Once you launch PC Wizard you’ll notice it takes some time to detect all the hardware installed on your PC. Use the left side of the interface to navigate through the different categories. PC Wizard reveals all the basic details of your hardware, like ports, drivers and processors, but you’ll soon realize there’s much more to it, like analyzing system files or investigating the configuration of elements such as your Internet connection or your Control Panel. Over-sized icons make it fairly obvious what you can inspect, however we would have appreciated an explorer type window in PC Wizard to navigate through components and select exactly what to analyze.

The core of any self-respecting system analyzer is the benchmarking tool and that is where PC Wizard excels. PC Wizard lets you inspect everything from processors to cache, RAM and multimedia like DirectX, MP3 compression and video. Benchmarks in PC Wizard provide the results as a list of information or via comprehensible graphs. These will show you straight away where you’re PC stands and the “compare with” button will let you measure your processor up against well known models. We have to warn beginners though that the information is fairly technical and will be more relevant to experienced users. Just for fun, test out PC Wizard's video benchmark to obtain a swarm of multi-coloured balls and lines all over your screen.

That’s the only bit of excitement you’ll get with PC Wizard though. PC Wizard is not here for fun it's here to be effective. The detailed information and thorough benchmarking tests give you reliable data on all the characteristics and components of your PC. The complexity of this type of application means beginners are best kept away from it altogether, however advanced users will revel in the wealth of knowledge it will uncover on their PC’s performances.

Download PC Wizard 2010 1.96 in Softonic

Download Everest Ultimate Edition 5.50 in Softonic

At some time or another, you'll need to know about your computer, whether it's to put an upgrade in context, check program compatibility or to test system requirements. That's where SIW comes in, giving you an overview of everything from what operating system you have to your installed codecs and motherboard specs to network information.

For a free app, SIW is pretty impressive. Visually, it's attractive, while the information is presents is laid out in a coherent, easy-to-read manner that's also really easy to export to documents so you can visualize the information better. SIW doesn't just look good, however. It's also packed full of excellent features that will tell you everything you've ever wanted to know about your computer's hardware and software - and then some.

Once SIW has given you the information you need, you might want to do something with it. The app has full report-creation features and a nice selection of tools, like a broadband speed test, memory use manager and direct access to Microsoft's built-in features. In fact, it's the perfect program just to have on hand, because even if you don't need it now, there's a really good chance you will in the future.

For a free system information tool, SIW is a force to be reckoned with.

Download SIW 2011 Build 0707 in Softonic

Most good PCs and laptops have a fan which automatically controls overheating and regulates temperature but this is not always 100% reliable, especially when you've got lots of external devices connected. The good thing about HWMonitor is that it gives you an instant overview of your PC's vital power and heat stats while at the same time, remaining very light and not adding to the problem. In fact, it doesn't require any installation at all and can be run simply from the .EXE file. HWMonitor does not copy any files into the directory or edit the registry in any way. HWMonitor probably shows you far more stats that it needs to in reality - I mean, who really needs to know the temperature of their graphics card? It would have been useful if HWMonitor had included some kind of basic and advanced view to prevent you getting overwhelmed with data but at least the info is there if you really need it.

If you're worried that you're fan is not doing it's job properly or your PC is getting disconcertingly hot, then HWMonitor is the ultimate monitoring tool.

Download HWMonitor 1.17 in Softonic

Download Everest Portable Ultimate Edition 5.50 in Softonic

With Soluto you can improve the computer’s start-up time by removing unnecessary applications from the system’s boot-up sequence. But don’t let these technological terms scare you away: Soluto is, in fact, the easiest, simplest start-up analyzer we’ve ever seen.

After installing it, all you need to do to use Soluto is restart your system. The program calculates the time your system takes to boot up completely, and shows you a colorful, animated report divided into three main areas: required components that can’t be removed (in gray), potentially removable components (in orange) and programs you can easily get rid of (in green).

