Get-ComputerInfo vs. systeminfo.exe (Part 1)

by Nov 26, 2019

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For a long time, the command-line utility systeminfo.exe provides a wealth of information about a computer and can return object-oriented results with a little trick:

$objects = systeminfo.exe /FO CSV |
  ConvertFrom-Csv

$objects.'Available Physical Memory'

On the pros side, systeminfo.exe is available on almost all Windows systems. On the cons side, the results are localized which can be a problem with the property names: on English systems, a property may be called ‘Available Physical Memory’, yet on a German system it may be different. To normalize headers, you can strip them and replace them with your own:

$headers = 1..30 | ForEach-Object { "Property$_" }
$objects = systeminfo.exe /FO CSV |
  Select-Object -Skip 1 |
  ConvertFrom-Csv -Header $headers

This is the result:

 
PS> $objects


Property1  : DESKTOP-8DVNI43
Property2  : Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Property3  : 10.0.18362 N/A Build 18362
Property4  : Microsoft Corporation
Property5  : Standalone Workstation
Property6  : Multiprocessor Free
Property7  : hello@test.com
Property8  : N/A
Property9  : 00330-50000-00000-AAOEM
Property10 : 9/3/2019, 11:42:41 AM
Property11 : 11/1/2019, 10:42:53 AM
Property12 : Dell Inc.
Property13 : XPS 13 7390 2-in-1
Property14 : x64-based PC
Property15 : 1 Processor(s) Installed.,[01]: Intel64 Family 6 Model 126 Stepping 5 
             GenuineIntel ~1298 Mhz
Property16 : Dell Inc. 1.0.9, 8/2/2019
Property17 : C:\Windows
Property18 : C:\Windows\system32
Property19 : \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Property20 : de;German (Germany)
Property21 : de;German (Germany)
Property22 : (UTC+01:00) Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna
Property23 : 32,536 MB
Property24 : 19,169 MB
Property25 : 37,400 MB
Property26 : 22,369 MB
Property27 : 15,031 MB
Property28 : C:\pagefile.sys
Property29 : WORKGROUP
Property30 : \\DESKTOP-8DVNI43




PS> $objects.Property23
32,536 MB  

You can name your properties any way you want by providing your own list of property names in $headers:

$headers = 'HostName',
            'OSName',
            'OSVersion',
            'OSManufacturer',
            'OSConfiguration',
            'OSBuildType',
            'RegisteredOwner',
            'RegisteredOrganization',
            'ProductID',
            'OriginalInstallDate',
            'SystemBootTime',
            'SystemManufacturer',
            'SystemModel',
            'SystemType',
            'Processors',
            'BIOSVersion',
            'WindowsDirectory',
            'SystemDirectory',
            'BootDevice',
            'SystemLocale',
            'InputLocale',
            'TimeZone',
            'TotalPhysicalMemory',
            'AvailablePhysicalMemory',
            'VirtualMemoryMaxSize',
            'VirtualMemoryAvailable',
            'VirtualMemoryInUse',
            'PageFileLocations',
            'Domain',
            'LogonServer',
            'Hotfix',
            'NetworkCard',
            'HyperVRequirements'

$objects = systeminfo.exe /FO CSV |
  Select-Object -Skip 1 |
  ConvertFrom-Csv -Header $headers

$objects.ProductID

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