11 Free System Information Tools

Piriform, creators of the popular CCleaner, Defraggler, and Recuva programs, also produce Speccy, my favorite free system information tool.

Speccy's layout is nicely designed to provide all the information you need without being overly cluttered.

A summary page gives you brief, but very helpful information on things like the operating system, memory, graphics, and storage devices. A more detailed look at each category is organized in their respective sections.

My favorite feature is the ability to send system specs from Speccy to a public webpage to easily share with others. Exporting to a file, as well as printing, are additional options, making saving a list of all your hardware details really easy.

Speccy works with all versions of Windows from Windows 10 through Windows XP.

Another free system information tool that shows detail on a huge variety of components is PC Wizard 2015.

It's easy to save a report detailing any or all parts of the program, and you can even copy out single lines of data to the clipboard.

Out of all the system information tools I've used, PC Wizard 2015 is certainly the most informative. It includes not only the basic and advanced information on internal and external hardware but also useful operating system details.

PC Wizard 2015 can be installed on Windows 8, 7, Vista, and XP. It doesn't work on Windows 10.

SIW is a portable and completely free system information tool that shows detail on tons of different areas in Windows.

In addition to regular information like that about standard hardware, SIW also reveals detail regarding installed applications, among many other areas of Windows.

Everything SIW finds is separated into three easy to read sections, called Software, Hardware, and Network, with even more specific subcategories.

A summary report that contains basic hardware and software information can be exported to an HTML file.

SIW is so full of detail that it oftentimes takes awhile for the information to populate when you first open the program.

Only Windows 7, Vista, XP, and 2000 users can use SIW, as it's not compatible with Windows 10 or Windows 8.

ASTRA32 is another free system information tool that shows amazing detail on numerous devices and other parts of the system.

There are several categories to separate the information it gathers on hardware, like that of a motherboard, storage, and monitor information. 

A system summary section is perfect for seeing an overview of all the hardware and operating system details. Also, a dedicated section for live monitoring is included to show the temperature and current usage of various hardware components.

ASTRA32 works as a demo program, but it doesn't really mean much because it still provides lots of useful information.

ASTRA32 can be used on Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP, 2000, and Windows Server 2008 and 2003. I tested it in Windows 10 but was unable to get it working.

HWiNFO shows nearly the same details as these other free system information tools, like for the CPU, motherboard, monitor, audio, network, and other components.

A sensor status window is included to monitor the current and average speed/rate of the memory, hard drive, and CPU. HWiNFO can also run a benchmark against these areas.

Report files can be created for some or all of the system components, and you can also set up automatic reporting that sounds an alarm when a sensor exceeds a particular threshold.

Unfortunately, I found that HWiNFO doesn't include as much information as some of the other applications from this list. Though the data it does display is still very helpful.

HWiNFO runs on Windows 10 through Windows XP.

Belarc Advisor isn't as detailed as some of these other free system information tools. However, basic information on the operating system, processor, motherboard, memory, drives, bus adapters, display, group policies, and users are shown.

In addition to the above, a unique feature in Belarc Advisor is the ability to list all the security updates Windows is missing. You can also view software licenses, installed hotfixes, program usage frequency, and version numbers for select Microsoft products.

Results of a scan open in a web browser and can be viewed on a single web page.

Belarc Advisor is quick to download and doesn't try to install additional programs during setup, which is always nice.

Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP are supported.

Free PC Audit includes all the features you'd expect to find in any system information utility, including the ability for a report to be saved as a simple text file.

For example, you can see information on all the hardware, like the motherboard, memory, and printers. In addition, Free PC Audit displays the Windows product key and ID, a list of installed software, and all the currently running processes, among many other things.

Free PC Audit is completely portable, making it perfect for a flash drive.

I tested Free PC Audit in Windows 10, 8, and 7, but it should also work fine in older versions.

MiTeC System Information X is a free system information software program that's licensed for both private and commercial use. The tool is portable, easy to use, and can create a summary report.

Among many other categories, you'll find all the standard details like audio, network, and motherboard, information. More specific information can also be shown, such as drivers and processes.

The tabbed interface makes MiTeC System Information X really easy to navigate through if you're viewing more than one report at once.

MiTeC System Information X can be used with Windows 10 through Windows 2000, as well as with Windows Server 2008 and 2003.

EVEREST Home Edition is a portable free system information tool that scans very quickly and organizes everything it finds into nine categories, including one for a summary page.

All the standard hardware details are included, like that of the motherboard, network, storage devices, and display, with the ability to create an HTML report of everything.

You can create favorites in EVEREST Home Edition to have instant access to any hardware component from the menu bar.

Unfortunately, EVEREST Home Edition is no longer being developed. This means if it's still not being developed in the future, the new hardware devices that are released will likely not be recognized by the program.

Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP users can install EVEREST Home Edition.

SIV is another free system information tool for Windows that runs as a portable program (i.e., no need to install).

In addition to USB, hard drive, adapter, and basic OS details, SIV also includes a live sensor to show CPU and memory utilization.

I think the interface is a bit hard to look at - the details are too difficult to read. However, if you have the patience to look closely enough, you'll find all the information you'd expect.

SIV is designed for Windows 10 through Windows 2000, plus older versions like Windows 98 and 95. It also works with Windows Server 2012, 2008, and 2003.