Hardware and software setup

How to find out the configuration of a windows 10 laptop. View characteristics in OS settings and control panel

Microsoft has never been known for humane requests for PC hardware. Unlike Linux, which is installed even on the low power computer, system requirements Windows 10 are high enough.

What are the system requirements for Windows 10?

First of all, they are affected by the graphical shell and new features. 10 was developed in accordance with new developments in the field of software. All its features are provided by high hardware performance.

Although ten is claimed to be a more economical operating system than 7 or 8, it is gradually overgrown with updates that consume more and more resources. For all the new products announced in it, RAM, hard drive space and processor speed are required.

Narrator will speak too slowly, Cortana will be annoying with delays in executing commands, and Movie Maker will constantly freeze if your computer does not have the highest performance.

Basically, you have to pay for everything. With only minimal system Windows requirements 10, you won't get high speeds and lightning fast performance. Do not forget about additional programs, which are inevitably installed on any PC.

Experienced users multiply the indicators by two. And judging by Microsoft's notes, this will not be enough. Windows 10 system requirements for a laptop are completely the same as those for computers.

How to find out your system requirements for installing Windows 10

As far as your computer is suitable for installing Windows 10, you can before starting it. The installer will analyze your hardware and let you know if you have enough resources.

You can find some parameters in the system properties. Click right button on the desktop icon "This PC" and select the last item.

In the properties window, you will learn about RAM and processor.

The capacity of the hard drive can be found in the explorer. Right-click on the label of the disk with the installed OS and select properties.

Read where to look in windows 10 full information about the computer and its devices. What standard applications or third-party utilities to use for this. Sometimes you may need to quickly find information about your computer's configuration, operating system, installed drivers and supported technical modules, For example, exact model network card, version "BIOS" or UEFI, or which version "Direct X" installed on your PC.

In this article, I will talk about some of the standard operating system tools that provide this system information, both general and more detailed.

Content:

We learn basic information using a standard application "Parameters"

If you want to see a basic overview of your system, it can be found in the standard application "Parameters", both Windows 8 and Windows 10. To open the application, click "Start" and then click on the button "Parameters"(gear icon) in the lower left corner of the window, or press the keyboard shortcut Windows+I. Next, in the application, click the icon "System".


After that, on the page that opens, go to the tab in the menu on the left.


Three sections with information will be displayed on the right side of the window. The first one will show information about real-time protection of your PC, the section provides basic information about the configuration of your PC, processor model, volume random access memory, device and product IDs, and the type of system you are using (32-bit or 64-bit).


The section lists the name and version of your operating system, installation date, and Windows builds. Also in this window, you can follow the links: updating the key and reactivating the OS, read license agreement and service agreement Microsoft.


The standard subroutine gives more detailed information.

The application (System Information) was added back in Windows XP. With it, you can see much more detailed overview both system information and information about the equipment used, much more informative than the previous method.

To open the window, press the combination Windows+R, and in the opened dialog "Run" enter "msinfo32" and click "Enter".


The main page will immediately provide much more information than we saw in the application "Parameters". Here it is listed in more detail, your PC manufacturer, configuration details, BIOS version, motherboard model, installed RAM, etc.

But this is only the beginning. Expand the tab tree in the menu on the left, and you will see the real functionality this application. Most of this information is probably useful only to software developers and system administrators, but at the same time, there are almost all the necessary data about the system.


For example, in the section "Components" click on the field "Net" and beyond "Adapter" and the program will display full information about the device: name, model of your network card, manufacturer, driver versions, Current state, as well as all related settings that are used in this moment.


There is another excellent feature of this software - it is the ability to export the information you are interested in text file. This option is extremely useful when you need to send information about your system or hardware errors to another user, such as a helpdesk, or if you just want to keep a copy of your configuration and system settings just in case.

First you need to select the desired section or subsection, the information from which you want to export. If you select a section, the exported file will contain data from all sections that are available in the application. But you can also select any individual section or subsection to save only specific information.

Then open the menu "File" and click on command "Export".


A standard Windows save file dialog will open, just go to the desired directory and enter the names of the new report and click the button "Save".


