What is a good, free way to dump system hardware information to a txt/xml file in Windows 7?
Run the "System Information" tool, then go to File> Save.
It can be found under Accessories > System Tools > System Information in your start menu.
The msinfo32 application is the leanest and most powerful Windows application to get all the information you need and to export (and import) the data.
You have two options to save the system information:
- As a plain text file : Go to File > Export. or
- As a binary "nfo" file, which is a native format to the msinfo32 application. : Go to File > Save
This file contains information on just about everything:
- System Summary
- Hardware Resources
- Conflicts/Sharing, DMA, Hardware, I/O, IRQ's, Storage, Driver Info and Capabilities, etc.
- Environmental Variables
- Print Jobs, Network Connections, Running Tasks, Loaded Modules
- Windows Error Reporting, also called Event Log. (Th is could contain quite a bit of information)
If you want a more automatic approach, you could create a batch file and use command line parameters to this application. You'll find all the parameters on Microsoft's website (https://support.microsoft.com/kb/300887?wa=wsignin1.0)
To open this application:
- Open the Run window (Win+R)
- Type in msinfo32