How to check your PC's specs, temperatures and drive health

By the end of this check-up you'll know what's inside your PC, how hot it runs, whether its drives and memory are healthy, what's filling the disk and what slows start-up. You need an administrator account and, for the temperature check, a game or another demanding program. Allow about an hour. Every tool is free. Steps are for Windows 11; Windows 10 has the same tools, sometimes elsewhere.

Your specs in two minutes

Settings and System Information

1. Open Start → Settings → System → About. You'll see your processor, memory (RAM) and system type; an up-to-date Windows 11 also shows the graphics card and storage.
2. For more detail, press Windows key + R, type msinfo32 and press Enter. System Information opens on System Summary; give it a few seconds to fill in.
3. Read Processor, Installed Physical Memory (RAM), BaseBoard Manufacturer and BaseBoard Product (your motherboard) and BIOS Version/Date.
4. For the graphics card, click Components → Display in the left pane.

CPU-Z for the details

Install CPU-Z from our app page and open it. The tabs worth reading:

• CPU: the processor's Name, Code Name, Cores and Threads. Core Speed changes live.
• Mainboard: the motherboard's maker, model and BIOS version.
• Memory: Type and Size. DRAM Frequency is half the speed on the box, because DDR memory moves data twice per clock: 3000 MHz means DDR5-6000.
• SPD: each memory stick's size, maker and part number, slot by slot. Handy before buying more RAM.

Speccy for a one-page summary

Speccy puts your hardware and its temperatures on one page. It comes from Gen Digital, the company behind CCleaner, so expect prompts to upgrade to the paid edition, which you don't need; untick anything extra the installer offers. The Summary-only start option in HWiNFO gives a similar overview.

Temperatures with HWiNFO

Open the sensors window

1. Install HWiNFO from our app page and open it. Click Yes if Windows asks for permission.
2. Tick Sensors-only and click Start. A tall window of readings opens, grouped by component. If a warning about one sensor pops up, choose not to monitor that sensor.
3. Maximise the window. The columns Current, Minimum, Maximum and Average count from the moment HWiNFO started.

The rows to watch

• Processor: CPU Package on Intel, CPU (Tctl/Tdie) on AMD.
• Graphics card: GPU Temperature. GPU Hot Spot Temperature and GPU Memory Junction Temperature, where shown, always read higher; that's normal.
• Throttling: rows with Thermal Throttling in the name should read No. Yes means the chip slowed itself down to cool off.

Measure idle, then load

1. Close other programs and leave the PC alone for five minutes. Note the Current values: your idle temperatures.
2. Play a demanding game for 20–30 minutes. No games? Do whatever makes your fans loud, such as a video export.
3. Quit and read the Maximum column: your peak under real use, no stress-test software needed.
4. Write both sets down: they're your baseline for next time.

When to worry

Typical maximums set by the makers:

Your exact model's limit is on the maker's specification page (Intel: Max Operating Temperature; AMD: Max. Operating Temperature (Tjmax); NVIDIA: Maximum GPU Temperature).

Brief peaks near the limit under heavy load can be normal: AMD says its Ryzen 7000 chips are engineered to run at 95 °C, and Intel says being at maximum temperature under load "isn't necessarily cause for concern". Idle readings should sit far below the limits; laptops run closer to them than desktops.

Worry, and start with the dust section below, if:

• a reading sits at its limit for most of a gaming session;
• a Thermal Throttling row shows Yes in the Maximum column after ordinary use;
• the PC slows badly after a few minutes of play, or switches itself off;
• idle temperatures are much higher than they used to be, or the fans roar at idle.

In-game numbers with MSI Afterburner

MSI Afterburner shows temperatures and frame rate on top of any game, whatever your graphics card's brand. It installs a companion, RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS): MSI Afterburner collects the readings and RTSS draws them over the game.

