Microsoft KB Archive/253534

= Gathering System Information Without GUI Interaction =

Article ID: 253534

Article Last Modified on 11/1/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q253534



SUMMARY
This article describes how to gather system information without Graphical User Interface (GUI) interaction, so that Microsoft Support Professionals can troubleshoot configuration problems on a computer that is running Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000.



MORE INFORMATION
The basic tool that is used to gather system information in Windows NT 4.0 is Winmsd.exe. This utility does not exist in Windows 2000; the Msinfo32.exe tool has replaced it. It is located in the :\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MSInfo folder. There is no path to this folder by default, so you must start Msinfo32.exe by using the full path. For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

229798 Msinfo32.exe Starts When You Try to Start Winmsd

In addition to a more detailed graphical view of a local or remote computer's configuration, Msinfo32.exe supports additional command-line switches to generate text-based system information files about the software and hardware configuration from a local or remote computer. This is also true for Windows NT 4.0-based computers, with minor restrictions.

If you cannot use Winmsd.exe locally or do not have an appropriate tool to gather system information on a Windows NT 4.0-based computer, a remote output from Msinfo32.exe might be sufficient.

If a remote Console service is installed on the Windows NT 4.0-based computer, you can use the following command to create a text-based system information file:

winmsd.exe /report path:\report.log

Msinfo32.exe supports the following command-line switches to generate a local or remote system information file:

Note that the generation of the text file can take some time, depending on the complexity of the system.

Additional query words: winmsd reomte system configuration msinfo32

Keywords: kbenv kbfaq kbinfo KB253534

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