A quick system recap is all I need

I've been interested in some programs that can easily scan my system. From hardware to software, I need something that's quick, lite and effective. I need something than can have a permanent place on my USB Flash drive. I ran across Evonsoft SysInfo a few days back and decided to finally give it a try.

Evonsoft lets you take a look at a lot of what's within your system effectively and easily. It's built for quick usage and for users who are on the run but want to know key software and hardware information. Let's see what it has to offer.

The Beginning

Make sure you have a .ZIP extraction program since the install comes in zipped file form. If you've been keeping up on the reviews, it's very similar in focus to SIW, a program I recently reviewed. The similarities between the two are striking, but they are different programs with different benefits. As I was saying, after you unzip the file, you've basically installed Evonsoft SysInfo since it runs directly from the .EXE folder you've unzipped. I like this about the program since it makes it easily transportable.

When you do run the program, you get a simple interface with subdivisions of accessible information. These subsets are as follows: Center Processor, Mainboard, Memory, Harddisk, Video, Multimedia, Network, Other, Operating System, and Software .You also get three more buttons, but those just tell you about the program or send you to their homepage.

I'll try to take a few of the more used subset groups and tell you what sort of information you can expect to see: Computer name and user info, hardware information (CPU type, motherboard, harddisk info, memory and more along the same lines). The last thing in the drop down is a complete overview of your OS, from the latest service pack you have installed to your product ID to your DVD region. This is but a little nibble of the amount of total information available to you from the OS dropdown.

Your Mainboard tab gives you specific information on the inner workings of your computer. It tells you your model, system type, which ports are being used (and by what) and it even tells you which devices are bridged. The last part of the information which is crucial is the BIOS information.

I liked the multimedia view since it gave me a list of the drivers I had installed. Not only that, but it gives me the wave-in, wave-out system information that you'd expect to see with any of these types of programs.

I thought that a practical part about the program was the fact that you can export your system information onto an exportable text file. If you wanted a quick recap of what your machine's hardware is, this tool comes in quite useful.

Another good part of Evonsoft is that it lists nearly all the software you have in one menu, but because I can't easily sort through it, then it's a bit hard to see. I can't even alphabetize my files into a practical order. It could have better ergonomic display modes in my opinion.

How can I complain about the program?

One of my pet peeves, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, is that I get easily bothered when I can't control the size of the window. I know I'm nitpicking to find something that bothers me about the program, but I don't like to scroll when I can just see everything on one screen. Why scroll when all can be easily viewed by a quick window resizing?

I thought that it was a tad weird that I didn't have any right-click/double-click options to get more details on a specific driver that I click on, or a software file that I want to examine more closely.

The Good

The good parts have all been mentioned above; it's lite, it's effective and it gives you system information in bulk and with speed. You can carry this little guy with you on a USB Flash drive for easy access to any of your friend's systems when trying to diagnose a problem.

The Bad

The bad part is that for all the good things it does have, there are programs that do the same things with more functionality and a bit more flexibility. Ones that let you resize and readjust particular windows, ones with little special features and ones that have more detail.

The Truth

I'd fill up my USB Flash drive with this if I don't already have SIW, but unfortunately for Evonsoft SysInfo, I do. I'd still like to recommend it because it does an effective and good job in system information gathering, but it could include some extras just for kicks.

Check out the screenshots below to get a better feel for what it looks like.