DeviceTool

Windows comes with a built-in device manager that gathers information regarding the hardware configuration of your PC. DeviceTool is somewhat similar, except it does allow remote connections to other workstations in the same network with the purpose to obtain details concerning their hardware devices.

No installation is required, and no traces are left in the system's registry, so DeviceTool is a fully portable application, which is one of its pluses.

As soon as you launch it, the interface is revealed, and the layout might seem familiar. That is because the Windows device manager has a resembling GUI, with the list of devices to the left and the same icon set. Even so, there are a few differences that will be highlighted below.

Unlike the Device Manager in Windows 10, DeviceTool displays information about a device in another format. While the first opens up a new window to show details, the latter shows a table containing a list of properties and their value. Just as the Device Manager, this application can enable and disable devices and analyze hardware changes.

For instance, it can disclose the device description, its hardware ID, the running service, the manufacturer, the GUID, error codes (if any), and the list does not stop here, although it does not reach the amount of data you can get by using the Device Manager. Details about drivers or running policies are just two examples of details you cannot obtain with DeviceTool.

Although it does not match the Device Manager in Windows in terms of the amount of data it can extract, DeviceTool does come with a handy feature: it can connect to another computer and get hardware information remotely. Please note that in order to manage remote devices, PsExec must be downloaded and placed in the same folder as DeviceTool.

DeviceTool is a handy tool for network administrators and not only, allowing users to quickly check hardware-related information for both the local PC and remote workstations. It comes with portability perks and allows the quick disabling or enabling of hardware devices, while providing relevant information about the hardware configuration.