JSI Tip 2597. Windows 2000 command line switches for Msinfo32.exe.

Microsoft System Information (Msinfo32.exe) is an updated version of Microsoft Windows NT Diagnostics (Winmsd.exe). When you start Winmsd.exe, it starts Program FilesCommon FilesMicrosoft SharedMSInfoMsinfo32.exe.

Msinfo32.exe displays information about your Hardware Resources, Components, and software Environment:

Hardware Resources shows DMA, IRQs, I/O addresses, and memory addresses. The Conflicts/Sharing node identifies devices that are sharing resources or that are in conflict.

Components displays information and status about your Windows configuration.

Software Environment is a snapshot of the software currently in memory.

NOTE: Other programs may add nodes in Msinfo32.exe.

If you start Msinfo32.exe from the command line, you can control the process. The syntax is:

The Catagorynames are:

Category Heading                 categoryname 

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

System Summary                   SystemSummary 

Hardware Resources               Resources 

Components                       Components 

Software Environment             SWEnv   

The following items are add-ons and may not be present:   

Category Heading                 categoryname 

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

Internet Explorer 5              InternetExplorer 

Applications                     Apps   

Hardware Resources Subcategories:  

Category Heading                 categoryname 

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

Conflict/Sharing                 ResourcesConflicts 

DMA                              ResourcesDMA 

Forced Hardware                  ResourcesForcedHardware 

I/O                              ResourcesIO 

IRQs                             ResourcesIRQS 

Memory                           ResourcesMemory    

Components  Subcategories:  

Subcategory Heading              Subcategoryame  

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

Multimedia                       ComponentsMultimedia 

Display                          ComponentsDisplay 

Infrared                         ComponentsInfrared 

Input                            ComponentsInput 

Modem                            ComponentsModem 

Network                          ComponentsNetwork 

Ports                            ComponentsPorts 

Storage                          ComponentsStorage 

Printing                         ComponentsPrinting 

Problem Devices                  ComponentsProblemDevices 

USB                              ComponentsUSB   

Software Environment  Subcategories:  

Subcategory Heading              Subcategoryame  

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

Drivers                          SWEnvDrivers 

Environment Variables            SWEnvEnvVars 

Jobs                             SWEnvJobs 

Network Connections              SWEnvNetConn 

Running Tasks                    SWEnvRunningTasks 

Loaded Modules                   SWEnvLoadedModules 

Services                         SWEnvServices 

Program Groups                   SWEnvProgramGroup 

Startup Programs                 SWEnvStartupPrograms 

OLE Registration                 SWEnvOLEReg 

The following example outputs each high-level category into a separate .nfo file, which can be read by Msinfo32.exe.:

start /wait msinfo32.exe /nfo syssum.nfo /categories +SystemSummary start /wait msinfo32.exe /nfo cmpnt.nfo /categories +components start /wait msinfo32.exe /nfo swenv.nfo /categories +swenv start /wait msinfo32.exe /nfo hwdres.nfo /categories +resources start /wait msinfo32.exe /nfo ie.nfo /categories +internetexplorer start /wait msinfo32.exe /nfo apps.nfo /categories +Apps

The following example outputs basic system summary information and conflicts into an .nfo file, which can be read by Msinfo32.exe.:

start /wait msinfo32.exe /nfo conflicts.nfo /categories +systemsummary+componentsproblemdevices+resourcesconflicts+resourcesforcedhardware

The above Conflicts.nfo file contains the following top-level categories:

System Summary Hardware Resources Components

Under Hardware Resources, the Conflict/Sharing and Forced Hardware subcategories are present. Under Components, the Problem Devices subcategory is present.

The following example outputs the Software Environment information, but does not include the Program Groups and Startup Programs subcategories:

start /wait msinfo32.exe /nfo swenv.nfo /categories +swenv-swenvprogramgroup-swenvstartupprograms

NOTE: Start /wait is required. Without it, the MSinfo32.exe will overload your CPU.