How to Find Your Computer’s Specifications

Knowing your computer’s specifications will help you make informed hardware and software choices. Knowing the exact product line of every piece of hardware will also help you avoid technical problems. With any operating system, you can quickly find the machine’s specifications.

Table of Contents

Windows

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Open the Run dialog box. You can find it in the Start menu or by pressing the key combination ⊞ Win + R .

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Type . msinfo32 and press ↵ Enter . The System Information window will open. ^{[1] X Research Source}

This window may take a few minutes to open.
There are many ways to check your system specifications on Windows. In particular, with System Information, you will be provided with the most complete report in one place.

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Go through the System Summary and find your background information. There are several notable items on the System Summary screen – the default screen when opening the System Information window, including:

OS Name – This is the version of Windows you are using.
System Manufacturer/Model – This is information about the computer manufacturer and its model.
System Type – This indicates whether you are using a 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) version of Windows.
Processor – This indicates the product family and speed of the processor. The speeds stated here are the advertised speeds. If the processor has multiple cores, this will also be shown. Note that if the processor has been overclocked to increase speed, it is likely that the new spec will not be updated. Click here for more information on how to measure processor speed.
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) – This is the amount of RAM installed in your computer.
Baseboard Manufacturer/Model – This is the motherboard manufacturer and product line information. In it, the motherboard’s current is not always reported correctly.

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Expand the “Components” section. This section provides detailed information about the graphics card and hard drive.

Mac

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Click the Apple menu and choose “About This Mac”. The window showing the OS X version and system characteristics summary will appear. It includes processor speed, memory (RAM) and graphics card (if installed).

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Use the tabs at the top of the window (Yosemite). The latest version of OS X has tabs along the top of the About This Mac window, allowing you to quickly switch between different hardware groups. If you’re using Mavericks (OS X 10.9) or earlier, skip to the next step.

The Overview tab gives you a brief report on the most popular searches for specifications. This page should have enough information for you to determine if the computer can run a program.
The Displays tab presents all of your connected displays.
The Storage tab lists the hard drive and its capacity.

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Click . More Info (More Info – Mavericks and earlier versions) . A new window with detailed hardware information will be opened. Use the navigation tree on the left to find the hardware you want to learn about. ^{[2] X Research Source}

The Hardware section displays detailed information about all your hardware components. When “Hardware” is selected, information about the central processing unit (CPU) will be displayed in the right pane. If the CPU has more than one core, they will also be listed here.
Note: The processor speed shown here is the speed advertised by the manufacturer and you can use it to determine if your computer meets the specifications to run the program. program or not. However, it will not show the results of overclocking, increasing speed. Click here for more information on how to find your processor’s actual speed.

Linux

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Open the emulator. You can use the lightweight hardware enumerator found in many Linux distributions. If you haven’t already, the installation is pretty easy. You can quickly open the emulator in most distributions by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T .

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Install lshw (if needed). Many Linux distributions, including Ubuntu and Mint, have lshw . Use one of the following commands to install lshw . If you already have it on your computer, you will be notified that the program is installed. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Debian distribution – sudo apt-get install lshw
Red Hat/Fedora distribution – sudo yum install lshw

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Run lshw to read information about your computer’s hardware. Use the following command to trim most of the junk content and show frequently searched items:

sudo lshw -short . ^{[4] X Research Sources}

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Find the item you are looking for. Use the “Class” column to search. You can find the processor, memory (RAM), graphics card (“display”), and drives.

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Create a text file that documents your hardware specification. It will come in handy when asking someone to repair or when you want to sell your computer.

Type sudo lshw -short > specs.txt . You can rename the file to your liking. You will find this text file in your home directory/.
You can also type sudo lshw -html > specs.html , which generates the HTML file. This volume may be easier to read when opened in a browser.

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Install GUI (Graphical User Interface). This interface allows you to view hardware information in a graphical window and navigate within it. This may be more comfortable for those who are used to Windows or OS X operating systems.

Type the command sudo apt-get install lshw-gtk (Debian) or sudo yum install lshw-gui (RH/Fedora).
Type the command sudo lshw -X to open the GUI for lshw. The GUI uses a “3-frame” design. When you expand something in the left pane, the subsection will appear in the right pane. Expand the different groups to find your specifications.

Android

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Get the emulator emulation app. While you can use the Settings menu to find basic information about your phone, you won’t be able to see any details about the processor or memory. With the emulator emulator application, you will be able to execute Linux commands to display system parameters.

If you have access to Dev Tops on your device (Settings → Developer Tops), you can open Terminal Emulator from there. If you don’t have access to these tools, you can download an application that emulates an emulator. The most famous free emulator emulator application is “Terminal Emulator for Android”. You can get it from the Google App Store. This method does not require root access – allowing full access and modification of the file system in the operating system.

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Open Terminal Emulator. You will be directed to a Linux-style emulator prompt.

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Type command . cat /proc/cpuinfo and press Enter. Information about the mobile processor on your Android device will be displayed.

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Type command . cat /proc/meminfo and press Enter. Information about the memory (RAM) on your device, including information about the total and how much space is being used, will be displayed. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Steps

Windows

Mac

Linux

Android

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