Now at any time, you can easily open given file and view all the information and settings that interest you.


System information on the command line

If Windows does not boot into normal operating mode, then you can use a special command to get information about the system to "Command line". Using this option, you will not be able to get as detailed information as in the application, and, possibly, this option is more complex than regular application, but still this command will be extremely useful in the case when the operating system starts "to show off" and it stops loading normally.

After the standard prompt command line, you need to go to the directory where it is located this program, run the following command "cd C:\Windows\System32". Next enter the command "systeminfo" and press "Enter". After a little analysis, the program will display several lines of information you need about the assembly and version of the OS, processor, BIOS version, boot disk, memory, and network information.


Device Manager in Windows 10

Device Manager is a standard component of the operating system that provides information about all devices connected and currently in use. It is also the only driver management tool for each installed device, manages the resources allocated to them (interrupt requests, DMA channels, memory areas, I / O ports). It also provides a lot of additional information.

You can open it in Windows 10 in several ways, the easiest way is through the search, to do this, click on the icon "Search" and start typing expression , our option will be at the very top of the list of search results.


In the window that opens, all installed devices on your PC.


Go to any section, for example, « Network adapters» and click on the line with the name of the device.


The properties window for this equipment will immediately open, at the top you will see several tabs: events related to the operation of the device, the resources it uses, power management, general information device information and driver management. Actually, all the functionality of managing this device is collected here, you can update the driver, remove the device, disable it, and so on.

How to find out the version "Direct X"

"Direct X" is a special set of ready-made graphic elements, procedures and functions that the Windows operating system provides for use external programs. "Direct X" specially designed by the company Microsoft to facilitate the development graphic applications under Windows, most programs, one way or another, but use it to visualize all sorts of data. Most often it is used to write computer games. And if you have installed a game that needs more than a new version "Direct X" than the one installed on your PC. Then, having learned which version is installed, you can understand whether you need to update it or not.

The easiest way to do this is by running a standard OS utility. To do this, press the keyboard shortcut Windows+R, and in the window that appears "Run" enter and click "Enter".


This will launch the utility. "DirectX Diagnostic Tool". The first tab of the program window will display some PC details and version information "Direct X". Actually, given inscription says only which version of the program is active and currently in use, and not which is the latest installed on your PC. After updating the "Windows 10 Fall Creators Update" in this window, the utility always shows version 12. But here the question arises that not every video card can support this "Direct X". The version of the program supported by your device can be found in the section "Screen" standard application "Parameters" Windows.

Additional utilities

Of course, on the Internet you can find a whole lot of third-party paid and free software, which can provide even more specialized information.

For example, if you reinstalled the operating system and the new OS did not install required drivers for all necessary devices, and they are not displayed correctly in "Task Manager" or not working at full capacity. In such a situation, free software can help - "CPU-Z". You can easily download it from the official website of the developers.


The program will scan your system and display the most complete information about the configuration of your PC, even without drivers installed. Information about motherboard, processor, RAM and slots for it, information about the video card, the program will allow you to test the performance of your processor and compare its results with the rest. It will also provide the ability to save the full report in text or "html file".

Often there is a situation when a user buys, for example, a small powerful laptop, but the first glance at the purchased model is not enough for him. I would like to know information about all the stuffing that is installed in it (both software and hardware). It is clear that the seller will tell you what kind of laptop it is, the instructions also contain basic information about all the components. But after all, the user himself wants to make sure that everything stated is true. There are several basic methods that allow you to get information about absolutely all the parameters of the device in just a couple of seconds, regardless of which OS modification is installed in each particular model.

Notebooks: characteristics of models. What should you pay attention to?

Naturally, first of all, a visual inspection plays a role. Whether it's a small powerful laptop or game system fairly impressive size potential buyer first draws attention to the screen. It is important to know the diagonal and screen resolution.

Then questions begin about the installed processor, the amount of RAM, graphics adapter, sound system, etc. The most inquisitive buyers try to get to the bottom of what connectors the device has, what software components are installed, etc., etc. So it turns out that specifications laptop includes information about both software and hardware. The following are several methods that allow you to get comprehensive information about all the parameters of any laptop model or desktop computer. All of them apply to systems from XP to 10.