Soluto then gives you two options: either delay the program – that is, running it after boot – or pause the program completely – in other words, running it manually when you need it, not on system start-up. All the graphics, windows and menus in Soluto are nicely animated and feature a clear, minimalist design.

The program also displays as much information about each process as possible, as long as it’s available – though this is not always the case. The only drawback to Soluto, if any, is the lack of any kind of documentation.

Soluto is an excellent system start-up monitor and optimizer that can help you improve the computer’s boot-up time.

Download Soluto Beta 1.2.506.0 in Softonic

Although it might not be the most exciting way to spend half an hour, the moment will probably come when you need detailed information on your computer. Instead of wasting time rooting around in drawers and boxes for manuals and specifications, download Belarc Advisor and let it do it for you.

Belarc Advisor is a fairly simple program, at least in the way it works. When you open it, the tool scans your computer for all the information it needs. It does this relatively quickly, and informs you of its progress as it goes. Once it has everything, Belarc Advisor displays its results in your default web browser.

This is when Belarc Advisor starts to get a little complicated. One of the things the latest version of Belarc Advisor hasn't managed to do is to simplify or re-organize the results. Although the information is top class, very complete and well-explained, there is an awful lot of it, and new users might be overwhelmed. Don't get too downcast, however, because careful examination reveals a fairly logical presentation.

Although Belarc Advisor’s information covers everything imaginable, from network mapping and software versions to license keys and user accounts, almost all options have further rollover information, there is a guide to the symbols used in the report, and in some areas, such as system benchmarking, you can click though to new pages displaying both your results and explaining the tests.

Belarc Advisor will give you all the system information you ever wanted - and then some!

Download Belarc Advisor 8.2.7.10 g in Softonic

Sandra is a program that contains modules designed to carry out a number of functions on your PC such as benchmarking, analyzing and listing the hardware or software components. The interface is simple with clear groups and well-labeled tests for you to perform. Depending on what you want to check, the details will either be shown immediately or you're forced to wait some time for the spec to be analyzed. We would have preferred some warning when there was a wait involved instead of suddenly seeing a dialog saying not to move the mouse or press any keys for one to ten minutes! Putting this to the test, it seems not to be a threat but a promise, because the program accordingly froze when we went against this “advice”.

Where Sandra could come in very useful is with its benchmarks, if you want to tweak the performance and need to judge just how each variable affects the overall efficiency. Unfortunately much of the data that you get appears in quite cryptic terms and unless you’re willing to read up on what each specification means (the help file is a good source for definitions and tips) then you could well be left scratching your head more than once. On the other hand, if you know exactly what every entry means and would like to make any edits, then you may be frustrated by the fact that nothing displayed can be changed, so you’ll have to get stuck in to the registry and get your hands dirty.

On one occasion we noticed that when Sandra tried to run an IP test, after failing once, it retried again and again and became stuck in an endless loop that must be stopped by the user. On the whole, this little glitch doesn’t take away from the usefulness of Sandra and it remains the best system analysis tool we’ve seen to date. Thanks to its comprehensive checks and useful advice, this is a recommended download for just about everyone.

Download Sisoft Sandra Lite 2011 17.64 in Softonic

With Speccy you can now obtain highly detailed statistics about your computer that cover not only the basics like processor and RAM memory, but also hard drive, graphics card, motherboard, optical drives, operating system and more. You can see the information on the program's nicely designed interface and also save a snapshot of it for later reference.

You may think this information is only valid for computer geeks, network administrators and other kinds of tech-savvy users, but in fact it can be useful for everyone. Speccy lets you check your RAM configuration before buying more modules, or create a list of features in case you want to sell your computer, to give a couple of examples.

The basic data displayed by Speccy can also be found in some specific areas on the Windows system, but Speccy makes it easier for you by gathering everything under a single interface and also providing more details.

