System Information Tool For Mac

Mac Administration: A Closer Look at System Information May 12, 2014 System Information (formerly System Profiler ) in OS X provides a detailed breakdown of the hardware and software configuration of a Mac, from Bluetooth information and attached USB devices to installed software and extensions. Know Exactly What’s in Your Mac with the System Information Utility. Matt Klein May 25. Something that isn’t necessary on a Mac. However, the System Information can tell you a lot about your Mac, its health, and many other important facets. The System Information tool is a great way to check and diagnose problems, obtain very. The System Information utility can also be found in Utilities, which is located in the Applications folder. As you can see, there’s a left pane wherein you’ll find your Hardware, Network, and Software. Review your Mac's system information. There are several tabs at the top of the 'About This Mac' window that you can use to view different type of information: Overview - View your Mac's operating system, processor, and memory information here. Choose Apple menu ( ) > About This Mac to get an overview of your Mac, including your Mac model, processor, memory, serial number, and version of macOS.To see the greater detail provided by System Information, click the System Report button. Support Communities / Mac OS & System Software. Announcement: Upgrade to macOS Mojave With features like Dark Mode, Stacks, and four new built-in apps, macOS Mojave helps you get more out of every click.

  1. Microsoft System Information Tool
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  5. Mac System Information

When troubleshooting your Mac, you often need to get information about your system and what’s going on inside of it, either to help you identify and fix the problem yourself or so you can convey that information to others who might help.

One tool that can help with this is a utility that used to be called System Profiler but as of OS X 10.7 (Lion) was renamed System Information. By either name, it’s a handy app that lets you look up all kinds of details about your system's hardware and software, from the serial number and firmware version of your particular Mac to information about peripheral devices attached to it.

You can access this system profiler in a couple of ways. One is to go to Applications > Utilities and find System Information (or System Profiler if you haven’t upgraded lately) and open the program directly from there. Or you can open the Apple menu, click More Info, then select System Report.

In either case, the resulting system report has a list of categories on the left, with detailed information about each category on the right.

While the information in the system profiler may be a bit daunting at first glimpse, there are four key areas that I’d recommend you check out for future troubleshooting.

Battery status and health

If you have a portable Mac and are experiencing problems charging your battery, or if the battery is running out of power sooner than you expect, your battery might actually be damaged or simply worn out. This is especially true if your system is relatively old and its battery is nearing the end of its expected lifetime.

The longevity of a battery is determined by the way it's stored and the way it's used. If you keep the battery stored properly (half-charged, as Apple advises) and do not subject it to extreme temperatures, it will last longer.

When you do use the battery, you need to charge it regularly. Each battery is designed be charged and depleted and still give you more than 80 percent of its initial capacity as long as it is below a given number of full charge cycles—between 300 and 1000 cycles, depending on the Mac model. (A single charge cycle is defined as charging that collectively adds up to a 100 percent charge of the battery’s capacity. So if you used up half your laptop's battery one day, charged it up, then did the same thing the next day, that would cumulatively count as one charge cycle.)

To check up on your battery’s health in System Information, select the Hardware > Power category, and you’ll see Battery Information listed at the top. This includes the charge remaining, as well as the cycle count and the condition of the battery. If this condition says anything but Normal, you should consider taking the system in for service.

Storage device status

Another area on your Mac that might need troubleshooting attention is its hard drive and any attached secondary drives. This primarily includes the drive’s capacity and availability, but in addition you might need to find the type of device and details about ownership, formatting, and whether or not the drive is encrypted.

Microsoft System Information Tool

This information can be found in Apple’s Disk Utility program, but is also listed in the Hardware > Storage section of System Information.

Connectivity of peripherals

One last thing in the Hardware section you should check out is the part that details the peripherals connected to your system. This can help you troubleshoot daisy-chaining of devices and also properly match device speeds. For example, you can find out if you have a USB 3.0 hard drive connected via a USB 2.0 hub, which would compromise its performance.

This same approach works for FireWire and Thunderbolt connections, both of which have separate sections under the Hardware category. Simply click these to show the connected devices and their corresponding speeds.

You can also see what peripheral devices are demanding the most power from your bus. For each you should see a Current Available and Current Required. So if you have devices daisy-chained and are experiencing problems with one or two dropping out, you can more evenly distribute the load across your various input ports, or find ways to supply alternate power to these devices (such as using a power adapter rather than bus power).

Third-party software installations

You can also look up the software installed on your system in System Information and see which apps are from Apple and which are from third-party vendors. This information can help you troubleshoot problems, especially if the software is a kernel extension; a bug or two in these can affect the entire system.

To see these details, you can select Extensions, Installations, and Applications under the Software category, and then list each by the Obtained From or Source column to see if they are from Apple or another developer.

While this approach is good primarily just for gathering information, it can help diagnose problems you might be having. Prime candidates are kernel extensions, scanning and maintenance tools, security software, parental-control suites, and firewalls.

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When you order your Mac or go into an Apple Store to buy one, you’re probably vaguely aware of the hardware inside of it. With OS X’s System Information utility, it’s easy to get clear, concise information as to exactly what is inside and installed on your particular unit.

Your System Information utility contains a wealth of information about your computer, your network settings, and its software.

This is valuable because it gives you details on literally every single bit of hardware in your system. It’s very much akin to the Device Manager on Windows, except the Device Manager includes the ability to update and rollback drivers, something that isn’t necessary on a Mac. Software to flash iphone.

However, the System Information can tell you a lot about your Mac, its health, and many other important facets. Best of all, it’s all in one place so you don’t have to go from utility to utility to perform checkups.

About This Mac

If you click on the Apple Menu, the first option will always be “About This Mac”.

If someone ever asks you what version of OS X you’re running, About This Mac will tell you. If you quickly want to know how much RAM you have installed, what speed your processor is, or your serial number, you just need to glance at About This Mac.

Free System Information Tool

Click the “Displays” tab and it tells you your screen size, its resolution, and your Mac’s graphics hardware.

Another cool thing you might want to know at a glance is how much capacity you have left on your system drive, as well as what types of files are using the most space.

Click the “Support” tab for OS X and Macintosh support resources.

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Finally, if you’re having problems with your hardware, you can check your coverage status, repair options, and learn more about AppleCare from the “Service” tab.

Download Tools For Mac

About This Mac is then very useful for checking the most cursory information on your system, and for many that’s often more than enough.

The System Information Report

When you’re using the About This Mac app, you can click the “Software Update…” button if you want to check for available updates.

You can also click the “System Report” button, which will open the System Information utility. The System Information utility can also be found in Utilities, which is located in the Applications folder.

As you can see, there’s a left pane wherein you’ll find your Hardware, Network, and Software. If you choose the topmost or any subcategory and there is any information on that item, you will see it displayed in the right pane.

The hardware section is a great way to check stuff that pertains to system health. For example, if you would like to check your laptop battery’s health and status, click the “Power” category and you will be able to check your battery’s “Health Information”.

Another interesting category to check out is Bluetooth, which gives you detailed information on devices that have been paired with your Mac, including what’s currently connected, what services they provide, and more.

System Information Tool For Windows

Mac System Information

Similarly, the Network section can reveal interesting facts about your connections. Check the “Firewall” for details on whether it’s on, logging activity, and which applications allow all connections.

The “Wi-Fi” section displays some pretty telling information about any wireless networks in the area.

Finally, you should check out the Software section. The “System Software Overview” will tell you not only what your system version is (we already knew that from About This Mac) but what kernel version you have, and how long it has been since you last booted your system.

Want detailed information on every single last piece of software installed on your computer? Check out the “Applications” section.

This is actually a lot easier than opening the Applications folder, clicking on an application, and then using “Command + I” to see its information, though, of course, you still have to use the info pane to change app and folder icons.

Take a minute to stop off at the Preference Panes section. Remember preference panes are the quickest way to make adjustments to your system, hardware, network, and more. They can even be used to add functionality to the menu bar, which is great for preferences that you access and change often.

If you ever need to send your system information to Apple for support services, there’s an option available from the “File” menu to “Send to Apple…”

The System Information tool is a great way to check and diagnose problems, obtain very specific technical details, and even then relay them to Apple. Beyond this, you can save, print, and copy information such as to an email or document, thus making it a cinch to share with others.

So, if you need to know or you’re just curious, take ten minutes and examine all the parts and features that comprise your Mac. You never know, you just might learn something. If you have any questions or comments you would like to contribute, we welcome your feedback in our discussion forum.

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