Real World Windows Administration: Utilizing PSINFO Via the Command Line

Ever had a customer tell you, "Oh, yes, I reboot my computer every night." Only to learn that what they're really doing is just turning the monitor on and off? Yeah, me too.

As a Systems Administrator I routinely manage over 2000 Windows based PCs along with 60 servers ranging from Windows NT 4 through Windows 2003 Server. During the last 15 years of working in the IT field, I've come across many scripts and tricks that make my job much easier. In this article I'll walk you through the first tip of using a utility that provides an amazing amount of information... and will even tell you how long a computer has been on. Whether you're using the command prompt from Windows 2000 or the new PowerShell 2.0 found in Windows 7, PSINFO.Exe may soon become one of your favorite troubleshooting utilities.

In the past, I have spent WAY too much time troubleshooting a PC problem caused from memory leaks or missing patches or needed anti-virus updates - all things that work or begin working when a computer is restarted. Imagine my surprise once; when I learned that a computer had been on constantly, without a reboot, for 270 days! No wonder it was acting a little bizarre. You'd think that in the lightning capital of the world where I'm at, that power outages would provide for an "efficient" reboot scenario for these gladiator uptime Windows users - afraid not! Mr. UPS (and I mean the battery backup, not the guys in brown trucks) dutifully keeps these PCs humming. And if a user keeps "rebooting" by turning their monitors on and off, well, the real job of rebooting just doesn't get done now does it?

PSINFO to the rescue!

Mark Russinovich is the original creator of the PSINFO utility. Before he joined Microsoft in 2006 he made the utility available to all freely via the former SysInternals website. Pretty nice of him, wouldn't you say? And after he joined Microsoft? Well, hang on to your hats, it's still free! (I love it when that happens!)

First of all, here's the link to finding the utility: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897550.aspx

I usually place the executable into some location that's already within the Operating System's path. (The Windows folder -- c:\windows - is the quickest way to ensure that the program can be found.) And since it's only one file, it doesn't clutter up things like some large install packages can do. Why, this utility is so handy, I've even put it into a login script and copied it out company-wide to all my hundreds of PCs and servers. That way, if I'm out troubleshooting at a client PC, or remote-controlling I can still gain quick access to the utility's information. It's handy on a jump drive too.

So, back to my real world scenario: My phone rings, and a user complains of a particular issue regarding their PC. The first thing I want to know, is, "How long has it been since this computer was restarted?"

I always keep a command prompt window open on my workstation. So, after determining the user's computer name or IP, (in this example, I'm checking a PC called, "TestPC12") I can remotely pull up the particulars on it by typing:

Psinfo \\TESTPC12 (note, there is a space after the word 'Psinfo')

The following is an example of the kind of information that is returned:

PsInfo v1.75 - Local and remote system information viewer
Copyright (C) 2001-2007 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

System information for \\TESTPC12:
Uptime: 14 days 11 hours 5 minutes 39 seconds
Kernel version: Microsoft Windows XP, Multiprocessor Free
Product type: Professional
Product version: 5.1
Service pack: 3
Kernel build number: 2600
Registered organization:
Registered owner:
Install date: 6/28/2006, 7:16:21 PM
Activation status: Error reading status
IE version: 8.0000
System root: C:\WINDOWS
Processors: 2
Processor speed: 1.6 GHz
Processor type: Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2300 @
Physical memory: 1526 MB
Video driver: Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family

As you can see, you get a lot more information that just a computer's uptime - How much Ram, the processor speed, the version of Windows -- all of it very useful in determining what kind of machine that you're dealing with.

So, give PSINFO a try. Add it to your tool belt of useful utilities.

See you in the trenches.