Piriform Speccy

Speccy cannot be missing in the list of programs for hardware diagnostics. It is a utility that is available for free or there is also a paid version. In addition, its function is to show the user specifications of the hardware and software of the computer. This can help you to know better what you have installed and the possible problems that may occur. Including, from locating an inadequate driver, to detecting memory issues if not all the installed memory is detected, etc. It is the diagnostic software par excellence.

Among the information provided by this program is:

• Microprocessor information.
• Hard disk information.
• RAM memory details.
• Operating system information.
• About the graphics card.
• About the sound card.
• The motherboard model installed and its characteristics.
• Network card.

AIDA64 / Hardinfo

An alternative to the previous one, and more complete, is the ADIA64 software for Windows, or HardInfo for Linux. Both are very similar and provide very detailed information about all your equipment. By providing a hardware report, it is an excellent diagnostic software. For example, among the details it provides you can see:

• General details about the equipment.
• Detailed information about the motherboard.
• Temperature sensor readings and fan RPM.
• Operating system information.
• And of the APIs such as the graphics API.
• Video details such as monitor, GPU, etc.
• Multimedia, such as sound card, codecs, sound API, etc.
• RAM information.
• Information about storage media and other media that may be installed in the computer (optical, floppy, …).
• Details about the network card or adapter.
• CPU performance comparisons.

SysInspector

ESET has created a program called SysInspector. It is a very easy-to-use diagnostic tool that will help you solve numerous system problems. It can be obtained both integrated in the antivirus suite, and independently.

CPU-Z / CPU-X

This other program provides a lot of details about the CPU. Not only information about it, but also about the memory, tests, and something important, the voltages and frequencies at which it is working. Something that can be essential to detect problems, especially if you have done overclocking.

As CPU-Z is only available for Windows, CPU-X is the alternative for GNU/Linux which is exactly the same.

Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool

Intel Diagnostic Tool is compatible with Windows, and allows you to verify the functionality of the Intel processor. In this sense, it provides information such as frequency, voltages, and other characteristics. It also performs stress tests on the processor to see if the instability or failures you are suffering are due to it or to another component.

WiFi Analyzer

It is a complete suite that can perform a great amount of wireless network analysis. For example, some of the options you have at your disposal are:

• Checking the channels of nearby Wi-Fi networks to detect which channels enjoy higher quality.
• Checking the Wi-Fi signal strength to rule out or certify that the problem is that.
• Obtain information from each detected Wi-Fi network separately.
• Save information from the reports obtained to view at any time.

Angry IP Scanner

This utility is available for multiplatform. It is compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux. This free app is used to track and export the results of a network scan in order to detect network problems. For example, IP hops, latencies or ping, used servers, ports, etc.

CrystalDiskInfo

Thanks to the S.M.A.R.T. technology of HDD and SSD hard drives, it is possible to detect health problems of a hard drive before it fails irreversibly. This could help detect issues and prevent data loss. Well, what this program for Windows does is to obtain information thanks to this technology. As a result, it provides information about the health status. For example, you can check the operating temperature, firmware, and disk information. In addition to an analysis with the state of health that will indicate if it is going to fail soon or not.

CCleaner

CCleaner is a well-known Windows program. In principle, it can be used for maintenance tasks such as cleaning some temporary or cache data. It also serves to repair the Windows registry, another of the sources of problems that can occur in the system. However, it also has other functions. For example, freeing up space or searching for duplicate files that are making your hard drives cluttered and slow.

Memtest 86+

One of the most frequent failures in a system is that of RAM memory. When memory fails, there are several symptoms that can be confusing. In addition, they can be confused with those produced by some other hardware components. With Memtest86+ you can run tests to determine if it is a memory failure or if it is a failure of other components.

Furmark

Last but not least, you also have this tool to stress the GPU. Thanks to this, you will be able to know if the problem is in this video element or if it is somewhere else. Although it is limited to stressing the GPU, it also serves as a diagnostic software.

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What exactly is the BIOS?

We are talking about low-level software that is embedded on the computer’s motherboard. Its main mission is to check that all the PC hardware is working properly. By entering the BIOS we can customize everything about the operation of the PC. In addition, we can perform tasks such as enabling XMP profiles to change the RAM speed, boot from a disk or USB drive as well as overclocking.

In recent times the BIOS has been renamed to UEFI. Consequently, adding new features, although colloquially it is still colloquially called BIOS, even though it is not really BIOS anymore. There are several ways to log in from Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems, which we are going to start talking about right now.

Log on when turning on the computer

We can enter the BIOS when we start the computer and the manufacturer’s logo is displayed. Consequently, we must press a key when we are in that computer startup screen and thus make the BIOS visible. Normally, it is indicated at the bottom of the screen when and which key to press. Generally, the F2, Del, F4 or F8 keys usually work to enter the BIOS. However, this is not always the case. Therefore, it is good to check to see which one the system starts up with.

Of course, sometimes we do not visualize which key to press. It may be that the letters pass too fast or you can’t locate it where it says so. In such a case it may be that you have Fast Boot enabled in the BIOS or Windows Fast Startup mode. If with this method you have not been able to access the BIOS, we show you others that will surely be easier to perform or at least more intuitive.

Login from Windows

To be able to enter the BIOS from Windows we have several ways that we are going to see right now. You will see how easy it is to access from Windows, you only have to do the following:

• We enter the Windows Start menu.
• Now we must click on the Start button, that one that we pressed before giving to the one to turn off the system.
• At that moment we will see the options that always leave us that are Sleep, Restart or Shutdown.
• At that moment we must maintain pressed the Shift key and then click on Restart.

Another options

As we mentioned, there are other ways to access the BIOS, if you don’t like the one we have shown you. One such alternative is as follows:

• We enter the start menu.
• At that moment we click on Update & System, and then click on Recovery.
• Now that we are in Recovery we will see how inside Recovery Options. Accordingly, there is a function called Advanced Startup that has a button that says Restart Now. Please click on it so that the computer resets and we can enter the BIOS.

Whichever method you use, you will see a blue screen with multiple options appear in front of you. Now just follow these steps and you will be able to enter the BIOS:

• We go to Troubleshooting.
• Then we must click on Advanced Options.
• The next thing is to click on UEFI Firmware Configuration.

If we do not see the UEFI Firmware Configuration option, there are two possible explanations. The first is that the computer we are using does not have UEFI, which is quite likely if it is old. Consequently, it will have a BIOS in the classic sense. The second possibility is that the motherboard does have UEFI, but Windows 10 boots from a drive that was partitioned using MBR and not GPT. If this is the case, it is the MBR system that will force UEFI to use a legacy BIOS mode, making it impossible to access from Windows.

Access from the command prompt

We can also access the BIOS from the command prompt in a quite simple way. These are the steps to follow if you want to use this other option that we present to you:

• We enter the start menu and in the part where it allows us to write we put CMD and as soon as it detects it we must enter the command prompt, but pressing Run as Administrator.
• Once inside the command prompt we must type shutdown /r /fw in the command prompt window and press Enter.
• You should now see a screen informing you that your PC will shut down in less than a minute.
• We can also type shutdown /r /fw /t at the command prompt to eliminate the waiting period and reboot instantly.

If after doing this you get a message that says The firmware of this system does not support the bootable user interface in the firmware, it means that the motherboard does not have UEFI or there is an MBR partition. These are the ways we have in Windows 10 and Windows 11 to get into the BIOS or UEFI. As you will see it is all very simple so it does not have a great complication to get it. Very well, it has been a pleasure to show you how to access the BIOS from Windows. See you later

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