stickies

System Specs Finder

Introduction:
Whenever you are asked to give your system specs usually you wouldn’t have a clue as to how to find them, so this Information Sheet will give you a step-by-step guide in using a free downloadable utility called “SysSpec©”.
SysSpec© is designed for the easy displaying of Computer System Information.
This information will be invaluable to both yourself for future reference and to those here at TSF that are assisting you with your computer problem.

Step – By – Step User Guide:
Firstly, go to this site to download the program, and save it to the desktop for easy access.

Once downloaded, and before SysSpec© is used for the first time, it is recommended that you do these two things before opening it…Right click on the desktop icon and scan it with your anti virus program; then, right click it again and select Properties. There will be a button marked Unblock near the bottom of the pane. Unblock the program and click OK. Now we are ready to use SysSpec©. To open the program, simply double click on it.

Open Screen:
Operating SysSpec© is very user friendly; to find particular information, it is a matter of simply clicking on one of the ‘Buttons’ across the top of the screen.
When the program is first opened, the screenshot will look like this…
View attachment 8427

System:
Now click on the “System” button and some of your computer specifications will be displayed, and the screen should be similar to this…
View attachment 8428

Memory:
View attachment 8429
The viewed image gives details about the amount of memory [RAM] that is installed in the machine.
For example say you have 2x512Mb sticks [1024Mb] of RAM on board, and SysSpec© only shows that there is 959Mb physical memory. This is because about 64Mb of RAM is required for the display graphics; it is also shown as shared memory in the BIOS.

Display:
View attachment 8430
This screenshot gives details about the display adapters [both onboard and PCI]. To display any extra adapters [video cards], click on the Down Arrow next to “Adapters” and the options will be displayed.
When you have any display issues, this information will assist the TSF members that are helping you.

Devices:
View attachment 8431
The Devices screenshot displays the Device Driver details, including the Provider and Version of the Driver.

Programs:
View attachment 8432
The main program information that might be required generally is found by clicking on the Down Arrow next to the Programs Button. This will reveal the Start Up programs. These are the programs that start when Windows® starts.
Warning: Do NOT attempt to delete or modify any of these programs unless you know what you are doing, or are instructed to do so by a TSF Member, because accidental deletion of some start up programs could cause serious operational instability!

Network:
View attachment 8433
You may at some time have networking issues. This section of the utility displays some essential information to assist those helping you.

Sound:
View attachment 8434
This screenshot shows Sound Cards [both on board and PCI], and is information will be needed should you ever have a sound or audio problem.

Power Supply Unit:
View attachment 8435
Although not part of the SysSpec© utility, a screenshot of a Power Supply Unit Information Data Sticker is shown, as this information is usually needed as part of ‘supplying full system specs’.
This is located on the Power Supply Unit within the Computer Case.

Footnote:
You will notice that I have not included screenshots of “Personal; Drives: CPU: and Programs”.This is for a number of reasons:

‘Personal’: In this section of SysSpec© are details of your Windows® Product ID and Registration Numbers. This information is PERSONAL and you will never be asked to give such details to anyone here at TSF. In the event that you are ever asked to give this information DON’T, and immediate report the matter and the members’ name to the Administrators…this is located at the top of the main TechSupport Forum Page under Site Map “contact us”, or by clicking on the exclamation mark at the bottom of the particular thread page.
The Forum Rules are quite specific about such infringements, and they are there to protect you.
‘Drives: CPU’: The information here is duplicated under “System” hence the exclusion.
‘Programs’: Specific program details such as those given in this section are not usually required, and should any information of this kind be needed, then the member will ask you for specific program information only.

Conclusion:
Now you have the “tools” for supplying “System Specs”, the next question is, ‘How do I give it to TSF?’ This can be done in two ways: Firstly, by copying the requested information to your clipboard and copy and paste it into your posting, or: Secondly, by doing a “Print Screen” and uploading the image as a .jpeg file to your post.
When you have done this and checked your spelling, post your reply and in no time you will have a friendly TSF member assisting you!

©2006 techsupportforum.com

Monitoring your Temperatures in Linux

For those of you who are running any GUI Linux on your computer, there is a way to monitor temperatures just like in Windows. Linux includes free utilities that can be downloaded, although they are usually included with the installation of the distro you are using. If there is no utility, look for it in your package manager.

In KDE, there is KSysGuard, which can monitor many different hardware aspects, including CPU temperature and usage.

• To get the temperature, create a new worksheet. Then Drag in localhost > ACPI > Thermal Zone > THRM > Temperature
  
  
• You can get the clock speed for each CPU/CPU core by dragging in localhost > CPU0 (CPU1, CPU2, CPU3, etc.) > Clock Frequency
  
  
• There are two types of loads for each CPU core. System loads (typically smaller) and User loads (typically larger and are where games take place). These are from two types of processes, System Processes and User Processes. To get the System Load, drag in localhost > CPU0 (CPU1, CPU2, CPU3, etc.) > System Load. To get the User load (usually more important), drag in localhost > CPU0 (CPU1, CPU2, CPU3, etc.) > User Load.

