How can I run the Windows System Assessment Tool (WinSAT) update directly from a command line?

A. You can run WinSAT from the command line and tell it to run the full suite of tests to generate scores or test just individual elements, for example "winsat formal" runs all the tests for performance testing and then updates the scores of the system by writing the data to the %systemroot%WindowsPerformanceWinSATDataStore. To view the features of the system, use the "winsat features" command, as the following example and resulting output show:

  
  C:Windowssystem32>winsat features  

Windows System Assessment Tool
> DWM running... leaving it on
> System processor power policy saved and set to 'max performance'
> Running: Feature Enumeration v1.0.0.0 '
> Gathering System Information
> Run Time 00:00:00.70
> Operating System : 6.0 Build-6000
> Processor : Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2500
@ 2.00GHz
> TSC Frequency : 1995000000
> Number of Processors : 1
> Number of Cores : 2
> Number of CPUs : 2
> Number of Cores per Processor : 2
> Number of CPUs Per Core : 1
> Cores have logical CPUs : NO
> L1 Cache and line Size : 32768 64
> L2 Cache and line Size : 2097152 64
> Total physical mem available to the OS : 1.98 GB (2,136,543,232 bytes)
> Adapter Description : Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Controller 0 (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM)
> Adapter Manufacturer : Intel Corporation
> Adapter Driver Version : 7.14.10.1103
> Adapter Driver Date (yy/mm/dd) : 2006821
> Has DX9 or better : Yes
> Has Pixel shader 2.0 or better : Yes
> Has LDDM Driver : Yes
> Dedicated (local) video memory : 0.00MB
> System memory dedicated as video memory : 64.00MB
> System memory shared as video memory : 192.00MB
> Primary Monitor Size : 1440 X 900 (1296000 total pixels)
> WinSAT is Official : Yes
> Total Run Time 00:00:02.03
> The System processor power policy was restored

You can also run individual tests for the following elements:
- cpu - runs the cpu assessment

- mem - runs the system memory assessment

- dwm - runs the desktop window manager assessment

- d3d - runs the d3d assessment

- media - runs the media assessment

- mfmedia - runs the Media Foundation-based assessment

- disk - runs the storage assessment

Each test might then have other parameters. For example, to test the CPU, you can run an encryption or compression test. The following command runs a CPU compression test:

  
  C:Windowssystem32>winsat cpu -compression  

Which produces this output:
Windows System Assessment Tool

> Running: Feature Enumeration v1.0.0.0 '
> Run Time 00:00:00.56

> Running: CPU Assessment v1.0.0.0 '-compression'

> Run Time 00:00:10.45

> CPU LZW Compression 87.98 MB/s

> Total Run Time 00:00:12.47

Additional switches you can use with the winsat command include the verbose switch (-v) and the XML output file (-xml ).