How do I determine for how long my computer has been running?

Question

How do I determine for how long my computer has been running?

Answer

Determining how long your computer has been running for, also known as the uptime, depends on the operating system you're running on the computer. Below is a listing of different ways of determining how long a computer has been up for each of the major operating systems.

Most Linux / Unix systems
Windows XP
Windows 2000
Windows 98 / ME
Windows NT

Most Linux / Unix systems

Users who are running Linux, Unix, or variants of either operating system can easily determine the uptime on a computer by running the uptime command.

Windows XP

Microsoft Windows XP Home users

We suggest you use the Microsoft Windows Uptime and Reliability Information tool. You can also gain additional information including the uptime of a computer by using any of the free third-party utilities.

Microsoft Windows XP Professional users

Windows XP users can run the systeminfo command to see all system information, including the uptime. You can also gain additional information including the uptime of a computer by using any of the free third-party utilities.

Windows 2000

We suggest you use the Microsoft Windows Uptime and Reliability Information tool.

Broadband / Network users

If your Windows 2000 computer is always connected to a network connection you can use the network's duration as a way to determine your uptime. To do this, follow the below steps.

  1. Right-click on the network icon on your Systray.
  2. Click Status.
  3. Within the status window you should see a duration listed, unless your network has gone down this duration should be a good indication of your uptime.

Third party utilities

Windows 98 / ME

Windows 98 users can display the uptime information by following the below steps.

  1. Click Start
  2. Click Programs
  3. Click System Tools
  4. Click System Information
  5. Within the system information window on the right hand side you should see the uptime

Windows NT

We suggest you use the Microsoft Windows Uptime and Reliability Information tool.

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