You can create each of these as four different things. There are Signal Plotter, Multimeter, Bar Graph, and Sensor Logger.

• Signal Plotter is a line graph of the history of the activity. This is useful for System and User Loads, as well as CPU Temperature.
  
  
• Multimeter is just a number. This is useful for CPU Temperature and Clock Frequency, as well as System and User Loads.
  
  
• Bar Graph is a single bar graph that indicates a percent. This is useful for System and User Loads.
  
  
• Sensor Logger is a log of the percent of number for a field. It is a combination of the Signal Plotter and Multimeter. This is useful for CPU Temperature, as well as System and User Loads.

If you don't have KDE, KSysGuard is avaliable for GNOME as well.

Identifying your Hardware in Linux

Since there is no Everest or CPU-Z for Linux, there are other utilities. These are free and either come with a distro or can be downloaded through package manager. There are two types of hardware identification tools for Linux: Command Line and GUI tools.

I usually prefer Command Line tools. They are more comprehensive and detailed IMO. My two favorite tools for the Command Line are lshw and cpuid

lshw is an all around tool for identifying hardware. It is usually correct, although it sometimes can make mistakes. It is also a bit confusing, as some fields can be mistaken for others. Also, lshw should be run as a root user or superuser.
First you must download lshw. Type it into your package manager if it isn't already installed.
To run it in GNOME, type this command:
To run it in KDE, type this command:
In most Debian-based distributions, you can use sudo, which means "Super User Do".
cpuid is good for detailed info on your CPU(s). It usually must be downloaded from the package manager, so do that before you try to run it. Unlike lshw, cpuid does not need to be run as a root user or superuser.
As with lshw, download cpuid from your package manager first.
To run cpuid in any desktop environment, type this command:
GUI utilities are good for people who are new to Linux and are not familiar with the command line. They can be downloaded from a package manager. My favorite is HardInfo.

HardInfo is an excellent GUI that has almost as much information as lshw, as well as kernel information and a couple of benchmarking tools for the processor. HardInfo can be downloaded from the package manager like all programs.

Re: How to Post Your Screen Shot

Some (hopefully useful) additional information and visuals, to help you a bit more:


In Step A, you actually have two options (plus another two if you are working in a remote computer); that is:

• PRINT SCREEN This way you place a snapshot of the entire window area (i.e. EVERYTHING you see on your monitor) on a local computer. Pressing CTRL+PRINT SCREEN is essentially the same as pressing PRINT SCREEN alone.

• ALT+PRINT SCREEN This way you place a snapshot of only the active window on a local computer.

• CTRL+ALT+Plus sign (+) This way you place a snapshot of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.

• CTRL+ALT+Minus sign (-) This way you place a snapshot of the active window in the client on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing ALT+PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.


Please do not forget that some Multimedia Keyboards or Laptops, might require that keys like F-LOCK or Fn (which alter the behavior of some keys) be pressed or not pressed, in order for PRINT SCREEN to work. So, if you do have such a keyboard, and when you attempt pasting in MS Paint the supposedly taken screenshot you see nothing happening, then press the F-LOCK (or Fn) key and try again.


==========================================================


And now some visuals to help you with the image uploading process, taken from our Article Submission Guidelines:


HOW TO EMBED IMAGES

First of all, you will need to select an Image Hosting Service (IHS are sites like www.imageshack.us or www.photobucket.com, which allow you to upload your images in their servers). It is advisable that you register to the IHS of your choice, so that you are able to access your uploaded images at any time, and use them again if needed. IN ANY CASE, ALWAYS KEEP THE ORIGINAL IMAGE FILES IN YOUR COMPUTER. Follow the procedure for uploading your image to the Image Hosting Service, and you will be given an Embeddable Code for each image you successfully upload.


First alternative

As soon as the upload concludes, you can see the direct link to your image. Select the URL and press CTRL+C to copy it:


Use the Taskbar or press ALT+TAB to switch to your Internet Browser window that displays your TSF post you are preparing to submit. Press on the Insert Image button:


A script box pops up; select the "http://" showing on the line, and then press CTRL+V to paste the URL of the image:


Press OK on the script box; the necessary BB Code has been included in your post. Press the Preview Post button, to make sure your image shows the way it is supposed to.


Second alternative

Browse through your uploaded images, and locate the one you want to embed in your article. Locate the Embeddable Code for Forums next to it, select it, press CTRL+C to copy it, switch back to your post, place your cursor where you want that image to be, and press CTRL+V to paste the code:

Please post your complete System Specs.
If a OEM major brand PC(Dell, HP, Gateway, Asus etc) the Brand and Model are all that's required.

If a Custom Build the Brands and Models of the
Motherboard
CPU
Video card
Power Supply(from the label on the supply)
Ram Brand and Part Number
Hard drive
Any other install add in cards(Audio, Network etc)

If all else fails run Speccy System Information after it runs go to the file menu and Publish the results to Piriform's web site, you will then be given a URL to copy and paste in your next post so we can access the data.