Windows System Information

Updated: 12/26/2023 by Computer Hope

Alternatively called msinfo32, Windows System Information or System Information is an executable file included with Microsoft Windows 98 and later versions of Windows. This program gives Windows users a comprehensive listing of the computer specifications (specs), including hardware, resources, software, and Internet settings.

How to open System Information in Windows

Windows 11 users

On the Windows taskbar, click the magnifying glass icon. In the text field at the top of the search window, type msinfo32 and press Enter.

Windows 8 and Windows 10 users

Click Start or press the Windows key, type msinfo32 or system information, and press Enter.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users

Click Start and search for system information.

Windows XP, Windows Me, and Windows 98 users

Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and System Information. Alternatively, you can open Run, type winmsd, and press Enter.

What does Windows System Information look like?

Below is an example picture of what the Microsoft System Information window may look like on your computer.

Windows System Information - msinfo32 window

What is shown in System Information?

Below is a complete overview of what the Windows System Information window can display, with links to related pages.

Note

The following information was exported from System Information running on Windows 10 and then moved to tables for better online viewing. We've also added links to help explain the terminology used in this utility.

System Summary

The opening System Summary has a helpful summary of the overall computer, as shown in our example below.

Item Value
OS (operating system) Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version 10.0.19041 Build 19041
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name COMPHOPE
System Manufacturer Dell Inc.
System Model XPS 8300
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU  
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU (central processing unit) @3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS (basic input/output system) Version/Date Dell Inc. A06, 10/17/2011
SMBIOS Version 2.6
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode Legacy
BaseBoard Manufacturer Dell Inc.
BaseBoard Product 0Y2MRG
BaseBoard Version A00
Platform Role Workstation
Secure Boot State Unsupported
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.19041.488"
User Name COMPHOPE\Hope
Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory - RAM (random-access memory) 8.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 7.98 GB
Available Physical Memory 1.88 GB
Total Virtual Memory 32.0 GB
Available Virtual Memory 18.7 GB
Page File Space 24.0 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA (direct memory access) Protection Off
Virtualization-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM (Trusted Platform Module) is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed, and the device is not Modern Standby, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, Disabled by policy, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes

In the System Summary, you also have the following three subcategories.

Hardware Resources

The Hardware Resources category contains the computer's hardware resource properties.

Note

To identify the type of hardware and its other attributes in the computer, see the Components category.

In the Hardware Resources category, you have the following subcategories.

Conflicts/Sharing

The Conflicts/Sharing subcategory lists all I/O ports, memory addresses, and IRQs that are being shared or are conflicting on the computer. Because this list can be extensive, we've listed only a few entries to keep our example short.

Resource Device
I/O Port 0x00000000-0x00000CF7 PCI Express Root Complex
I/O Port 0x00000000-0x00000CF7 Direct memory access controller
Memory Address 0xFB100000-0xFB1FFFFF Intel(R) 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 - 1C16
Memory Address 0xFB100000-0xFB1FFFFF Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet
IRQ 16 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti
IRQ 16 Intel(R) 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 1C2D

DMA

The DMA subcategory displays all DMA resources and status.

Forced Hardware

The Forced Hardware subcategory displays any hardware devices with forced settings. The screen is empty if no hardware has forced settings.

I/O

The I/O subcategory displays all I/O resources and the devices using them. Because this list can be extensive, we've only listed the first five lines to keep our example short.

Resource Device Status
0x0000E000-0x0000EFFF 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processor family PCI Express Controller - 0101 OK
0x0000E000-0x0000EFFF NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti OK
0x000003B0-0x000003BB 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processor family PCI Express Controller - 0101 OK
0x000003B0-0x000003BB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti OK
0x000003C0-0x000003DF 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processor family PCI Express Controller - 0101 OK

IRQs

The IRQs subcategory lists all IRQs, the device name using each IRQ, and its status. Because this list can be extensive, we've only listed the first five lines to keep our example short.

Resource Device Status
IRQ 16 The Broadcom 802.11 Network Adapter provides wireless local area networking. OK
IRQ 16 Intel(R) 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 1C2D OK
IRQ 16 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti OK
IRQ 16 Intel(R) Management Engine Interface OK
IRQ 0 System timer OK

Memory

The Memory subcategory lists the memory address resources, the devices using those resources, and their status. Because this list can be extensive, we've only listed the first five lines to keep our example short.

Resource Device Status
0xFED00000-0xFED003FF High precision event timer OK
0xFA000000-0xFB0FFFFF 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processor family PCI Express Controller - 0101 OK
0xFA000000-0xFB0FFFFF NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti OK
0xC0000000-0xD1FFFFFF 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processor family PCI Express Controller - 0101 OK
0xC0000000-0xD1FFFFFF NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti OK

Components

The Components category contains all information about the components and hardware detected in a computer. In this category, you have the following subcategories.