1. Run the installer from our MSI Afterburner page. When it offers RivaTuner Statistics Server, keep it selected and let its setup finish too.
2. Open MSI Afterburner and click the cog icon. The settings window opens.
3. Click the Monitoring tab. You should see a list of graphs.
4. Click GPU temperature in the list, then tick Show in On-Screen Display below it. If the box is greyed out, click the tick mark to the left of the entry first.
5. Repeat for GPU usage, CPU temperature and Framerate.
6. Click the On-Screen Display tab, click in the Toggle On-Screen Display box and press a key you never use in games.
7. Click OK and start a game. The numbers appear in a corner of the screen; your key hides and shows them.

Nothing on screen? RTSS must be running (its icon sits by the clock); if it isn't, start RivaTuner Statistics Server from the Start menu. The toggle key doesn't work while the settings window is open.

Drive health with CrystalDiskInfo

CrystalDiskInfo reads S.M.A.R.T., the health data that hard drives and SSDs keep about themselves.

Open it

1. On our CrystalDiskInfo page, get the Standard Edition as a ZIP: nothing to install, no offers. (Using the installer? Decline its E START offer; the app page shows the box.)
2. Right-click the downloaded file, choose Extract All…, then click Extract. The extracted folder opens.
3. Run DiskInfo64.exe and click Yes if Windows asks for permission.
4. Each drive appears as a button along the top, with its status and temperature. Click each one in turn.

USB-connected drives may be missing or show Unknown: many USB adapters hide health data.

Read the status

On SSDs, the percentage next to the status is the drive's own estimate of life left; many SSDs show Caution at 10% or less. Good isn't a guarantee, so keep backups anyway.

The attributes that matter

On hard drives and SATA SSDs, check the Raw Values column of the table for these rows:

• 05 Reallocated Sectors Count: damaged areas the drive has swapped for spares.
• C5 Current Pending Sector Count: areas that couldn't be read and are waiting to be checked.
• C6 Uncorrectable Sector Count: areas the drive couldn't recover.

All three should be zero. A small number that stays put isn't an emergency; a number that keeps growing is. On NVMe SSDs, look at Percentage Used (how much of its rated life the drive has used), Available Spare (should stay high) and Media and Data Integrity Errors (should be zero).

Raw values are shown in hexadecimal, so 00000000000A means 10. For ordinary numbers, choose Function → Advanced Feature → Raw Values and pick the decimal (DEC) option.

If it says Caution or Bad

1. Back up today: copy your important files to a different drive or to cloud storage. Another folder or partition on the same drive isn't a backup.
2. Until then, don't run repair tools, format or defragment the drive; they strain it further.
3. Save the details: tick Function → Hide Serial Number, then choose Edit → Copy and paste into Notepad. Post it in the forum for a second opinion.
4. Check the warranty and plan a replacement: for Caution, look again weekly and replace the drive once the numbers grow; for Bad, replace it now.

Free up disk space

See what's big with WinDirStat

1. Install WinDirStat from our app page and open it. The Select Drives window appears.
2. Choose Individual Drives, select C: and click OK. Wait for the scan to finish.
3. Look at the coloured map: each rectangle is a file, sized by the space it takes. Click a big one and the All Files list jumps to it.
4. Open the Largest Files tab for a ranked list.
5. To remove something you recognise, right-click it and choose Delete (to Recycle Bin). Changed your mind? Restore it from the Recycle Bin.

Uninstall programs from Settings → Apps → Installed apps, not by deleting their folders.

Turn on Storage Sense

1. Open Start → Settings → System → Storage.
2. Under Storage management, click the words Storage Sense (not the switch). Its own page opens.
3. Turn on Automatic User content cleanup.
4. Under Configure cleanup schedules, leave Run Storage Sense at During low free disk space, or pick a regular schedule.
5. Make sure Delete files in my Downloads folder if they haven't been opened for more than says Never, unless you want old downloads deleted automatically.
6. Click Run Storage Sense now to clean up straight away.

Speed up a slow start-up

Many programs start themselves with Windows, slowing sign-in.

