components installed on the computer. To access it, click the Start button  on the taskbar , type “device manager” in the search field and select the relevant link .

In the window that will open on the desktop you can then view all the components of the PC divided into categories. By clicking on the icon with the symbol (>) that you find next to each wording, you can expand the selection by accessing detailed information on the selected hardware, while by right-clicking on an element and on the Properties item in the context menu that opens you can take more specifically view of its properties, in fact.

Command Prompt

Finally, as a last way to see the characteristics of your PC there is the Command Prompt , through which it is possible to print information relating to the characteristics of the computer on the screen, using command strings. To do this, press the Start button on the taskbar , type “cmd” in the search field and press the Enter key on your keyboard.

In the black screen window that you now see on the desktop, enter the command systeminfofollowed by pressing the Enter key  on the keyboard to generate the list of hardware components on the computer with all the information relating thereto, distributed on lines arranged one below the ‘other.

If, on the other hand, you want to access information relating to the motherboard, type the command wmic baseboard list /format:list, always followed by pressing  Enter on the keyboard.

Programs to see the characteristics of the PC

In addition to the predefined Windows tools, you can also use programs that allow you to read every single information relating to the hardware components installed on your computer. There are several software used for this purpose, as in the case of those listed in the list below.

• HWInfo – is a program that provides a complete summary of the hardware characteristics of the computer. It is also available in a portable variant and displays customizable indicators in the Windows notification area.
• Speccy – this is a free software that allows you to monitor the status of the computer, showing detailed information about the processor, graphics card, RAM and all other hardware components of the PC. Eventually, it is also available in a paid variant (at a cost of 14.95 euros) that offers automatic updates and other extra features.
• CPU-Z – this is another piece of software that allows you to get detailed information about all the computer hardware. Its interface is very intuitive and it is completely free of charge.

See the features of your Mac

Yes, even those who own a Mac can see the characteristics of their PC. If this is the case for you, I inform you that you can do this via the default tool included with macOS .

To use this tool, click on the icon with the  bitten apple located in the upper left corner of the screen, on the macOS menu bar , and select the item About this Mac  from the menu that appears. In the window that will open, you will find a summary of some information on the computer hardware components.

However, if you want to access the detailed list of hardware components of your Mac, click on the System Report button . In the new window that appears, you will find in the left sidebar all the hardware components divided by category. By clicking on each category, you will be able to read detailed information about each component on the right side of the screen.

The information on the system report screen can also be accessed from the Terminal , which you can call up by clicking on the Launchpad icon (the one with the colored squares ) on the Dock bar , opening the Other folder on the next screen and selecting the utility icon (the one with the black window and the line of code ). In the window that appears, then enter the command system_profilerfollowed by pressing the Enter key on the keyboard.

Other useful information to see the characteristics of your PC

In addition to the advice I gave you in the previous lines, to see the characteristics of your PC, other of my guides in some way related to the subject can also be useful. For example, if you want to know which video card model is installed on your computer you can consult my tutorial on how to see the PC video card , while if you want to know the motherboard model  you can read my guide on how to identify the motherboard .

Furthermore, you can consider drawing on other types of software used to monitor the resources used by each single component of the computer and to run the benchmarks . Even if these software do not tell you, in most cases, the model of the component installed in your PC, they can give you some information, such as the amount of space in the mass storage memory or RAM. In this regard, I recommend that you read my guide on PC temperature programs  and my review dedicated to benchmark programs .