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newuser
Asked: 2012-06-05 20:40:04 +0800 CST

What is the equivalent of Windows System Properties or Device Manager?

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I am new to Ubuntu. In Windows, if I want to know my system properties/configuration, I can see it by going to Control Panel and clicking on the System icon. I can also get a detailed list of the hardware detected/installed by going to the Device Manager.

What are the equivalents of these features in Ubuntu, where a user can see his or her system properties and hardware configuration, like RAM, CPU/processor, hard disk capacity, etc.?

Example of Windows System Properties:

enter image description here

drivers

5 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    For Basic Information

    Go to Settings, and under System, click on Details for basic information:

    enter image description here

    For Detailed Information (like Windows Device Manager)

    • Search for "system" in Software Center, and install System Profiler and Benchmark:

      enter image description here

    • Then run it from the Launcher (type "system" if it isn't there already), and you will see a detailed list of hardware that you can expand further by category:

    enter image description here

    • This tool also allows you to run benchmarks to compare how your system performs relative to other common computers.

    • Scroll down for examples of CPU and RAM information.

    Other system-specific tools and console (terminal) tools

    Please see Luis Alvarado's excellent exhaustive answer with screenshots to this question, just above or below this one.

    Examples of CPU and RAM information as shown in System Profiler

    enter image description here enter image description here

    • 82

  2. Open the terminal with Ctrl+Alt+T and type any of these:

    For cpu info

    cat /proc/cpuinfo

    For memory info

    cat /proc/meminfo

    to see disk usage of various partitions

    df -h

    See ram usage

    free -m

    wireless network

    iwconfig

    Which ubuntu is running in your computer

    lsb_release -a

    Find your kernel info

    uname -a

    list all hardware

    sudo lshw

    All soundcards

    aplay -l

    Some graphical software for the same will be

    1)Hardware lister

    enter image description here

    Whenever you want to run it type sudo lshw-gtk in the terminal

    Download it here

    enter image description here

    2)Sysinfo

    enter image description here

    enter image description here

    3)System Profiler and Benchmark

    enter image description here

    enter image description here

    • 33

  3. Without going into terminal commands (From my point of view, less friendly way of inviting a new user to Ubuntu.. until he/she feels the force) like:

    lshw - Shows you information about all hardware
    lsusb - Shows you information about all USB hardware
    lspci - Shows information about all PCI compatible hardware
    cat /proc/cpuinfo - Shows detailed information about your CPU
    dmidecode - Shows you information about hardware

    And others like lm-sensors or hdparm that can give information about HDD and temperature readings.

    Seeing as you are new, I will mention easy to use GUI tools that can quickly help you find important information about your PC:

    DISK UTILITY

    Shows information about all type of storage devices, including but not limited to HDD, SDD, Flash Drives, External (Connected) USB Drives, etc..

    enter image description here

    To use it just open DASH (By pressing the SUPER key) and type disk. You will then see the option "Disk Utility".

    enter image description here

    DISK USAGE ANALYZER

    Very good program to analyze the (As the obvious name implies) disk usage. It can very useful when doing a cleanup on old files and such.

    enter image description here

    As with Disk Utility, type in dash disk and the second option will be the "Disk Usage Analyzer"

    Ubuntu Detail Information

    Type in dash detail and you will see a cog icon with the name "Details". It will show you basic information on your machine:

    enter image description here

    enter image description here

    I should mention that if you are using an Nvidia card, you need to update Ubuntu 12.04 with the latest upgrades in order to see the Video card name.

    SYSINFO

    Very nice program to see information about your computer.

    enter image description here

    It can be installed via the Software Center by looking for "Sysinfo" or "Hardware" or clicking here Install sysinfo

    enter image description here

    HARDWARE LISTER

    Very nice program based on LSHW to show you in a graphical way all the hardware. As the previous one I mentioned, it can also be installed from the Software Center by looking for "Hardware" or clicking here Install sysinfo

    enter image description here

    enter image description here

    So as you can see there are MANY programs to check for hardware and hardware information in general. I suggest playing with Software Center to find even more but this should be enough to know most if not everything about your computer.

    • 20

  4. Try using hardinfo (System information and benchmarking tool)

    Install via the terminal with:

    sudo apt-get install hardinfo

    Or use the Software Center:

    Install via the software center

    Invoke with the Dash and click on the summary tabhardinfo

    • 10 
  5. sudo apt-get install sysinfo

    Then launch it!

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