Film-Tech Cinema Systems
Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE


  
my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home
  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » Film-Yak   » DOS Commands \ or System Info

   
Author Topic: DOS Commands \ or System Info
Barry Floyd
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1079
From: Lebanon, Tennessee, USA
Registered: Mar 2000


 - posted 02-13-2002 11:07 AM      Profile for Barry Floyd   Author's Homepage   Email Barry Floyd   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
What's the easiest way to find out what type of hardware you have in a computer??

There used to be DOS command that showed you all of the hardware stats on your machine, but I can't rember what it is, or if it will work with a newer machine (win95/98/2k).

I'm looking for information like, type of HD, type of ram, video cards, processors, etc. The System Properties in control panel doesn't have all of the info I need.

------------------
Barry Floyd
Floyd Entertainment Group
Nashville, Tennessee
(Drive-In Theatre - Start-Up)

 |  IP: Logged

Mark Lensenmayer
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1605
From: Upper Arlington, OH
Registered: Sep 1999


 - posted 02-13-2002 11:21 AM      Profile for Mark Lensenmayer   Email Mark Lensenmayer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I don't recall any DOS commands, but this is an excellent utility.

Computer Profiler by Karen Kenworthy

It is freeware, and should tell you just about everything you will ever need to know about your machine. Her programs are very well written and are reliable.

Link is http://www.karenware.com/powertools/powertools.asp

You will need a Visual Basic runtime program that is available on the download page.

 |  IP: Logged

Jerry Chase
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1068
From: Margate, FL, USA
Registered: Nov 2000


 - posted 02-13-2002 11:50 AM      Profile for Jerry Chase   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The command in DOS is MSD.

The information you want should be in your bios setup. Look at the screen when you machine first starts-up to see how to access it.

 |  IP: Logged

Ron Lacheur
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 650
From: British Columbia, Canada
Registered: Feb 2002


 - posted 02-13-2002 01:29 PM      Profile for Ron Lacheur   Email Ron Lacheur   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
MSD hasn't been included in Windows ( or DOS ) for a long time. The last I saw of it was on the Original OEM release of Windows 95.

 |  IP: Logged

Wes Hughes
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 175
From: Raleigh, NC, USA
Registered: Aug 2001


 - posted 02-13-2002 03:05 PM      Profile for Wes Hughes   Email Wes Hughes   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
There is a free utility on the website www.crucial.com called Belarc Advisor. It tells you about your mainboard, bios, ram, all peripherals, all installed software with registration numbers.

 |  IP: Logged

Dave Macaulay
Film God

Posts: 2321
From: Toronto, Canada
Registered: Apr 2001


 - posted 02-13-2002 03:39 PM      Profile for Dave Macaulay   Email Dave Macaulay   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
When you power up the system, the first thing on screen (the monitor must be awake) should be some info on your video card. Aftermarket ones almost all identify themselves on powerup.
You should see the BIOS boot info next. You might get a list of the processor type and speed. You should get a list of the hard drive info as well. Modern drives should adtually say the brand and model - but if that's not in System Information the BIOS is probably not getting it. Remember the HDD size is a bit iffy because the BIOS will use 1024 as 1K while HDD makers use 1000, so a "20GB" disk will have a somewhat smaller number for its size.
"Name Brand" systems generally hide all this stuff, so you have to do a little bit more digging.
Intel has a processor identifier utility at http://support.intel.com/support/processors/tools/frequencyid/
and there is a utility called Sisoft Sandra at http://www.sisoftware.demon.co.uk/sandra/
that lists a lot of info about the system as well as being able to benchmark it. Sandra should definitely indicate processor type, memory installed, and video type. I think it will show drive size, and I'm pretty sure it shows the HDD interface specs too.

 |  IP: Logged

Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001


 - posted 02-13-2002 06:52 PM      Profile for Bobby Henderson   Email Bobby Henderson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Start button> Settings> Control Panel> System Icon

 |  IP: Logged

Brian Hogan
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 119
From: Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Registered: Jul 2001


 - posted 02-13-2002 08:08 PM      Profile for Brian Hogan   Email Brian Hogan   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
http://www.startdisk.com/Web2/ubd/ubd.htm

get the ultimate boot disk from the above site. has some keen diagnostic and benchmark tests you can run in dos from a floppy to get bios info, video info, processor speed and much, much more!

 |  IP: Logged

Barry Floyd
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1079
From: Lebanon, Tennessee, USA
Registered: Mar 2000


 - posted 02-14-2002 09:00 AM      Profile for Barry Floyd   Author's Homepage   Email Barry Floyd   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thanks guys,

MSD didn't work for this machine, but the "Belarc Advisor" program gave us everything we needed.

------------------
Barry Floyd
Floyd Entertainment Group
Nashville, Tennessee
(Drive-In Theatre - Start-Up)

 |  IP: Logged



All times are Central (GMT -6:00)  
   Close Topic    Move Topic    Delete Topic    next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:



Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM 6.3.1.2

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.

© 1999-2020 Film-Tech Cinema Systems, LLC. All rights reserved.