Multimedia

The Multimedia subcategory lists each of the audio and video codecs installed on the computer with file location, version, size, and date created.

CD-ROM

The CD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory) subcategory displays CD-ROM, DVD (digital versatile disc), and other disc drives installed and detected by Windows. Below is an example of information found in this subcategory.

Item Value
Drive D:
Description CD-ROM Drive
Media Loaded No
Media Type DVD Writer
Name PLDS DVD+-RW DH-16ABS
Manufacturer (Standard CD-ROM drives)
Status OK
Transfer Rate -1.00 kbytes/sec
SCSI (small computer system interface) Target ID 0
PNP Device ID SCSI\CDROM&VEN_PLDS&PROD_DVD+-RW_DH-16ABS\4&CC0CC8D&0&010000
Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\CDROM.SYS (10.0.19041.1, 170.00 KB (174,080 bytes), 12/7/2019 2:07 AM)

Sound Device

The Sound Device subcategory lists detected sound cards and other audio devices with associated drivers, as shown in the example below.

Item Value
Name High Definition Audio
Manufacturer Realtek
Status OK
PNP Device ID HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0887&SUBSYS_102804AA&REV_1003\4&2718705D&0&0001
Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\RTKVHD64.SYS (6.0.1.7535, 4.30 MB (4,504,320 bytes), 6/24/2015 9:57 PM)

Display

The Display subcategory lists detected video cards and other display adapters with associated drivers and resources, as shown in the example below.

Item Value
Name NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1380&SUBSYS_37533842&REV_A2\4&DDE86B&0&0008
Adapter Type GeForce GTX 750 Ti, NVIDIA compatible
Adapter Description NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti
Adapter RAM (2,147,483,648) bytes
Installed Drivers C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_e92a0ac2e05fb2ca\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_e92a0ac2e05fb2ca\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_e92a0ac2e05fb2ca\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_e92a0ac2e05fb2ca\nvldumdx.dll
Driver Version 27.21.14.5167
INF File oem40.inf (Section050 section)
Color Planes Not Available
Color Table Entries 4294967296
Resolution 3440 x 1440 x 59 hertz
Bits/Pixel 32
Memory Address 0xFA000000-0xFB0FFFFF
Memory Address 0xC0000000-0xD1FFFFFF
Memory Address 0xD0000000-0xD1FFFFFF
I/O Port 0x0000E000-0x0000EFFF
IRQ Channel IRQ 16
I/O Port 0x000003B0-0x000003BB
I/O Port 0x000003C0-0x000003DF
Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF
Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERSTORE\FILEREPOSITORY\NV_DISPI.INF_AMD64_E92A0AC2E05FB2CA\NVLDDMKM.SYS (27.21.14.5167, 23.54 MB (24,682,392 bytes), 8/3/2020 3:12 PM)

Infrared

The Infrared subcategory lists all detected Infrared adapters and devices.

Input

The Input subcategory contains input device information. In this subcategory, you have the following additional subcategories.

Keyboard

The Keyboard subcategory lists all keyboard devices with driver information, as shown below.

Item Value
Description USB Input Device
Name Enhanced (101- or 102-key)
Layout 00000409
PNP Device ID USB\VID_04D9&PID_4545&MI_00\7&3B2A96E5&0&0000
Number of Function Keys 12
Drivers C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\HIDUSB.SYS (10.0.19041.1, 43.00 KB (44,032 bytes), 12/7/2019 2:07 AM)

Pointing Device

The Pointing Device subcategory lists all mouse and other pointing devices detected by the computer, as shown below.

Item Value
Hardware Type Logitech HID-compliant Unifying Mouse
Number of Buttons 0
Status OK
PNP Device ID HID\VID_046D&PID_C52B&REV_1203&MI_02&QID_101B&WI_01&CLASS_00000004\9&171C2A1D&0&0000
Power Management Supported No
Double Click Threshold Not Available
Handedness Not Available
Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\MOUHID.SYS (10.0.19041.1, 34.50 KB (35,328 bytes), 12/7/2019 2:07 AM)

Modem

The Modem subcategory lists all internal and external dial-up modems that are detected.

Network

The Network subcategory contains information about the installed network adapters, protocols, and WinSock. In this subcategory, you have the following additional subcategories.

Adapter

The Adapter subcategory lists all network-related adapters, including wired and wireless adapters, with their IP address and other network information with drivers and other information. Because this list can be extensive, we've only listed one adapter as an example.

