System Information
Component of Microsoft Windows | |
File name/executable | msinfo32.exe |
---|---|
Introduced in | Windows NT 4.0 |
Replaces | |
Microsoft Diagnostics Windows NT Diagnostics |
System Information is a system utility included with Microsoft Windows since Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 98. It contains all technical information related to the computer which includes hardware resources, physical hardware components and the entire Windows environment. It is used to display information that is useful in troubleshooting operating system, hardware and software problems and it also allows users to export the displayed information to a plain text document or an .nfo file for troubleshooting reference purposes. It is also used to gather technical information on remote computers that are connected to the same network.
The first version of System Information shipped with Microsoft products from 1992–1995, most notably Office 4.x. As it is a 16-bit application, it is not compatible with Windows NT and reports the NTVDM specs instead (MS-DOS 5.00; Windows 3.95). It also refers newer processors solely as Pentium.
Version 2.xx shipped with Microsoft products from 1995–1998, and introduced support for Windows NT, but still refers newer processors as Pentium.
In Windows 2000, it completely replaced Windows NT Diagnostics from earlier Windows NT versions, as the executable file turned into a stub for System Information.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
System Information 1.0 in Windows 3.1
System Information 2.0 in Windows 95
System Information in Windows 98 Second Edition
System Information in Windows Me
System Information in Windows XP
System Information in Windows 7