14 DAY TRIAL // Many people can't answer when asked questions about the hardware inside their computers. Some of them just don't care, and others may be interested but they lack the guidance needed to find out more. Hardware performance is also another problem, since a lot of people don't trust the tests done by specialized magazines or sites.
The solution to these two problems that I told you about comes with a family of software, of course. Just think about Everest or Sandra. If you never heard of these before, don't worry, you still have a lot of time to discover them, because today I will review another program.
FreshDiagnose is a software built to help you identify all your computer components, software and hardware. It also allows you to perform benchmarks on your hardware and compare them to some built in results.
The installation kit is small and the setup process is fast, without any stops. Once the program is installed, I advice you to take away two minutes and register the program for free. Together with the key for FreshDiagnose you will receive keys for other programs from FreshDevices.
The interface of this program is straightforward - you don't have to dig into menus to find a certain function or spend an hour to setup the application the way you like. FreshDiagnose's interface is built to make everybody happy: it's clean, nicely done and easy to use. You can notice a menu bar, a toolbar and a treeview area surrounding the main information panel.
All the things that can be found out using the program are accessible using the treeview panel placed to the left of the interface. I'll point out the most important features of the program and then draw the conclusions.
The first area available is dedicated to the software system. You can't change anything, but you can view most settings, like the Windows visual appearance, installed fonts and programs, regional settings, system files and many more.
The second branch of the treeview contains information about your computer's hardware. If you ever wondered about the model of your hard drive, CPU or display adapter, then this is the place to be for you!
If I talked about hardware information, then benchmarking is a feature that will be interesting. The last branch of the treeview is entitled Benchmarks and allows you to perform seven benchmarks.
Other modules present in FreshDiagnose are Network and Internet, Devices, Multimedia, Database System, Hardware Resources and Snapshot. I will only talk about the last one, since the others have suggestive names.
The Snapshot module allows you to check your system's activity and view details of the next items: processes, modules, threads and allocated heaps. This can prove extremely useful for troubleshooting purposes.
The System Report Wizard can be accessed using its toolbar icon and saves a report of your system status as a Web page. You can schedule this process to take place periodically, save a new report and even rerun the benchmarks each time.
I will end my trip here, but yours is just about to begin, if you're new to FreshDiagnose. This is a program that can be considered useless if you already have Sandra or Everest and very useful if you don't. Its interface and features have improved when compared to earlier versions and I can only predict a good future for it if it goes on like this.
The Good
FreshDiagnose has a nice interface, very easy to use and enough functions for the basic to intermediate user. It can generate complex system reports with a customizable look. The Help file is not large but covers all topics that may require additional information.
The Bad
The video test is limited to 2D display functions. I got errors when trying to access the Sensors area, and believe me I am not using a prototype motherboard. Also, the program is not able to display the SMART status of the hard drive.
The Truth
FreshDiagnose is a program that can help a lot of people in gathering lots of information about their computers' hardware and performance. It may be a few steps behind its notorious competitors, but it's one of the best tools free for personal use available. Download it now and start breaking the mystery wall around your computer!
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
