Microsoft KB Archive/300887

= How to Use System Information (MSINFO32) Switches =

Article ID: 300887

Article Last Modified on 1/15/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
 * Microsoft Windows XP Professional

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This article was previously published under Q300887



SUMMARY
MSINFO32 displays a comprehensive view of your hardware, system components, and software environment. This article provides an overview of the available switches that can be used with the MSINFO32 command.

Using these switches, MSINFO32 can be used to:
 * Use System Information from a batch file
 * Create .nfo or .txt files that contain information from specified categories.
 * Open System Information and display only specific categories.
 * Save a file silently (without opening System Information).
 * Start System Information connected to a remote computer.
 * Create a shortcut that opens System Information in a commonly used configuration.



MORE INFORMATION
Syntax: msinfo32 [/?] [/pch] [/nfo Path] [/report Path] [/computer ComputerName] [/showcategories] [/category categoryID] [/categories categoryID] Parameters

Path

Specifies the file to be opened in the format C:\folder1\file1.xxx where C is the drive letter, folder1 is the folder, file1 is the file and xxx is the file's extension.

ComputerName

This can be a Universal Naming Convention name, an IP address, or a Fully Qualified Domain Name.

categoryID

This parameter is obtained by using the /showcategories switch.

/pch

Displays the history view.

/nfo {Path}

Saves the exported file as an .nfo file. If the file name specified in Path does not end in .nfo a .nfo extension will be appended to the filename.

/report {Path}

Saves the file specified in Path in txt format. The file name will be saved exactly as it appears in path. The .txt extension will not be appended to the file unless specified in Path

/computer {ComputerName}

Starts System Information for the specified remote computer.

NOTE: When connecting to a remote computer, you must have appropriate permissions to access WMI on the remote computer.

/showcategories

Starts System Information with the category IDs displayed instead of the friendly names or the localized names. For example, when you use this switch, the Software Environment category is displayed as the SWEnv category. SWEnv is a valid categoryID argument for the /category switch and the /categories switch.

/category {categoryID}

Starts System Information with the specified category selected. Use /showcategories to display a list of available category IDs.

/categories {+categoryID(+categoryID)|+all(-categoryID)}

Starts System Information with only the specified category or categories displayed. It also limits the output to the selected category or categories. Use /showcategories to display a list of available category IDs.

/? Displays a brief summary of MSInfo32 command line options.

NOTE: Some System Information categories contain large amounts of data. You can use the start /wait command to optimize reporting performance for these categories. For more information, see Related Topics.

Examples

To open System Information in History view, type:

msinfo32 /pch

To create an .nfo file in the folder C:\TEMP with a name of TEST.NFO, type:

msinfo32 /nfo C:\TEMP\TEST.NFO

To create a .TXT file in the folder C:\TEMP with a name of TEST.TXT, type:

msinfo32 /report C:\TEMP\TEST.NFO

To view System Information from a remote computer with a UNC name of BIGSERVER, type:

msinfo32 /computer BIGSERVER

To list the available category IDs, type:

msinfo32 /showcategories

To start System Information with all available information displayed, except Loaded Modules, type:

msinfo32 /categories +all -loadedmodules

To create an .nfo file called SYSSUM.NFO in the C:\TEMP folder that contains information in the System Summary category, type:

msinfo32 /nfo C:\TEMP\SYSSUM.NFO /categories +systemsummary

To create a .NFO file called CONFLICTS.NFO in the C:\TEMP folder that contains information about resource conflicts, type:

msinfo32 /nfo C:\TEMP\CONFLICTS.NFO /categories +componentsproblemdevices+resourcesconflicts+resourcesforcedhardware

Formatting legend

Keywords: kbhowto KB300887

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