How to view the characteristics of a laptop in the simplest way?

The simplest method that most users are accustomed to using is to look at the minimum specifications for the model and type of processor, RAM, and installed version(modifications) of the operating system.

You can find out such laptop parameters in the standard way, which is to call context menu right-click on the computer icon (or on the corresponding line in Explorer for Windows 10) and use the properties section. But here there is only a minimum of basic information. Detailed specifications from this section, as they say, you will not squeeze.

Using System Information

Speaking of how to view the characteristics of a laptop in an extended version, you should use a special system utility msinfo32.

summon this section You can use the command of the same name, which is entered in the special Run console, and it is completely optional to run it as an administrator. There is already more information here. Here are presented not only the basic parameters of the laptop, but also some additional information, including the build number of the system, BIOS version, motherboard information, Hyper-V mode, and more. Separately highlighted categories of hardware resources, components, and software environment, where you can even get information about device driver files. However, for the most part, few people pay attention to this. However, you can immediately advise to look at the section of devices with problems. In it, you can identify some problems even before purchasing a laptop.

But as a rule, such technical characteristics of a laptop are needed only by specialists who are knowledgeable in the operation of computers, who can immediately indicate whether the declared parameters correspond to the actual ones or predict how well this model will behave in operation.

View installed devices

In the question of how to view the characteristics of a laptop or desktop PC, an important role is played by viewing installed hardware components (roughly speaking, computer hardware).

In this sense indispensable assistant is the "Device Manager", which is called from the "Control Panel", the computer's administration section or through the devmgmt.msc command in the Run console (Win + R).

It must be said right away that not all components are displayed in the main list, so the command to display hidden devices should be used. In the presented list, you can not only view devices by name, but also determine some of their characteristics, including conflicts or installed drivers. In addition, it is noteworthy that all components that for some reason do not work or function incorrectly can be immediately identified by highlighting them in the list with a yellow marker. As they say, you don't have to be to figure out that there are problems with such devices, and they will have to be fixed.

DirectX platform tools

Few ordinary users realize that in solving the problem of how to view the characteristics of a laptop, invoking the DirectX bridge dialog (dxdiag in the application execution menu) can be invaluable help.

The base page provides information on the processor and RAM, the installed OS and its assembly, DirectX versions etc.

The screen tab looks more interesting. Only with her help, unlike others standard means, you can find out the amount of allocated memory of a discrete video card (such models are mainly on laptops of an average price category and installed). You can also see the screen resolution with the current refresh rate settings, not to mention the version and name of the driver.

Command line

Finally, you can even get the necessary configuration information using the command line (cmd) when you enter the systeminfo command.

In this case, the information presented to the average user will not say much, but for people who are knowledgeable, such information can be very useful.

Third party utilities and online monitoring

You can also use some third-party programs to view the characteristics of a laptop or PC.

Among the most popular are CPU-Z / GPU-Z, Speecy, HWMonitor, AIDA64, PC Wizard, etc. In them, the information is wider and includes such parameters as processor temperature, fan (cooler) rotation speed, etc. .

Many laptop models also have online support. For example, DELL devices with an active Internet connection can be fully tested on a special page. Based on the result, it will be possible to immediately determine whether changes have been made to the configuration and whether it corresponds to the standard of the model being produced.

Finally, some important information can even be viewed BIOS settings(processor model and hard RAM, hard drive mode and much more).

Thus, you can get information about the characteristics of a particular model of a laptop or desktop PC using any of the above methods. But in order for the picture to be as complete as possible, you should not be limited to just one method, you need to apply them together.

