Software to get basic hardware information from non-technical relative

Question

I want to recommend a relative some upgrades and/or see if some spare parts I have lying around would improve the PC of a relative. I'm having a hard time getting the various models and versions from this relative, mainly because of a lack of tech knowledge on the other end.

I'm looking for a piece of software that will gather the basic tech specs (in this specific case the monitor model) and easily gets them to me. To summarize the must-have requirements:

• Gratis
• Works on Windows 7 and above
• Able to get specs of base hardware (graphics card, motherboard, RAM, CPU, drives)
• Able to get specs (preferably model, but at least current resolution) of connected monitor(s)
• Easy to get the results to someone else (e.g. e-mail it to someone easily)
• Easy to use for non-technical users

To clarify that last point: browsing, e-mailing, copy/pasting, etc is all fine. But command-line stuff, potentially dangerous options, and so forth is out of the question.

Oh and it would be very nice to have the solution not send the details anywhere else (e.g. the software's creator).

What would you recommend?

Answer 1

I would highly recommend Speccy from Piriform.

It is free https://www.piriform.com/speccy (though they have a Pro version, which isn't different for the normal basic reporting you are looking for.)

I think it ticks all of your requirements nicely!

it has pretty extensive info, but at the same time still nicely organized and easy to read.

Just open it (install it, or just run the portable version of it) and it will have the whole report.

You can click File > Publish Snapshot, which will generate a public URL which the user can share. It will be something like this http://speccy.piriform.com/results/zTvM73tKQsHGiR5lhO6UtF8

Or he can do Save Snapshot, which will save a .speccy file which can be emailed to you and you can load it into Speccy by clicking Load Snapshot.

Answer 2

You might have heard of cpu-z if not you should give it a try it is,

• freeware
• requires admin privilege
• easy to use
• will make you report in form of txt, html, and nice link with snapshot and details.

From cpuid:

CPU-Z is a freeware that gathers information on some of the main devices of your system :

Processor name and number, codename, process, package, cache levels.

Mainboard and chipset. Memory type, size, timings, and module specifications (SPD).

Real time measurement of each core's internal frequency, memory frequency.

Download here http://www.cpuid.com/downloads/cpu-z/cpu-z_1.79-en.exe

Answer 3

One possibility that will get you a lot of information is to get them to install Open Hardware Monitor.

• Free, gratis & Open Source
• MPL licence with some components under other licences
• They will have to run as Admin
• Will give you some information but not all.

They could send you a screen shot:

Or select File, Save Report and send you the output:

Start of report on my machine:

Common Language Runtime: 4.0.30319.42000
Operating System: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.14393.0
Process Type: 64-Bit

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sensors

|
+- Toshiba Portable PC (/mainboard)
|
+- Intel Core i7-4720HQ (/intelcpu/0)
|  +- Bus Speed      :  99.7695  99.7692   99.773 (/intelcpu/0/clock/0)
|  +- CPU Core #1    :  798.156  798.154  2993.19 (/intelcpu/0/clock/1)
|  +- CPU Core #2    :  798.156  798.154  2993.19 (/intelcpu/0/clock/2)
|  +- CPU Core #3    :  798.156  798.154  3092.85 (/intelcpu/0/clock/3)
|  +- CPU Core #4    :  798.156  798.154  3092.86 (/intelcpu/0/clock/4)
|  +- CPU Core #1    :       47       47       60 (/intelcpu/0/temperature/0)
|  +- CPU Core #2    :       49       48       69 (/intelcpu/0/temperature/1)
|  +- CPU Core #3    :       46       46       62 (/intelcpu/0/temperature/2)
|  +- CPU Core #4    :       44       44       61 (/intelcpu/0/temperature/3)
|  +- CPU Package    :       49       49       69 (/intelcpu/0/temperature/4)
|  +- CPU Total      :  2.11538 0.976563  20.8333 (/intelcpu/0/load/0)
|  +- CPU Core #1    :  2.30769        0  33.3333 (/intelcpu/0/load/1)
|  +- CPU Core #2    :  2.30769        0  20.3125 (/intelcpu/0/load/2)
|  +- CPU Core #3    : 0.769234        0  33.3333 (/intelcpu/0/load/3)
|  +- CPU Core #4    :  3.07692  2.34375  34.6154 (/intelcpu/0/load/4)
|  +- CPU Package    :  4.96737  4.96737  19.7823 (/intelcpu/0/power/0)
|  +- CPU Cores      : 0.473211 0.473211  11.5743 (/intelcpu/0/power/1)
|  +- CPU Graphics   : 0.00452075        0 0.766377 (/intelcpu/0/power/2)
|  +- CPU DRAM       :  1.59119  1.59119   2.4774 (/intelcpu/0/power/3)
|
+- Generic Memory (/ram)
|  +- Memory         :  41.7511  41.7493  43.4684 (/ram/load/0)
|  +- Used Memory    :  6.64433  6.64404  6.91762 (/ram/data/0)
|  +- Available Memory :  9.26982  8.99653   9.2701 (/ram/data/1)
|
+- AMD Radeon R9 M265X (/atigpu/0)
|  +- GPU Core       :      511      511      511 (/atigpu/0/temperature/0)
|  +- GPU Core       :      100      100      100 (/atigpu/0/load/0)
|
+- ST2000LM003 HN-M201RAD (/hdd/0)
|  +- Temperature    :       39       39       39 (/hdd/0/temperature/0)
|  +- Used Space     :  52.4904  52.4904  52.4904 (/hdd/0/load/0)
|
+- Generic Hard Disk (/hdd/1)
|  +- Used Space     :  56.2002  56.2002  56.2002 (/hdd/1/load/0)
|
+- Generic Hard Disk (/hdd/2)
|
+- Generic Hard Disk (/hdd/3)
|
+- Generic Hard Disk (/hdd/4)
|
+- Generic Hard Disk (/hdd/5)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parameters

|
+- Toshiba Portable PC (/mainboard)
|
+- Intel Core i7-4720HQ (/intelcpu/0)

As suggested by @Rup you could also ask them to run:

dxdiag

And send you the screen shots of each page which gives at least an attempt at monitor details. (The help says that there is a /t outfile option to dump the output but it doesn't seem to produce anything on my system)

Answer 4

A less detailed yet quick and reliable solution, could be just visiting this site:

• http://supportdetails.com/

You'll get something like this: