Finding Information About Your PC

Last Modified: 1/11/1999

Finding Information About Your PC You can find out lots of information about your computer and the names, dates, and versions of specific applications on it. This can be very useful if you run low on disk space, or need to replace a part and hence need to know details about the part you already have, or need to know if you have the latest version of some piece of software. Examples include: Finding your disk usage: in MY COMPUTER, click with the right mouse on the "C:" drive and select PROPERTIES Click with the right mouse on any file or folder and select PROPERTIES to get information about it. Often you will see an "MS-DOS" name: that is the name that appears in DOS operations and sometimes appears in other applications -- it differs from the Windows name because DOS names are limited to 8 characters. Sometimes, as with Internet Explorer, clicking here opens up the options which configure the application. If you click with the right mouse on any folder, and select EXPLORE, you open up a window with a vertical split which contains sub-folders on the left side, and details of a particlar folder on the right side. Left side folders marked with a "+" will expand if you click on them -- if you are at a terminal folder its contents appear on the right side. There are several sub-options here: Click on an executable or text file on the right side of the window and then click on FILE > QUICK VIEW to get details of that file. Click on TOOLS > FIND to search for files/folders in the currently highlighted folder Click on START > SETTINGS > CONTROL PANEL > Display > Settings > Advanced Properties to get information about your monitor. You can follow a similar route for other elements in the CONTROL PANEL, such as the keyboard, mouse, multimedia, and printer. Fully detailed information about your computer (which you might need to give to a techician over the phone to diagose problems) is available from START > PROGRAMS > ACCESSORIES > SYSTEM TOOLS > SYSTEM INFORMATION				Class Topics Bits and Bytes PC Hardware Using Help Files, Folders, and Directories Windows File Manipulation Customizing Your PC Handling Errors and Aborts Specific Applications: NotePad and WORD Finding Information About Your PC Connection to the Internet