Item Value
Name [00000001] DW1501 Wireless-N WLAN (wireless local area network) Half-Mini Card
Adapter Type Ethernet 802.3
Product Type DW1501 Wireless-N WLAN Half-Mini Card
Installed Yes
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4727&SUBSYS_00101028&REV_01\4&AA4FEAE&0&00E0
Last Reset 11/14/2020 8:02 PM
Index 1
Service Name BCM43XX
IP Address Not Available
IP Subnet Not Available
Default IP Gateway Not Available
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) Enabled Yes
DHCP Server Not Available
DHCP Lease Expires Not Available
DHCP Lease Obtained Not Available
MAC Address ?0C:00:00:00:00:00?
Memory Address 0xFB200000-0xFB203FFF
IRQ (interrupt request) Channel IRQ 16
Drivers C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS

Protocol

The Protocol subcategory lists all the communication protocols installed on the computer. Many of these protocols are network-related. However, there are also protocols listed for Bluetooth devices. Because this list can be extensive, we've only listed one protocol as an example.

Item Value
Name MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IPv6]
Connectionless Service Yes
Guarantees Delivery No
Guarantees Sequencing No
Maximum Address Size 28 bytes
Maximum Message Size 63.99 KB (65,527 bytes)
Message Oriented Yes
Minimum Address Size 28 bytes
Pseudo Stream Oriented No
Supports Broadcasting Yes
Supports Connect Data No
Supports Disconnect Data No
Supports Encryption No
Supports Expedited Data No
Supports Graceful Closing No
Supports Guaranteed Bandwidth No
Supports Multicasting Yes

WinSock

The WinSock subcategory lists installed Winsock drivers.

Item Value
File C:\WINDOWS\SysWOW64\wsock32.dll
Size 16.00 KB (16,384 bytes)
Version 10.0.19041.1

Ports

The Ports category contains the Serial and Parallel subcategories that list detected serial port devices and parallel port devices.

Storage

The Storage category contains the four subcategories below, all related to the interfaces and devices that store data on your computer.

Drives

The Device subcategory lists each drive letter, file system, and size information.

Tip

If you're looking for a drive manufacturer, model, and more specific details, see the Disks subcategory below.

Item Value
Drive C:
Description Local Fixed Disk
Compressed No
File System NTFS (NTFS file system)
Size 475.88 GB (510,969,331,712 bytes)
Free Space 241.06 GB (258,840,186,880 bytes)
Volume Name ComputerHope
Volume Serial Number 6464D47C
Item Value
Drive D:
Description CD-ROM Disc
Item Value
Drive F:
Description Removable Disk

Disks

The Disks subcategory gives more details about each detected drive, including manufacturer, model, interface, and partition information. In this section, you find information about your hard drive or SSD (solid-state drive), including its capacity (size).

Item Value
Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model Crucial_CT512MX100SSD1
Bytes/Sector 512
Media Loaded Yes
Media Type Fixed hard disk
Partitions 3
SCSI Bus 0
SCSI Logical Unit 0
SCSI Port 0
SCSI Target ID 0
Sectors/Track 63
Size 476.94 GB (512,105,932,800 bytes)
Tracks/Cylinder 62,260
Partition 1,000,206,900
Partition Size 15,876,300
Partition Starting Offset 255
Partition Disk #0, Partition #0
Partition Size 100.00 MB (104,857,600 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 1,048,576 bytes
Partition Disk #0, Partition #1
Partition Size 475.88 GB (510,969,333,760 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 105,906,176 bytes
Partition Disk #0, Partition #2
Partition Size 536.00 MB (562,036,736 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 511,075,942,400 bytes

SCSI

The SCSI subcategory displays SCSI adapters and driver information.

Item Value
Name Microsoft iSCSI Initiator
Manufacturer Microsoft
Status OK
PNP Device ID ROOT\ISCSIPRT\0000
Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\MSISCSI.SYS (10.0.19041.610, 291.80 KB (298,808 bytes), 11/12/2020 8:10 PM)

IDE

The IDE (integrated drive electronics) subcategory displays IDE/SATA interface information.

Item Value
Name Intel(R) 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 Port SATA (Serial AT Attachment) AHCI Controller - 1C02
Manufacturer Intel
Status OK
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1C02&SUBSYS_04AA1028&REV_05\3&11583659&0&FA
I/O Port 0x0000F070-0x0000F077
I/O Port 0x0000F060-0x0000F063
I/O Port 0x0000F050-0x0000F057
I/O Port 0x0000F040-0x0000F043
I/O Port 0x0000F020-0x0000F03F
Memory Address 0xFB305000-0xFB3057FF
IRQ Channel IRQ 19
Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\STORAHCI.SYS (10.0.19041.488, 181.32 KB (185,672 bytes), 9/23/2020 9:23 PM)

Printing

The Printing subcategory displays all local and networked connected printers and any printer utilities. Below are examples of how the printers may be shown.

