Number 224 - January 2002

Belarc Advisor (A PC Hardware/Software Analyzer)
by Dick Freymoyer (dickfreyI@aol.com), AGCNJ News, New Jersey, Sep 2001
I just has to share this web site and utility with my fellow users. An article entitled PC X-Ray really caught my attention because of what the word "'X-Ray" meant to me! (A device or thing to look inside for data.) This utility allows Belarc's server to look inside your computer and tell you what hardware/software you have installed on your computer.     I know what you are thinking! Belarc, whoever they are, would know and retain a record of your software and hardware, which could be bad for you. To try to ease your fears; all you use is the Belarc's server database as a reference to process information found on your computer and come up with a list of hardware/software on your computer. I think there is little risk that someone would be interested in stealing such information. The Belarc Utility lists the installed programs on your system and where each installed. Good to know in case you want to remove a program.	The small file can be downloaded free from www.belarc.com in about 3 minutes. It fits on a floppy disk and you can share it with your other computers. Afier it is downloaded, you just click on the file, (of course, you have to accept their license), and it opens and installs the utility, and puts an icon on your desktop. When you click on the icon, it opens your Internet Service and starts the process of looking at your hardware and software.     The list it compiles is printable and very useful. It not only lists your hardware but also gives you the model numbers, BIOS revision, DIMM sockets, what is used in each, how many sockets are empty, etc. It does a full inventory. I was amazed--I have never seen anything as good as this before. About the only things that it does not define by manufacturer's name are the floppy and hard drives, but it does say how much space is used and how much is still available. The list also includes all software with version numbers. I consider this a good find. Download it and see what I am talking about - you'll be doing yourself a favor!
Number 224 - January 2002