Best Free Software 07: Aida32 - Personal System Information

This utility is small but can come in handy in many situations when you need some of the wide range of information it extracts and displays from your PC system components.

Apart from being able to view this information on the screen, you can save it as html, xml or csv file and for example avail it to a technician who can then help deal with some issues.

When you install Windows, especially older versions, you may discover the sound card does not work because the drivers are missing and you probably do not have the driver CD, or you may want to know the name/model of the motherboard, probably so you can update your Bios, or simply get some information about your operating system, hard drive, partitions or external drives. Aida32 helps. In many cases, it gives you links to the manufacturers' sites and driver download pages. For very old devices, some links may no longer be valid, though. You can get information about auto-start or installed software & much more all extracted and listed in this one tool.

Aida32 does not need installation. After unzipping, just start it by clicking the bluish monitor-shaped executable icon in the Aida folder.

Get Aida32

You can download Aida32 from a number of different sites, including:

• http://majorgeeks.com/download181.html
• http://aida32.en.softonic.com/
• http://download.cnet.com/AIDA32/3000-2094_4-10129233.html

It is just over 3MB. The latest versions run on Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP/NT and Win7 (Win32 systems). The current version 3.94.2, does not support all functions in Win 7, probably because it was made for older versions. It could not for example detect Windows 7 Service pack 1, a key Windows software update. Aida can be started from a USB flash drive. You just need to copy the whole folder.

Alternatives

• An alternative to Aida32 is Everest Home Edition. You can get a free download from http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Everest-Home-Edition-Download-1636... and other sources.
• SIW (System Information for Windows) Home Edition is a VERY GOOD alternative, which does not need installation and can be started from a USB drive. This is what is said about it on the makers website:

  SIW is an advanced System Information for Windows tool that analyzes your computer and gathers detailed information about system properties and settings and displays it in an extremely comprehensible manner. SIW can create a report file (CSV, HTML, TXT or XML), and is able to run in batch mode (for PC Software and Hardware Inventory, Asset Inventory, Software License Management, Security Audit, Server Configuration Management).

More later. You can get SIW Home Edition (FREE!) from http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html. The paid versions can extract even more information. SIW runs on many platforms, including Win 7/Vista/XP/2000.