Check Computer Specifications

Got a new program that you can’t wait to use? Need to see how your computer can handle certain tasks? Read on to find out how to check the specs of your computer.

Steps

Windows

  1. Use the System window in Control Panel. This is located under Control Panel > System and Security > System.
    • Press the ⊞ Win+Pause or Pause Break keys together.
    • Find your system specs under the "System" header on the page. The following information will be displayed:
      • Rating – This will only show on older versions of Windows. It is a rating of how your computer performs in multiple areas. Scores range from 1.0 to 7.9, with the higher scores being better. The rating is not important and can be disregarded.
      • Processor – This is the speed of your CPU. Virtually all processors will be Intel or AMD. If you are unsure what the processor model means, do a web search to see the details.
      • Memory (RAM) – This is the amount of memory you have on your computer. If you have a 32-bit operating system, you can only use up to 4 GB of RAM, even if you have more installed.
      • System type – This will tell you what version (32-bit or 64-bit) of Windows you are running. It also tell you if your processor is capable of running another version (32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64)) of Windows.
      • Pen and Touch – Shows whether your device has touchscreen capabilities.
    • Find your graphics card information:
      • Click the Open Device Manager in Windows link to the left side of the open Control Panel window.
      • Expand the Display adapters list. The graphics card(s) and its name(s) will be shown. Most computers will only have one.
        • To find advanced graphics card information, right-click on it and select Properties.
        • Navigate to the Details tab.
        • Select the information you want in the dropdown menu under Property.
        • Look under Value to see the requested data.
  2. Use the Settings app. Newer versions of Windows (e.g. 10 and 8.1) have a new app that lets you change your computers settings, including viewing your device's specifications.
    • Press ⊞ Win+I. In Windows 10, Settings will open. Windows 8.1 will open the Charms bar. To access PC settings, click the small Change PC settings link at the lower-right corner of the Settings Charms.
    • Windows 10: Click or tap System. Windows 8.1: Click or tap PC & devices.
    • Windows 10: Select About from the tabs on the left side. Windows 8.1: Select PC info from the tabs on the left side.
    • Look at your system specifications. Here's what they mean:
      • Product ID – A product ID tells Microsoft more about your device in case you need support.[1]
      • Processor – This is the speed of your CPU. Virtually all processors will be Intel or AMD. If you are unsure what the processor model means, do a web search to see the details.
      • Installed RAM – This is the amount of memory you have on your computer. If you have a 32-bit operating system, you can only use up to 4 GB of RAM, even if you have more installed.
      • System type – This will tell you what version (32-bit or 64-bit) of Windows you are running. It also tell you if your processor is capable of running another version (32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64)) of Windows.
      • Pen and touch – Shows whether your device has touchscreen capabilities.
    • Open Device Manager in Windows to see your graphics information.
      • Click or tap the Start button and type device manager.
      • Select the matching result.
  3. Check how much free hard disk space you have left.
    • Open File Explorer (Windows Explorer in Windows 7 and earlier).
    • If not already on the This PC/My Computer/Computer section, get to it using the navigation pane to the left.
    • Look at the drives and how much free space remains.
    • Right-click on a certain drive and select Properties if you want to see detailed usage data (e.g. pie chart) of used and free space.
  4. Use a third-party app. Speccy is a free tool that gives you detailed system information such as the temperature of your hardware. Download it from piriform.com/speccy. There are other free alternatives out there as well.

macOS

  1. Click the Apple menu. Select “About This Mac”.
  2. Click “More Info”. This will open a new window that lists your Mac system specs. You will be able to see the following system information:
    • Processor - This is the speed of your CPU. Nearly all processors will be Intel. If you are unsure what the processor model means, do a web search to see the details.
    • Memory (RAM) – This will show the amount of system memory you have installed. The more memory you have, the greater your capability to run multiple programs at once or memory-hungry programs like Photoshop.
    • Graphics Card – This will display your installed video adapter, if any. You can do a web search on the make and model for more details on what kind of capabilities your adapter has.
    • Software version – This is the version of macOS or OS X you are running. Both the name (Lion) and the version number (10.7) will be displayed.
  3. Check your free hard disk space. Click the Storage tab at the top of the About This Mac window. Your hard drives will be listed, along with the space that you are using and the amount of space you have remaining.

Linux

  1. Open your distribution’s graphical system monitor. Most modern Linux distributions have a graphical interface that can display your system specifications much like Windows. For example, the program is called System Monitor in Ubuntu. Programs such as these will display:[2]
    • Operating system – Your operating system (Ubuntu) and version number will be shown at the top.
    • Memory – This is the amount of RAM you have installed on your system. More RAM means your ability to run multiple programs is increased.
    • Processor – This is the CPU you have installed. If there are multiple identical processors listed, each one represents one of the cores on your processor. Do a web search for your processor model to see detailed specs.
    • Available space – This is the amount of free space you have on your hard drive.
  2. Download a more detailed program. You can get programs that give you much more details about all of your installed hardware. These are typically available from your distribution’s repository. For example, on Ubuntu you can install a program called HardInfo.
  3. Use the terminal. As with virtually everything on Linux, you can check the specs of your computer from the terminal. There are several ways you can go about this, and they are similar for virtually all Linux distributions.
    • The folder/proc/ contains information about your system setup. Each aspect of the system has a separate file. Use the cat command to read the files you need. The most useful ones include:
      • cat /proc/cpuinfo - This will show you information about your installed processor.
      • cat /proc/meminfo - This will show information on your installed RAM.
      • cat /proc/partitions - This will show information on your hard disk partitions.
    • Use lshw to display your system specs. You may need to install it before you can use it. To install lshw, use the following command: sudo apt-get install lshw. Run lshw by typing sudo lshw to display a full list of your hardware, or sudo lshw -short for a brief list.[3]



Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ https://superuser.com/questions/886705/is-it-safe-that-everybody-can-see-the-windows-product-id
  2. ↑ http://askubuntu.com/questions/55609/how-do-i-check-system-specifications
  3. ↑ http://www.linuxandlife.com/2011/11/how-to-check-hardware-specification-in.html

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