Item Driver Port Name Server Name
Samsung SCX-4725 Series (192.168.1.82) Samsung Universal Print Driver 3 192.168.1.82 Local Server
NPI05DF8D HP (Hewlett-Packard) Color LaserJet MFP M283fdw HP ColorLaserJet MFP (multifunction printer) M282-M285 PCL-6 (V4) WSD-a123-d123-412e-baab-d0ff9eeb1924 Local Server
Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format) Adobe PDF Converter Documents\*.pdf Local Server

Problem Devices

The Problem Devices subcategory lists any devices that are encountering problems.

USB

The USB (universal serial bus) subcategory displays all USB host controllers.

Tip

This section does not display the USB devices connected to those controllers.

Item Value
Name Intel(R) 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 Port SATA AHCI Controller - 1C02
Manufacturer Intel
Status OK
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1C02&SUBSYS_04AA1028&REV_05\3&11583659&0&FA
I/O Port 0x0000F070-0x0000F077
I/O Port 0x0000F060-0x0000F063
I/O Port 0x0000F050-0x0000F057
I/O Port 0x0000F040-0x0000F043
I/O Port 0x0000F020-0x0000F03F
Memory Address 0xFB305000-0xFB3057FF
IRQ Channel IRQ 19
Driver C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\STORAHCI.SYS (10.0.19041.488, 181.32 KB (185,672 bytes), 9/23/2020 9:23 PM)

Software Environment

The Software Environment category contains the following remaining subcategories, all related to the software installed and running on the computer.

System Drivers

The System Drivers subcategory lists the system drivers installed on the computer and their location and status. Because this list can be extensive, we've only listed one driver as an example in a vertical format. In the System Information window, each driver is listed in 11 horizontal columns.

Column Value
Name 1394ohci
Description 1394 OHCI (Open Host Controller Inferface) Compliant Host Controller
File c:\windows\system32\drivers\1394ohci.sys
Type Kernel Driver
Started No
Start Mode Manual
State Stopped
Status OK
Error Control Normal
Accept Pause No
Accept Stop No

Environment Variables

The Environment Variables subcategory lists the system environment variables and their values. Because this list can be extensive, we've only listed the first five variables.

Variable Value User Name
ComSpec %SystemRoot%\system32\cmd.exe <SYSTEM>
DriverData C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\DriverData <SYSTEM>
OS Windows_NT <SYSTEM>
PATHEXT .COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.MSC <SYSTEM>
PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE AMD64 <SYSTEM>

Print Jobs

The Print Jobs subcategory displays all print jobs currently in the printer print queue. If there are no print jobs, this subcategory is blank.

Network Connections

The Network Connections subcategory displays any detected network connections to your computer.

Tip

You can find better network connections and activity results in the Resource Monitor.

Running Tasks

The Running Tasks subcategory lists all the running tasks when the System Information window was opened.

Tip

To get a live view of running tasks, use Task Manager.

Loaded Modules

The Loaded Modules subcategory displays all modules installed on the computer with version, manufacturer, and file path information.

Services

The Services subcategory lists all of the Windows services on the computer and whether they're running or not running.

Program Groups

The Program Groups subcategory lists all the program groups shown in the Start menu.

Startup Programs

The Startup Programs subcategory provides a full list of all programs that start up each time your computer starts, with their file location.

OLE Registration

The OLE Registration subcategory displays all OLE (Object Linking and Embedding registrations on the system.

Windows Error Reporting

The Windows Error Reporting subcategory lists system errors that have occurred, when they occurred, and their details.

Tip

Use the Windows Event Viewer to get a better list and understanding of errors and Windows events.

System information tools

Windows System Information Tools in Windows 98

In early versions of the System Information Tools drop-down menu, you could access other helpful Windows utilities as shown below. This option was discontinued on more recent versions of Windows.

  • Windows Report Tool - Tool used by technicians and engineers to take a snapshot of your computer to help better troubleshoot and diagnose your computer.
  • Update Wizard Uninstall - When updating through Microsoft's update wizard, use this utility to convert back to the previous system files. Taking this action helps if the update did not complete successfully or caused unforeseen issues.
  • System File Checker - Check the integrity of the hard drive. If a file is missing or corrupt, this tool can restore it.
  • Signature Verification Tool - Used to verify files or drives on your computer with the Microsoft digital signature.
  • Registry Checker - Tool used to check your registry for errors and make additional backups.
  • Automatic Skip Driver Agent - Searches the hard drive for ASD (automatic start drivers) that prevents the computer from starting and optionally disables those drivers.
  • Dr. Watson - Diagnostic tool to detect problems or your computer with a resolution to the problem.
  • System Configuration Utility (msconfig.exe) - A beneficial program that lets you take lines out of your autoexec.bat, config.sys, win.ini, system.ini, and items from loading up automatically by unchecking a box.
  • ScanDisk - Normal ScanDisk program to check your hard drive for errors.
  • Version Conflict Manager - If older files are found during installing programs, they are backed up. The Version Conflict Manager lets you restore the original files if you run into problems after installing programs.

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