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Click Startup apps in the left-hand menu (on Windows 10, the Startup tab).
3. Click the Startup impact column heading to sort the list. High items slow sign-in the most.
4. Select an app you don't need the moment you sign in and click Disable at the top. Its status changes to Disabled.

This uninstalls nothing: the app still opens when you start it yourself. To undo, select it and click Enable. Start → Settings → Apps → Startup has the same list as on/off switches.

Usually safe to disable: Discord, Steam, Epic Games Launcher, Spotify and Microsoft Teams, plus helpers for printers, phones or apps you rarely use.

Leave on: your antivirus (and the Windows Security notification icon entry), your PC maker's audio, touchpad and keyboard utilities (they often run the function keys), and OneDrive if it backs up your files. Look up any name you don't recognise first.

Test your memory

Faulty memory (RAM) causes random crashes, freezes and corrupted files. Windows has a built-in test.

1. Save your work and close all programs; the PC will restart.
2. Press Windows key + R, type mdsched.exe and press Enter. Click Yes if Windows asks for permission.
3. Click Restart now and check for problems (recommended). The PC restarts into a test screen that shows its progress.
4. Optional: press F1, choose Extended under Test Mix for a more thorough (much slower) test, then press F10. The default is two passes of Standard.
5. Wait; with lots of memory it can take over an hour. Windows restarts by itself when it's done.
6. A notification may show the result after you sign in. If not, right-click Start and choose Event Viewer.
7. In the left pane, open Windows Logs and click System.
8. In the right pane, click Find…, type MemoryDiagnostics-Results and click Find Next.
9. Double-click the highlighted entry. It says whether errors were detected. Nothing found? The test didn't finish; run it again.

Errors mean the memory, or a memory overclock setting (XMP or EXPO) in the BIOS, is at fault: contact the PC's maker or a repair shop. A clean result is reassuring, but not a guarantee.

Dust and heat

Dust clogs fans and vents, making the PC hotter and louder. Check it every few months.

Desktop

1. Shut down, switch off at the wall and unplug the power cable.
2. Move the PC somewhere well ventilated, ideally outside, and remove the side panel (your case manual shows how).
3. Hold each fan still with a finger so it doesn't spin, then blow it clean with short bursts of compressed air.
4. Blow through the processor cooler's fins, the graphics card's fans and the vents. Keep the can upright so it doesn't spray liquid.
5. Take out the dust filters (usually at the front and bottom), rinse or wipe them, and let them dry before refitting.

Laptop

1. Shut down fully (not sleep) and unplug the charger.
2. Blow short bursts of compressed air into the vents, usually on the sides, back or underneath.
3. Don't open the case unless the manual says you can; on some models it voids the warranty.

Use a laptop on a hard, flat surface; beds and cushions block its air intakes.

When to take it to a repair shop

• Temperatures are still high after cleaning.
• A fan grinds, rattles or won't spin.
• A laptop needs opening to clean, or an older PC may need fresh thermal paste.
• A swelling battery (bulging case, lifting touchpad): stop using it and get it seen promptly.
• You smell burning, or the PC keeps switching itself off.

If the PC is under warranty, contact its maker first.

What not to install

Skip "PC optimiser", "booster" and registry-cleaner apps. Windows already clears temporary files (Storage Sense, above) and optimises its drives on a schedule, and Microsoft does not support registry cleaners: they can cause problems serious enough to need a reinstall. Many show alarming scan results to sell you a paid version.

• Driver updaters: use Windows Update plus the hardware makers' own tools, such as NVIDIA App, AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition or Intel Driver & Support Assistant, and your laptop maker's support page.
• CCleaner: its basic junk clean is harmless but repeats Storage Sense, and its paid extras, such as the Performance Optimizer and Driver Updater, aren't needed.
• Already installed one? Remove it in Settings → Apps → Installed apps, then run Malwarebytes AdwCleaner to sweep up leftovers.