MSInfo32: An Easy Way to Generate a Windows System Report
Now that the report has been generated, it can be attached to help requests as needed. Please note that the file is very large, so it should not be copy/pasted into the contents of an e-mail. I have been having some issues where my phone memory was full from I don’t know what. Shown below is an additional example of how to use an XPath query and PowerShell to find information on the System Report Display category. The XPath query itself is very similar to the ones before, but looking for the Components and Display categories this time. You can find plenty of outdated articles about MSInfo32 where you may see options such as /categories, /category, /pch, and /showcategories.
Run msinfo32 to get a detailed report of your rmsinfo txt machine’s state and configuration now to become familiar with its contents and how to export the information. Next time you’re looking for help, mention that you can provide this information. It’s not helpful for every situation, but when it is, the person helping you may be quite appreciative.
I need help clearing up device storage but not sure what to delete. Please help.
As shown at the top of the page, msinfo32 opens to a summary of your computer’s basic information, like operating system, CPU, RAM, and so on. If someone’s helping you with your computer, sending them this text file as an attachment will provide them with all this information about your machine. Scroll though it, and you’ll see there’s a LOT of information. My example report above has almost 3,000 lines of information. Your most common use of the tool will probably be to generate a report you can send to someone else, so let’s walk through that first. The report is lengthy, detailed, and contains much more info than you probably care about or understand.
- The right-hand pane shows all the processes running on the machine.
- To read the XML report file, open a PowerShell window and run Get-Content, as shown in the screenshot below.
- Since MSInfo32 reports contain that, you retrieve the list via the SelectNodes() method.
- The first step in retrieving detailed information about your system is to open the MSInfo32 tool.
- The XML allows PowerShell to read the XML text and converts that to PowerShell objects.
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Msinfo32.exe is a built-in Windows utility that provides a comprehensive overview of your system’s hardware, software, and components. It’s a powerful diagnostic tool for troubleshooting issues, gathering system specifications, and understanding your computer’s configuration. It is not a virus, and it is extremely unlikely to be directly infected by a virus (although malware could mimic its name, which is discussed later).
Please be respectful to others, as some people may not have the same knowledge as you. To expand a subsection, click on the boxed plus sign to its left. In theory, the resulting report may be slightly more detailed, but I’ve yet to run into a noticeable difference. Msinfo32 is a program included with Windows that generates a report about Windows. This document contains a series of numbers organized into rows of three numbers each, with no additional context provided.
You’ll see a hardware summary of your computer in the System Summary view. This view outlines an overall view of the system configuration. To the left, you’ll see categories, which further break down each section. What is the difference between the /nfo and /report switches?
- Maybe you’re creating a script, and you need a quick way to retrieve hardware information.
- Please note that the file is very large, so it should not be copy/pasted into the contents of an e-mail.
- Please note that DxDiag is only a diagnostic tool that collects technical information on computers.
- You can adapt it by building according to the section you see in those.
- Although any file extension will work, as the system information report export is an NFO file, /nfo option, convention dictates using .nfo as the report extension.
- It’s a powerful diagnostic tool for troubleshooting issues, gathering system specifications, and understanding your computer’s configuration.
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Run “msinfo32” to get a very detailed report of your machine’s configuration and current state. You can then save that information to a “.txt” file using the Export option, and send it to someone assisting you with your computer. Sometimes we have to generate a system information details report so that we can share it with technicians when consulting them for system upgrades or troubleshooting. Perhaps you need to retrieve the list of services that were running at the time the report was generated. Since MSInfo32 reports contain that, you retrieve the list via the SelectNodes() method. As soon as the tool opens, it will present you with a report, an automatically generated one.