Msinfo32

Updated: April 17, 2012

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2

Opens the System Information tool to display a comprehensive view of the hardware, system components, and software environment on the local computer. For examples of how this command can be used, see Examples.

Syntax

msinfo32 [/pch] [/nfo <path>] [/report <path>] [/computer <ComputerName>] [/showcategories] [/category <CategoryID>] [/categories {+<CategoryID>(+<CategoryID>)|+all(-<CategoryID>)}]

Parameters

Parameter Description

<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 name, and XXX is the file name extension.

This file can be an .nfo, .xml, .txt, or .cab file.

<ComputerName>

Specifies the name of the target or local computer. This can be a UNC name, an IP address, or a full computer name.

<CategoryID>

Specifies the ID of the category item. You can obtain the category ID by using /showcategories.

/pch

Displays the System History view in the System Information tool.

/nfo

Saves the exported file as an .nfo file. If the file name that is specified in Path does not end in an .nfo extension, the .nfo extension is automatically appended to the file name.

/report

Saves the file in Path as a text file. The file name is saved exactly as it appears in Path. The .txt extension is not appended to the file unless it is specified in Path.

/computer

Starts the System Information tool for the specified remote computer. You must have the appropriate permissions to access the remote computer.

/showcategories

Starts the System Information tool with all available category IDs displayed, rather than displaying the friendly or localized names. For example, the Software Environment category is displayed as the SWEnv category.

/category

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

/categories

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 Help at the command prompt.

Remarks

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 System Information.

Examples

To list the available category IDs, type:

msinfo32 /showcategories

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

msinfo32 /categories +all -loadedmodules

To display only System Summary information and create an .nfo file called syssum.nfo that contains information in the System Summary category, type:

msinfo32 /nfo syssum.nfo /categories +systemsummary

To display resource conflict information and create an .nfo file called conflicts.nfo that contains information about resource conflicts, type:

msinfo32 /nfo conflicts.nfo /categories    +componentsproblemdevices+resourcesconflicts+resourcesforcedhardware

Additional references