Speccy is still in beta development and lacks some extra features we can find on other similar tools: ability to export to multiple formats, performance tests, list of installed software, etc. But being a program from the same developers of CCleaner, Recuva and Defraggler, we can only expect it to improve!

Speccy is a simple system analyzer that displays detailed information about the configuration and technical features of your computer.

Download Speccy 1.16.317 in Softonic

If low-effort computing is your aim, SecurAble won't let you down. This tool doesn't need to be installed and running it is a simple as just clicking on the SecurAble icon. The window that opens will already have the information you are looking for displayed, divided into Maximum Bit Length, Hardware D.E.P (Data Execution Prevention) and Hardware Virtualization assessments. Clicking on any of the options will show you SecurAble's assessment of your computer's abilities, all described in friendly and easy-to-understand terms.

That's really all there is to SecurAble. Of course, users will either need the knowledge to verify the program's verdict themselves, or else they'll just have to trust it. In the test I did, however, the assessment was indeed correct. SecurAble is a specific tool for a specific job, and it performs perfectly.

SecurAble does what it says it will, quickly, accessibly and accurately.

Download SecurAble 1.0.2570.1 in Softonic

With Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor you can determine if your computer will be able to run Windows 7 right on the spot. Simply run the program and it will perform a thorough system analysis to check if your current computer has the necessary requirements as regards RAM memory, hard drive space, connected devices and installed software.

The analysis takes only a few minutes. Once it's done, you get the results right on the program's interface. This report can be exported for further review, though only to HTML format.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor analyzes your current system and lets you know if it's ready for Windows 7 or not.

Download Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor 2.0.4000.0 in Softonic

You may think the information displayed on Speccy Portable is only valid for computer geeks, network administrators and other kinds of tech-savvy users, but in fact it can be useful for everyone. Speccy Portable lets you check your RAM configuration before buying more modules, or create a list of features in case you want to sell your computer, to give a just a couple of examples.

The basic data displayed by Speccy Portable can also be found in some specific areas on the Windows system, but Speccy makes it easier for you by gathering everything in a single interface and providing more details.

Speccy Portable is still in beta development and lacks extra features we find on other similar tools, such as performance tests or a list of installed software, etc. But since it's a program from the same developers as CCleaner, Recuva and Defraggler, we can only expect it to improve!

Speccy Portable is a simple system analyzer that displays detailed information about the configuration and technical features of your computer.

Download Speccy Portable 1.16.317 in Softonic

In reality, this is not a particularly revealing tester. It performs a rather simple analysis that won't reveal anything that a technician couldn't find out from Windows hardware manager anyway. However, it does at least give you a general overview of the condition of your system including processor, motherboard, memory, operating system, additional components and devices, etc.

The interface of My Test Hardware classifies the results in a practical and ordered manner so it's easy to identify the component you're particularly interested in. A quick and simple program that might not solve your hardware problems but provides a good starting point.

Download Test My Hardware 2.4 in Softonic

What's my computer doing? is the self-explanatory name of an app that analyzes any currently active process on your computer and displays detailed information about it: complete installation path, developer, version number and more.

What's my computer doing? lists the processes in real time and also provides you with tools to terminate the process, close the program or even uninstall it from your system. You can also search for extended information on Google, and check the file's reliability in Kaspersky and VirusTotal.

It may not be as detailed as other similar file analysis tools, but What's my computer doing? does what it says on the tin. On the downside, the fact that the program's interface can't be resized is a bit annoying.

With What's my computer doing? you'll be able to know exactly what's running on your computer.

Download What's my computer doing? 1.0 in Softonic

Download AIDA64 Extreme Edition 2.00.1700 in Softonic

If you open the Performance tab, and hover the cursor over the graphs, you can see CPU usage at any point in time and view the programs that are sucking up the most processing power.

There are more features including a file lock finder which finds out why a particular file cannot be deleted, and 'unlocks' the process, which is a useful tool.