When upgrading to Windows 10 from previous versions Windows, such as Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, or if you install a more recent update on Windows 10, some features may be deprecated or removed. See below for information on some of the key features removed:

  • Phone Manager: With the release of the April 2018 update, we announced that we are ending further development of the phone manager. Starting with the October 2018 update, Phone Manager is being removed from your PCs. For synchronization mobile phone From a PC, use the Phone page in the Settings app. It contains all the functions of the phone manager.
  • Home group: will be removed starting with the April 2018 Update. You will still be able to share printers, files, and folders. After windows updates 10 prior to the April 2018 release, the homegroup will no longer appear in File Explorer, Control Panel, or Troubleshooting (Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot). Any printers, files, and folders that you shared using home group, will be shared. Now to provide public access to printers, files or folders instead of a homegroup, you can use the features built into Windows 10:
    • Xbox 360 and HomeGroup users can learn more about media streaming
  • People app: In Windows 10, email messages received from Office 365 contacts, as well as contacts from your school or organization, appear in the People app In chapter conversations. Starting with the April 2018 update, you will need to be online or signed in with either account Office 365, or for school or organization accounts through the apps , or Calendar . Please note that you will only be able to see messages for school or organization accounts and some accounts. office records 365.
  • Application "Reader": The Reader app will be removed from Windows 10 as of the Fall Creators Update (Windows 10, version 1709). To view PDF files use Microsoft Edge- a recommended application as a replacement for the one being deleted, which has similar functionality, and also additional functions, including extended support accessibility, improved ink input, and support for Ask Cortana. Likewise, it is recommended that you use the XPS Viewer for Windows to view XPS files and the " Windows Photos" to view TIFF files. Note that users are more early versions Windows 10 may continue to use the Reader app.
  • Windows log: When you install the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (Windows 10, version 1607), Windows History will be deleted. After that, you will no longer be able to open and edit Windows log files with JNT or JTP extension. Instead of Windows Journal, we recommend using the OneNote app. additional information on how to open or edit the log files if necessary, can be found.
  • digital rights management Windows Media(WMDRM): After installing the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (Windows 10, version 1607), support for Windows Media Digital Rights Management (WMDRM) will be discontinued. As a result, you will no longer be able to play audio and video files protected with this technology. for more information.
  • Windows Media Center If you are using Windows versions 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Pro, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 8 Pro with Media Center, or Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center, when you install Windows 10, Windows Media Center will be removed.
  • Control mobile devices(MDM) The MDM feature will not be available in Windows 10 Home after the release of Windows 10.
  • Desktop Gadgets Windows desktop 7: Windows 7 desktop gadgets will be removed during Windows installation 10.
  • Games "Klondike", "Minesweeper" and "Hearts": The Klondike, Minesweeper, and Hearts games preinstalled in Windows 7 will be removed during the upgrade to Windows 10. Microsoft has released versions of the Klondike and Minesweeper games under the names Microsoft Solitaire Collection and Microsoft Minesweeper ".
  • Floppy drives: If you have a floppy drive, you will need to download latest version drivers from the Windows Update client component or from the manufacturer's website.
  • If your system has "Basic Windows components Live, the OneDrive app will be removed and replaced with the built-in version of OneDrive.
  • Placeholder files in OneDrive: Windows 10 does not support OneDrive placeholder files. Windows 8.1 displays available placeholder files in OneDrive instead of locally on the device. In Windows 10, users can choose which folders to sync in the OneDrive settings section.
  • Attachment: In tablet mode, you can attach up to two apps.

In the operating room Windows system 10 many menu items and options have been moved to a new location or have a new appearance. But the frequently used ones were not changed, but only added to some alternative launch options. This article will show you how to view computer properties on Windows 10.

Device Manager

First standard way, built into the OS, uses the Device Manager. To open it:

DirectX Diagnostic Tool

The utility is designed to troubleshoot DirectX, but in parallel provides basic characteristics PC.


Note! Without required drivers for some nodes, information about them may not be displayed.

External programs

There are also utilities installed externally. Their feature is the most detailed data about the computer.

CPU-Z

The program provides all the information about CPU, as well as the motherboard, RAM, etc.

After starting, select the required tab to view the data of the selected device.

GPU-Z

The utility displays all the characteristics of the video adapter, including the current temperature.

The program on different tabs shows the values ​​\u200b\u200bof the power of the video card and sensor data.

The utility was developed with the support of Piriform, the authors of CCleaner, and is an analogue of AIDA64.

The program displays all information about all PC nodes, including temperature data from their sensors.

conclusions

To view the properties of the computer, you must use the built-in Device Manager or the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. Also for viewing detailed information about the PC it is worth using external utilities.

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