Windows has a tool known as System Information, and it’s commonly used to diagnose and troubleshoot problems on a PC. you’re able to also use this tool to generate what’s known as a system report, which you can then analyze yourself or send to someone with more technical knowledge of Windows to help you out.
No matter the case, we are going to show you how to create this useful report and start making sense of it.
What Is the System Report on Windows?
The system report is a text document that contains detailed information about the hardware and software installed on your computer. This information includes the status and configurations of the hardware and software. The system report comes in handy when you need to troubleshoot a specific problem, check the specifications of your computer, or when you want to send the file to a support technician who can assist you with diagnosing a problem.
How to Create a System Report on Windows
To generate the system report, you’ll first have toopen the System Information windowand then save the information you see there as a text file. Here’s how to do that.
Now you’re able to open the system report or send it to a technician to analyze and find out what is wrong with your computer.
How to Analyze the System Report on Windows
The system report contains a lot of information about your Windows computer, and it can be unwieldy to make sense of it by yourself. We can help you understand the basics so you won’t be so confused when you look at it. To start, go to where you saved the system report and double-click to open it.
Once it loads, you will land onSystem Summaryin the navigation panel on the left, and it will show you an overview of your PC in the right panel. On top of information about your OS (name and version) and system (motherboard manufacturer, computer’s model number, and processor type), you’ll also find other obscure information, such as your BIOS mode (whether it’s UEFI or not) and thesize and location of pagefile.sys.
WithinSystem Summaryin the navigation pane, you’ll find subsections that contain even more detailed information, with the first one beingHardware Resources. Here, you’ll find information about the hardware currently installed on your system and how it’s functioning.
You can, for example, use this section to find out about any hardware conflicts, which happen when hardware on your computer competes for the same resources, by selectingConflict/Sharing.
TheComponentssection lists all the components (audio and video codes, drives, keyboards, and network adapters) installed on your computer. It’s all categorized by function to make what you need easy to find. That means, if you’re looking for information about the display on your computer, you will find it underDisplay.
InSoftware Environment, you can get information on things like system drivers, running tasks, startup programs, and print jobs on your computer.
So that’s all you need to know to get started with the system report.
How to Search for Information in the System Report
If you have an idea of what you’re looking for, you may use the search tool at the bottom of the System Information window in the report to find it faster. Just click on the text box, enter what you’re searching for (we’ve entereddrivein our example), and hit theEnterkey on your keyboard or clickFind Next.
Now you don’t have to open many sections just to find what you need, making the search function a huge time saver.
Get the Full Gist of Your System on Windows
The system report on Windows contains so much information that it’s impossible to cover it all in one guide. However, we hope we have given you a good idea of what it is and, with our brief overview, how you can use it to diagnose and troubleshoot your computer.
Another tool you can check out that goes hand in hand with System Information when it comes to troubleshooting problems on Windows is the Event Viewer. You can also use it effectively to solve problems once you know what it is and how to use it.
